Dr Charlie Huveneers

About to internally tag a spotted wobbegong shark with an acoustic transmitter
Phone: +61 8 82012825
Email:
Location: Physical Sciences (3302)
Postal address: GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

Biography

Doctor Charlie Huveneers has been involved in Chondrichthyan research for over 10 years. Research collaboration has brought him to study various species of sharks at several locations around the world. These include projects on basking sharks, white sharks, Carcharhinus sharks, grey nurse sharks, lemon sharks and leopard sharks.

He started his PhD at Macquarie University in 2007 on the biology and ecology of wobbegong sharks in relation to the commercial fishery in NSW. In 2007, he started running the Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System (AATAMS) part of the Integrated Marine Observing System program (IMOS) during which he deployed acoustic receivers around Australia and created a national network of acoustic telemetry users.

He has now join MISA through a joint position between SARDI - Aquatic Sciences and Flinders University where he acts as shark ecologist and lecturer, respectively.

Qualifications

2002-2007

  • Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
  • PhD in Environmental Science awarded February 2007
  • The ecology and biology of wobbegong sharks (genus Orectolobus) in relation to the commercial fishery in New South Wales, Australia
1999-2002
  • University of Southampton (England)
  • BSc (Hons.) Oceanography with Marine Biology (Obtained: First class)
Biological related statistics, economics of the environment, physical and chemical oceanography, analytical chemistry, marine ecology, marine plants and animals, estuaries environment, primary production, sedimentation, fisheries and aquaculture, oceanography field course, marine benthos and shelf dynamics

1998-1999
  • Maryborough State High School (Australia).
1992-1998
  • Saint-Boniface-Parnasse (Belgium)

Honours, awards and grants

  • 2011, Co-author of runner-up for best poster at the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society Conference
  • 2011, Vice-Chancellor Early Career Research Award
  • 2010, South Australian Young Tall Poppy Finalist
  • 2009, Unsung Hero of the year 2009
  • 2007, Award from the Fondation de la Vocation, Belgium, $10,000
  • 2006, Commendation from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
  • 2006, American Elasmobranch Society student travel award
  • 2004, John Glover Award (Australian Society for Fish Biology student travel award)
  • 2001, Dean's List BSc (Hons.) University of Southampton

Key responsibilities

  • AATAMS Scientific Committee member
  • AATAMS data Sub-committee member
  • AATAMS receiver pool Committee member
  • IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group member
  • Scientist Working Group DEH member
  • Maritime Heritage Scientific Committee member
  • Shark Resource Assessment Group Observer

Teaching

Teaching interests

  • Biology and Ecology of Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras)
  • Shark conservation
  • Fisheries sciences
  • Acoustic telemetry
  • Behavioural ecology

Topic Coordinator:

Topic Lecturer:

Research and supervision

Research expertise

  • Ecology
  • Zoology

Research interests

  • Biology and Ecology of Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras)
  • Shark conservation
  • Fisheries science
  • Acoustic telemetry
  • Behavioural ecology

Supervisory interests

  • Animal behaviour
  • Bioacoustics
  • Fisheries sustainability
  • Marine animals
  • Marine park planning
  • Sharks and rays, biology
  • Sharks, rays and chimaeras, conservation

RHD research supervision

Current

Principal supervisor: Novel techniques to investigate dietary analysis (1); Pelagic sharks ecology and sustainability (2);

Associate supervisor: Efficiency of Marine Parks for elasmobranchs (1);

Completion

Associate supervisor: Shark abundance and diversity (2);

RHD Student Achievements

  • Holly Frazer
    Winner of the OCS annual conference Student presentation - October 2012
  • Matt Heard
    Flinders Univeristy overseas travel scholarship - October 2012
  • Mick Drew
    Commendation for the OCS annual conference Student presentation - October 2012

Publications

Books
Huveneers, C. (2008). The Ecology and Biology of Wobbegongs in New South Wales, Australia. Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.
Refereed journal articles
Beckmann, C.L., Mitchell, J.G., Seuront, L., Stone, D. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Experimental evaluation of fatty acid profiles as a technique to determine dietary composition in benthic Elasmobranchs. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.
Goldsworthy, S., Page, B., Rogers, P.J., Bulman, C., Wiebkin, A., Mcleay, L.J., et al. (2013). Trophodynamics of the eastern Great Australian Bight ecosystem: ecological change associated with the growth of Australia's largest fishery. Ecological Modelling.
Gutteridge, A.N., Huveneers, C., Bennett, M. and Tibbetts, I. (2013). Conforming to the crowd? A case study into the life history of an understudied coastal shark. Marine and Freshwater Research.
Muter, B.A., Gore, M.L., Gledhill, K.S., Lamont, C.J. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Australian and U.S. news media portrayal of sharks and their conservation. Conservation Biology, 27(1), pp.187-196. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01952.x.
Rodgers, G.G., Linnane, A.J. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Contrasting diet in two temperate reef fish species (Notolabrus tetricus and Meuschenia hippocrepis) as determined from commercial rock lobster bycatch samples. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.
Rogers, P., Huveneers, C., Goldsworthy, S., Cheung, W., Jones, K., Mitchell, J.G., et al. (2013). Population metrics and movement of two sympatric carcharhinids: a comparison of the vulnerability of pelagic sharks of the southern Australian gulfs and shelves. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64(1), pp.20-30. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF11234.
Rogers, P., Huveneers, C., Goldsworthy, S., Mitchell, J.G. and Seuront, L. (2013). Broad-scale movements and pelagic habitat of the dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus off Southern Australia determined using pop-up satellite archival tags. Fisheries Oceanography, 22(2), pp.102-112. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fog.12009.
Beckmann, C., Mitchell, J., Seuront, L., Stone, D. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Fatty acid profiles as a function of dietary composition: a captive feeding trial with Port Jackson sharks. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.
Gutteridge, A.N., Huveneers, C., Marshall, L.J., Tibbetts, I.R. and Bennett, M.B. (2013). Life-history traits of a small-bodied coastal shark. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64(1), pp.54-65. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12140.

