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ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

Lemon Bay ISRA

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Lemon Bay ISRA

Lemon Bay

Summary

Lemon Bay is located on the southeastern side of Grande Terre Island in New Caledonia. The area is a small bay sheltered from prevailing winds. It is characterised by reef flats and a reef slope bordering both ends and by sandy and rocky substrates in the central and outer parts. The area overlaps with the Grand Lagon Sud Marin Key Biodiversity Area and the Ouen Toro Territorial Park. Within this area there are: threatened species and reproductive areas (Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark Stegostoma tigrinum).

Lemon Bay

Lemon Bay

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Lemon Bay is located on the southeastern side of Grande Terre Island in New Caledonia. It is situated next to Nouméa City and is a small bay sheltered from prevailing winds that extends ~1 km along a sandy beach (Shine et al. 2003). The area is characterised by reef flats and a reef slope bordering both ends and by sandy and rocky substrates in the central and outer parts (Lukoschek & Shine 2012; Snorkelling Report 2024). The area is dominated by semi-diurnal tides that range from 0.6–1.4 m (Chupin et al. 2023).

The area overlaps with the Grand Lagon Sud Marin Key Biodiversity Area (KBA 2024) and the Ouen Toro Territorial Park (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN 2024).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 20 m based on the bathymetry of the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

One Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occurs in the area. This is the Endangered Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark (Rigby et al. 2024).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS

Lemon Bay is an important reproductive area for one shark species.

Since 2019, eggs (n = 108) of Indo-Pacific Leopard Sharks have been regularly observed in the area by scientists (H Lassauce unpubl. data 2024). Annually, between 20–30 eggs have been recorded between October–December in the area. Some of these eggs are collected and taken to the Aquarium Des Lagons where eggs hatch and neonates and young-of-the-year sharks are kept for 4–6 months before they are tagged and released back to Lemon Bay (H Lassauce unpubl. data 2024). Prior to 2019, citizen science programs with snorkellers led by the aquarium showed the regular presence of eggs in the area that occasionally were collected and hatched for exhibition (ReShark unpubl. data 2024; H Lassauce unpubl. data 2024). This area is one of the few locations in New Caledonia where Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark eggs are regularly seen and the number of eggs observed annually is the joint-largest reported in the country along with Sainte-Marie Bay (H Lassauce unpubl. data 2024).

Lemon Bay

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