Deep-sea Benthic Fish of the Hawaiian Archipelago, Cross Seamount, and Johnston Atoll!

45 Pages·2008·22.77 MB·English

PacificScience(1994), vol. 48, no. 4: 367-409
© 1994byUniversityofHawaiiPress. All rights reserved
Deep-sea Benthic Fish ofthe Hawaiian Archipelago, Cross Seamount,
and Johnston Atoll!
E. H. CHAVE2AND B. C. MUNDy3
ABSTRACT: More than 250 benthic fish taxa were photographed and video
taped by Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory submersibles at depths be
tween 40 and 2000 m in the Hawaiian Archipelago, Johnston Atoll, and Cross
Seamount. Most ofthe 213 identified fish species occurred close to hard sub
strates with holes, ledges, or caves. Twenty-two species (notably the larger
sharks, lutjanids, and carangids) are cosmopolitan. Seventy-six species are
restricted to various Indo-Pacific areas, 64 in the Pacific, and 51 in the
Hawaiian Archipelago including Cross Seamount and Johnston Atoll. There
is a rapid decrease in the number of species from 200 to 400 m depth.
One hundred eight species were seen 20 m deeper than previously reported.
Eleven of the deeper-dwelling animals were found 20 m shallower than pre
viouslyrecorded. Faunalzoneswerenotrecognizedatanydepth. Speciesnewly
recorded in Hawai'i include Bathypterois grallator (Goode & Bean), Bodianus
cylindriatus (Tanaka), Centrophorus cf. granulosus (Bloch & Schneider), Chau
naxfimbriatus Hilgendorf, Caelorinchus spilonotus Sazonov & Iwamoto, Noto
canthus sp., Paratrachichthysprosthemius Jordan & Fowler, Prognathodes gue
zei (Mauge & Bauchot), and Sladenia remiger Smith & Radcliffe. New species
collectedandreportedelsewhereare CentrodracorubellusFrickeetaI.,Epigonus
glossodontusGon, Owstoniasp., andPseudanthiasfucinus(Randall & Ralston).
Caelorinchus sp. 2and Callanthiassp. areprobablyundescribed. Itappears that
the Hawaiian deep-sea fish fauna has multiple origins and affinities with many
regions.
THIS PAPER SUMMARIZES the fish fauna col waiian Archipelago (160 42' N, 1690 32' W).
lected, photographed, and videotaped during The data were obtained from dives made at
500 dives conducted by Hawaii Undersea depths between 40 and 2000 m from 1982 to
Research Laboratory (HURL) submersibles 1992.
Makali'i and Pisces V. These vehicles oper The deep-sea fish fauna ofHawai'i is now
ated in the Hawaiian Archipelago from among the best known in the Pacific, when
French Frigate Shoals to L6'ihi Volcano, the results of the trawl surveys by Gilbert
located off the southeastern end of Hawai'i (1905) and Struhsaker (1973) are combined
Island (180 55' N, 1550 16' W); on Cross with results ofthis submersible study. Trawl
Seamount, situated southwest of Hawai'i studies are limited by factors such as net
Island (180 44' N, 1580 15' W); and at John avoidance and imprecise knowledge ofdepth
ston Atoll, located southwest of the Ha- of capture (Haedrich et ai. 1975, Merrett
and Marshall 1981). Submersible studies are
biased by attraction or repulsion of organ
1Manuscriptaccepted II December1993. isms and photographic selectivity of the
2Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, University scientists (Ralston et ai. 1986, Chave and
ofHawaii,Honolulu, Hawai'i96822.
Jones 1991; HURL records, unpubi. data).
3Honolulu Laboratory, Southwest Fisheries Science
Many of the sampling limitations are com
Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA,
Honolulu, Hawai'i96822. plementary when precise submersible ob-
367
FIGURE1. Hexanchus griseus (HURL photo 43-31,
Colin).
FIGURE4. Echinorhinus cookei (HURL photo 5039
43, Mullineaux).
FIGURE5. Torpedo sp. (HURL photo 119-68,
Chave).
Figure2. Pseudotriakis microdon (HURL video
5050,Polovina).
Figure3. Squalus mitsukurii (HURL photo 148-94, Figure6. Hexatrygon longirostra (HURL photo
Chave). 5069-06,Moore).
