Habitat and Life History of Juvenile Hawaiian Pink Snapper, Pristipomoides filamentosus

Abstract

Eteline snappers are an important component of commercial demersal fisheries in the central and western Pacific, but there is a substantial gap in the knowledge of their life histories, specifically the larval and juvenile stages. Juvenile pink snapper, Pristipomoides filamentosus (Valenciennes), ranging in size from 7 to 25 cm fork length, inhabit a nearly featureless plain offshore of Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu, at depths of 65-100 m. Bottom samples and underwater video footage showed the bottom to be uniformly composed of fine, silty sand with little relief. Conductivity-temperature-depth data indicate that an internal tide brings cold water over the bottom on a tidal basis. Telemetric studies show that juveniles undergo small-scale crepuscular migrations from deeper daytime locations to shallower nighttime locations but move relatively little during day and night periods. Analysis of length frequency distributions obtained over a 17-month period resulted in an estimate of the von Bertalanffy growth constant (K) of 0.21 yr-l.