[Coral-List] Lionfish in the Atlantic-Snappers in the Pacific

[Brett David Schumacher]

The introduced snappers did in fact island hop northwest, and southeast, throughout the archipelago. The only island where ta`ape were released was O`ahu, and they dispersed from there.  Most of this was likely larval dispersal, given the distances and depths between islands and atolls, and the rate at which notable populations became established.  Based on records kept by the State of Hawai`i and published reports, a more or less stepping stone pattern of dipersal looks to have taken place. The average rate of advance was about 60km per year, and the snappers are now found essentially throughout the archipelago.

Brett

----------------------------------------------------
Brett D. Schumacher
Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
Department of Zoology
University of Hawaii at Manoa
2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson 152
Honolulu, HI 96822
PH#(808) 956-8350
FAX#(808) 956-4238

> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:55:15 +0800
> From: "Tupper, Mark (WorldFish)" <M.Tupper at CGIAR.ORG>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Lionfish in the Atlantic
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Message-ID:
> 	<DF5BEA7FB371DE43871F62A1B56901D703218639 at GOBY.WORLDFISH.CGIARAD.ORG>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
> 
> I agree with Charles that lionfish would most likely target juvenile
> grunts, snappers and cardinalfishes, and also chromis, which they
> certainly hunt in the Pacific. They also don't have the type of 
> feedingapparatus for picking cryptic blennies and gobies out of 
> reef crevices.
> 
> A quick question for anyone based in Hawaii: as Charles said, Lutjanus
> kasmira was introduced to Hawaii in the 1950s. Recently I noticed
> schools of them in pictures taken from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands
> and French Frigate Shoals. Does anyone know if they were deliberately
> released there also, or have they just island-hopped their way 
> northwestover the past 50 years?
> 
> Cheers,
> Mark
> 
> Dr. Mark Tupper
> Scientist - Coral Reefs
> The WorldFish Center
> PO Box 500 GPO, 10670 Penang, Malaysia
> Tel (+6-04) 626-1606; Fax (+6-04) 626-5530
> 
> 
> 
> 
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