A Deeper Look at Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Assemblages: A Comparison of Survey Approaches and Assessments of Shallow to Mesophotic Communities
Access Status
Open access
Authors
Asher, Jacob
Date
2017Supervisor
Dr Euan Harvey
Type
Thesis
Award
PhD
Metadata
Show full item recordFaculty
Science and Engineering
School
Department of Environment and Agriculture
Collection
Abstract
This PhD provides a comparative analysis between underwater visual censuses, and provides new information on shallow to mesophotic reef fishes/predator communities in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Results show that 1.) 60-minute, baited surveys were most effective in capturing overall populations, 2.) functional group composition shifts between shallow water, upper, and lower-mesophotic zones in the MHI, as do top-level predators in both the MHI and NWHI, and 3.) predator abundances remain inconsistent between diver and video-based methodologies.