Deep-seaFish ofthe Hawaiian Archipelago-CHAVE ANDMUNDY 369
FIGURE8. Hydrolagus purpurescens (HURL photo
238-11, France).
FIGURE7. Plesiobatis daviesi (HURL photo 87-18,
Maragos).
FIGURE9. Anilyophineeelandthezoanthid Gerardiasp. (HURLphoto68-08,Chave).
370 PACIFICSCIENCE,Volume48, October 1994
Figure12. Gadomus melanopterus (HURL photo
FIGURE10. Nettastoma parviceps (HURL photo
5091-76,Malahoff).
5068-11,Moore).
FIGURE11. Chlorophthalmus proridens (HURL Figure13. Caelorinchus sp. 2 (HURL video 5204,
photo123-13,Chave). Young).
servations of depth and behavior are com MATERIALS AND METHODS
bined with data on large numbers of speci
mens and areas sampled by trawls. We can The submersibles' still and video cameras
address the biogeography, depth distri were synchronized to record the same
butions, and ecology of Hawaiian deep-sea images, enabling subjects seen on the video
fish with greater confidence than previously screen to be photographed. Photos were
possible. taken in strobe light. The videocamera ran
FIGURE17. Gadella molokaiensis (HURL photo
Figure14. Coryphaenoides longicirrhus (HURL 118-25,Chave).
video5180, Malahoff).
FIGURE15. Nezumia propinqua (HURL photo 215
46, Chave).
Figure18. Pycnocraspedum armatum (HURL photo
5068-49, Moore).
FIGURE19. Lophiodes miacanthus (HURL photo
144-17,Scheuer).
FIGURE16. Antimora microlepis (HURL photo
5145-88,Garcia).
372 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume48, October 1994
FIGURE22. Ijimaiaplicatellus(HURLphoto 34-146,
Colin).
FIGURE20. Sladenia remiger (HURL photo 5186
141,Garcia).
FIGURE23. Beryx decadactylus (HURL photo 215
05,Chave).
istry profiles, depth records, and speCImens
FIGURE21. Malthopsis jordani (HURL video 2025, augment these data.
Young).
All specimens and many of the photo
graphs were sentto experts for identification.
Some identifications are tentative because
throughout the dive, much ofthe time using specimens were not collected or because the
the submersible's running lights for illumina photographs did not show those character
tion. The floodlights were turned to video istics used for identification. The photo
tape selected subjects. All photographs from graphs and videotapes documenting the fish
depths greater than 40 m were examined. species in this study are filed in the HURL
About 2100 ofthese include identifiable fish archives and are available on request. Fig
and form the data set used in this study. ures 1-45 and Plates I-IV contain the first
Videotapes, lightmeasurements, waterchem- published underwater photographs of some
Deep-seaFishofthe Hawaiian Archipelago-CHAVE AND MUNDY 373
FIGURE26. Zenopsis nebulosus (HURL photo 357
FIGURE24. Polymixiaberndti(HURLphoto213-48, 37,Grigg).
Chave).
FIGURE25. Stethopristis eos (HURL photo 155-13,
Chave).
of the fishes. Previously published photos
taken from HURL submersibles may be FIGURE27. Grammicolepis brachiusculus (HURL
video 119,Chave).
found in Randall and Ralston (1984), Ran
dall etal. (1985), Ralston et al. (1986), Jones
and Sulak (1990), Chave and Jones (1991), relative abundances. Table 2 contains new
and Pyle and Chave (1994). information about some of the fish. The
Table 1 includes all identified fish taxa, order of species presentation in both tables
their depth ranges, locations observed, and follows Eschmeyer (1990).
374 PACIFICSCIENCE,Volume 48, October 1994
FIGURE28. Bembradium roseum (HURL photo 130
28,Maragos).
FIGURE30. Symphysanodonmauna/oae(HURLvideo
272,Grigg).
Bean], Bodianus cylindriatus [Tanaka], Cae
lorinchus spilonotus Sazonov & Iwamoto,
Centrophorus cf. granulosus [Bloch &
Schneider], Chaunax fimbriatus Hilgendorf,
Notocanthus sp., Paratrachichthys prosthe
mius Jordan & Fowler, Prognathodes guezei
[Mauge & Bauchot], and Sladenia remiger
Smith & Radcliffe) are also discussed in
Table 2.