Show all publications

Books
Huveneers, C. (2008). The Ecology and Biology of Wobbegongs in New South Wales, Australia. Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.
Refereed journal articles
Goldsworthy, S., Page, B., Rogers, P., Bulman, C., Wiebkin, A., Mcleay, L., et al. (2013). Trophodynamics of the eastern Great Australian Bight ecosystem: ecological change associated with the growth of Australia's largest fishery. Ecological Modelling.
Goldsworthy, S., Page, B., Rogers, P.J., Bulman, C., Wiebkin, A., Mcleay, L.J., et al. (2013). Trophodynamics of the eastern Great Australian Bight ecosystem: ecological change associated with the growth of Australia's largest fishery. Ecological Modelling.
Gutteridge, A.N., Huveneers, C., Bennett, M. and Tibbetts, I. (2013). Conforming to the crowd? A case study into the life history of an understudied coastal shark. Marine and Freshwater Research.
Beckmann, C., Mitchell, J., Seuront, L., Stone, D. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Fatty acid profiles as a function of dietary composition: a captive feeding trial with Port Jackson sharks. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.
Muter, B.A., Gore, M.L., Gledhill, K.S., Lamont, C.J. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Australian and U.S. news media portrayal of sharks and their conservation. Conservation Biology, 27(1), pp.187-196. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01952.x.
Rodgers, G.G., Linnane, A.J. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Contrasting diet in two temperate reef fish species (Notolabrus tetricus and Meuschenia hippocrepis) as determined from commercial rock lobster bycatch samples. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.
Rogers, P., Huveneers, C., Goldsworthy, S., Cheung, W., Jones, K., Mitchell, J.G., et al. (2013). Population metrics and movement of two sympatric carcharhinids: a comparison of the vulnerability of pelagic sharks of the southern Australian gulfs and shelves. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64(1), pp.20-30. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF11234.
Rogers, P., Huveneers, C., Goldsworthy, S., Mitchell, J.G. and Seuront, L. (2013). Broad-scale movements and pelagic habitat of the dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus off Southern Australia determined using pop-up satellite archival tags. Fisheries Oceanography, 22(2), pp.102-112. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fog.12009.
Semmens, J., Payne, N., Huveneers, C., Sims, D. and Bruce, B. (2013). Feeding requirements of white sharks may be higher than originally thought. Scientific Reports, 3, p.1471. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep01471.
Beckmann, C.L., Mitchell, J.G., Seuront, L., Stone, D. and Huveneers, C. (2013). Experimental evaluation of fatty acid profiles as a technique to determine dietary composition in benthic Elasmobranchs. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.
Gutteridge, A.N., Huveneers, C., Marshall, L.J., Tibbetts, I.R. and Bennett, M.B. (2013). Life-history traits of a small-bodied coastal shark. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64(1), pp.54-65. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12140.
Frazer, H., Ellis, M. and Huveneers, C. (2012). Can a threshold value be used to classify Chondrichthyan reproductive modes: systematic review and validation using an oviparous species. PLoS One, 7(12), pp.50196-50206. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050196.
Bryars, S., Rogers, P.J., Huveneers, C., Payne, N., Smith, I. and McDonald, B. (2012). Small home range in southern Australia's largest resident reef fish, the western blue groper (Achoerodus gouldii): implications for adequacy of no-take marine protected areas. Marine and Freshwater Research, 63(6), pp.552-563. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12016.
Rogers, P.J., Huveneers, C., Page, B., Hamer, D., Goldsworthy, S., Mitchell, J., et al. (2012). A quantitative comparison of the diets of sympatric pelagic sharks in gulf and shelf ecosystems off southern Australia. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69(8), pp.1382-1393. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss100.
Huveneers, C., Otway, N., Harcourt, R. and Ellis, M. (2011). Quantification of the maternal-embryo nutritional relationship of elasmobranchs: case study of wobbegong sharks (genus Orectolobus). Journal of Fish Biology, 78(5), pp.1375-1389. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02938.x.
Benavides, M., Feldheim, K., Duffy, C., Wintner, S., Braccini, M., Boomer, J., et al. (2011). Phylogeography of the copper shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus) in the southern hemisphere: implications for the conservation of a coastal apex predator. Marine and Freshwater Research, 62(7), pp.861-869. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF10236.
Speed, C., Meekan, M., Field, I., McMahon, C., Stevens, J., Mcgregor, K., et al. (2011). Spatial and temporal movement patterns of a multi-species coastal reef shark aggregation. Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 429, pp.261-275. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps09080.
Gutteridge, A., Bennett, M., Huveneers, C. and Tibbetts, I. (2011). Assessing the overlap between the diet of a coastal shark and the surrounding prey communities in a sub-tropical embayment. Journal of Fish Biology, 78(5), pp.1405-1422. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02945.x.
Huveneers, C., Luo, K., Otway, N.M. and Harcourt, R.G. (2009). Assessing the distribution and relative abundance of wobbegong sharks (Orectolobidae) in New South Wales, Australia, using recreational scuba-divers. Aquatic Living Resources, 22(3), pp.255-264. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/alr/2009046.
Corrigan, S., Huveneers, C., Schwartz, T., Harcourt, R.G. and Beheregaray, L.B. (2008). Genetic and reproductive evidence for two species of ornate wobbegong shark Orectolobus spp. on the Australian east coast. Journal of Fish Biology, 73(7), pp.1662-1675. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.02039.x.
Huveneers, C., Walker, T.I., Otway, N.M. and Harcourt, R.G. (2007). Reproductive synchrony of three sympatric species of wobbegong shark (genus Orectolobus) in New South Wales, Australia: reproductive parameter estimates necessary for population modelling. Marine and Freshwater Research, 58(8), pp.765-777. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF06187.
Huveneers, C., Harcourt, R.G., Gibbs, S. and Otway, N.M. (2007). Quantitative diet assessment of wobbegong sharks (genus Orectolobus) in New South Wales, Australia. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64(6), pp.1272-1281. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsm111.
Huveneers, C., Otway, N.M. and Harcourt, R.G. (2007). Morphometric Relationships and Catch Composition of Wobbegong Sharks (Chondrichthyes: Orectolobus) Commercially Fished in New South Wales, Australia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 128, pp.243-249. [online]. Available from: http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=836582550298167;res=IELHSS.
Huveneers, C., Harcourt, R.G. and Otway, N.M. (2006). Observations of localised movements and residence times of wobbegong sharks (Orectolobus halei) at Fish Rock, NSW, Australia. Cybium, 30(4), pp.103-111. [online]. Available from: http://www.mnhn.fr/sfi/cybium/archiv.html.
Old, J. and Huveneers, C. (2006). Morphology of the blood cells from three species of wobbegong sharks (Orectolobus species) on the east coast of New South Wales. Zoo Biology, 25(1), pp.73-82. [online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/zoo.20079.
Huveneers, C. (2006). Redescription of two species of wobbegongs (Chondrichthyes: Orectolobidae) with elevation of Orectolobus halei Whitley 1940 to species level. Zootaxa, 1284, pp.29-51. [online]. Available from: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01284p051f.pdf.
Allen, S. and Huveneers, C. (2005). First Record of an Australian Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) Feeding on a Wobbegong Shark (Orectolobus ornatus). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 126, pp.95-97. [online]. Available from: http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=864848767696857;res=IELHSS.

