Summer census of the reef-fish community of waters adjacent to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park, summers 1974-1978

Abstract

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Fish censuses were made in three habitat types in Honaunau Bay and adjoining Alahaka Bay, Hawai'i, during the summers of 1974 to 1978. The habitats were an inshore Boulder Zone, a current-swept Drop-off Zone, and a luxuriant Coral-rich Zone. SCUBA-assisted observations and a standardized transecting method with 50-m segmented lines were employed. The number of individuals of each species observed was recorded during a minimum of three transects per site per year. Reconnaissance dives were also conducted to further qualitatively assess the fish population in Honaunau Bay. A total of 126 species was observed along the transects and 37 additional species were seen on reconnaissance dives. The average number of species distributed along transects were 54 for the Boulder Zone, 60 for the Coral-rich Zone, and 60 for the Drop-off Zone. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index and the number of species observed each year remained fairly constant for each transect. The species make-up was qua1itatively similar for all transects but quantitative differences were evident. The Drop-off Zone was characterized by plankton pickers and wandering predators, the Boulder Zone by an increased number of herbivores while the Coral-rich Zone appeared intermediate. Kole (Ctenochaetus strigosus [Bennett]); Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens [Bennett]); Lavender Tang (Acanthurus nigrofuscus [Forskal]); Pebbled Butterfly Fish (Chaetodon multicinctus Garrett); and three Damsel Fish (Chromis spp.) were the dominant fish at all sites. Honaunau Bay appears to be recovering from previously documented human exploitation. One unnamed species, two species described during the course of the study, one new Hawaiian record, and several very rare Hawaiian species were found to be residents in Honaunau Bay.National Park Service Contract No. CX 8000 9 000