the shark assemblage at french frigate shoals atoll, hawai‘i species composition, abundance and habitat use鲨鱼聚集在法国护卫舰浅滩环礁,夏威夷的物种组成、丰度和栖息地的使用.pdfVIP

The Shark Assemblage at French Frigate Shoals Atoll, Hawai‘i: Species Composition, Abundance and Habitat Use 1,2 1,2 1 1 Jonathan J. Dale *, Austin M. Stankus , Michael S. Burns , Carl G. Meyer 1 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Coconut Island, Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States of America, 2 Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America Abstract Empirical data on the abundance and habitat preferences of coral reef top predators are needed to evaluate their ecological impacts and guide management decisions. We used longline surveys to quantify the shark assemblage at French Frigate Shoals (FFS) atoll from May to August 2009. Fishing effort consisted of 189 longline sets totaling 6,862 hook hours of soak time. A total of 221 sharks from 7 species were captured, among which Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis, 36.2%), gray reef (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, 25.8%) and tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier, 20.4%) sharks were numerically dominant. A lack of blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) distinguished the FFS shark assemblage from those at many other atolls in the Indo-Pacific. Compared to prior underwater visual survey estimates, longline methods more accurately represented species abundance and composition for the majority of shark species. Sharks were significantly less abundant in the shallow lagoon than adjacent habitats. Recaptures of Galapagos sharks provided the first empirical estimate of population size for any Galapagos shark population. The overall recapture rate was 5.4%. Multiple closed population models were evaluated, with Chao Mh ranking best in model performance and yielding a population estimate of 668 sharks with 95% confidence in