Show selected publications

Professional and community engagement

Since starting working on sharks, I have submitted, nine public submissions, provided popular articles to 14 different magazines and non-governmental agencies (Nature Conservation Council and Council Conservation of South Australia), and won the public prize award for one of them. I have also given 11 public talks to audiences such as scuba-diving clubs, high school students, Rotary clubs, and aquarium visitors. I have given over 45 interviews to magazine, radio, and television nationally (e.g, ABC radio and television, Channel 7, 9, and 10, the Manly Daily, The Age, The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, The Advertiser), but also internationally (i.e, Canada, Italy, Hawaii, England, Belgium).

Furthermore, our research on wobbegong sharks was covered by over 40 media features. I have provided support and help to several high school student and was also a collaborator in the creation of a website aimed to facilitate greater public understanding of the ecological roles and significance of pelagic sharks (www.henrythesealion.com). Local schools have shown interest in including aspects of the webpage in teaching programs. In 2003, I became an honorary member of the Shark Trust for the help I provided for several years. I have also created a research project involving the recreational diving community to estimate the relative abundance of sharks in NSW.

Expertise for media contact

  • Sharks and rays General ecology, biology, movements, diets, reproduction, fisheries sustainability, and conservation of sharks, rays and chimaeras

Subject/s

  • Biology
  • Ecology
  • Fish


inspiring achievement