BehaviorandMorphology
Below 100m mostfish were located on or
Figure29. Synagropsargyrea(HURLphoto 118-18, just above the bottom. This agrees with ob
Chave). servations of deep-sea benthic fish seen pri
marily at 0-5 m from the bottom on the
Nazca and Sala-y-G6mez Ridges (Golovan
and Pakhorukov 1987). Most species were
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
found on or near hard substrates that
Mostfish seen in this study were collected containedholes, caves, orotherirregularities.
previously in the Pacific (Table 1). Collec On sand, large groups of fish were seen in
tions made with the HURL submersibles troughs when the currents were strong. They
yielded four new species: Centrodraco ru were only observed above the substratewhen
bel/us Fricke et al., Epigonus glossodontus currents swept particles through the water at
Gon, Owstonia sp., and Pseudanthiasfucinus moderate rates (HURL records, unpubl.
(Randall & Ralston) (Table 2). Two possible data).
new species (Caelorinchus sp. 2 and Cal/an When the submersibles were operating
thias sp.) and nine other new Hawaiian withtheirrunninglightson, mostfish did not
records (Bathypterois gral/ator [Goode & react to the vehicles. Fishes thatdid reactare
Deep-seaFish ofthe HawaiianArchipelago-CRAVE AND MUNDY 375
FIGURE31. AnaggregationofSymphysanodon typus(HURLphoto337-48,Ralston).
moving toward or away from the light, or
becomingmotionless.
Benthicfish deeper than 100m were com
monly eel-like in shape. Many could not be
identified from their photos. Ate1eopids,
macrourids, halosaurids, and congrids were
often the most abundant of the eel-like
forms. Perhaps this body shape offers less re
sistance to current flow and allows greater
motility for near-bottom animals (Zaferman
1992). Having a long lateral line also may
increase sensory capabilities and enable ee1
likefish to search for preywithoutdisturbing
the bottom (Marshall 1971, Marshall and
Merrett 1977).
FIGURE32. Eumegistus illustris (HURL photo 5070
16,Moore).
Biogeography
Of 213 species of fish identified in this
listed in Table 2. When the brighter photo study and listed in Table 1, 25 have circum
and video lights were turned on, many ofthe global distributions, 73 are found in the
fish that occurred deeper than 100m reacted Indo-Pacific, and 64 are restricted to Pacific
by bumping into the bottom, backing away, waters. Fifty-one species (24%) are found
376 PACIFICSCIENCE,Volume 48, October 1994
FIGURE33. Aphareusrutilans(bottomright) andseveral Pristipomoidesfilamentosus(HURLphoto 336-03, Ral
ston).
waiian Islands (HURL records [unpubl.];
Grigg et al. 1987). This observation was ex
pected because Cross Seamount lies only 190
km to the west and L6'ihi is 50 km to the
south of Hawai'i Island, easily within the
range oflarval fish dispersal.
Two trends are evident from distribution
datainTable 1. Mostlarge, strongswimmers
with carnivorous or omnivorous habits (e.g.,
many ofthe sharks, lutjanids, and carangids)
have ocean-wide distributions. Fish found
shallowerthan 100m tend to have more spe
cific habitat preferences and wider zoogeo
graphic distributions than deeper-dwelling
fish, perhaps because shallower species have
Figure34. Etelis carbunculus(HURL photo 213-74, been studiedmore extensively.
Chave). Two hypotheses are currently recognized
as explaining the distribution of shallow
watermarine organismsin Hawai'i: dispersal
only in the Hawaiian Archipelago, Cross and vicariance. Both are discussed at length
Seamount, and Johnston Atoll. This high by Springer (1982) and Newman (1986).
number of endemic deep-sea species agrees The dispersal hypothesis assumes that the
with calculations that include most of the Hawaiian Archipelago was colonized by
shallow-water fish in Central Pacific areas larval drift of Indo-Pacific fish across "filter
(Randall 1985, Randall et al. 1985, Kosaki bridges" (Gosline 1955, Gosline and Brock
et al. 1991). All fish seen on Cross Seamount 1960) or along "stepping stones" (Wilson
and L6'ihi were also observed off the Ha- and Kaufmann 1987, Kosaki et al. 1991).