#TEMPORARY ACCESSION NUMBER:
#ACCESSION NUMBER:

#CONTRIBUTOR:
Dr. Lu Eldredge

#CONTRIBUTOR INSTITUTION:
Hawaii Biological Survey
Bishop Museum
Honolulu, Hawaii

#ORIGINATOR:
Dr. Ralph DeFelice
Dr. David Minton
Dr. Scott Godwin

#ORIGINATOR INSTITUTION:
Hawaii Biological Survey
Bishop Museum
Honolulu, Hawaii

#TITLE:
Records of shallow-water marine invertebrates from French Frigate Shoals,
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands with a note on nonindigenous species 
from NOWRAMP 2000 surveys at 39 sites and a March 2002 survey at a
single site

#ABSTRACT: 

In September of 2000, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Rapid Assessment and 
Monitoring Program (NOW-RAMP) Expedition surveyed French Frigate Shoals 
(FFS) and a number of the remaining Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). 
At FFS, marine surveys were conducted at 39 stations by three different 
Rapid Ecological Assessment teams from two separate research vessels, the
Townsend Cromwell (11 -25 Sep 2000) and the Rapture (23- 27 Sep 2000). 
An additional study of the seawall at Tern Island was conducted in March 
2002. A total of 618 marine invertebrate taxa were collected and identified, 
about 75% to specific level. Of the 622 taxa identified, 502 are
considered new records for FFS and perhaps 10 to 20% of these may 
be new records for the Hawaiian Archipelago. Of these new records, as 
many as 50 species may be undescribed and so far known only from FFS. 
Most of material collected by NOW-RAMP from the NWHI remains to be
examined, and therefore no conclusions can be drawn yet regarding the 
distribution of these species throughout the island chain. Two species 
considered to be nonindigenous, the hydroid Pennariadisticha, and the 
barnacle Ba/anus reticulatus, were found at FFS. A number of specimens 
of some taxonomic groups collected from FFS remain to be examined 
thoroughly by specialists, most notably the polychaetes, which will 
certainly increase the final species tally. Further study will also be
required of the 150 taxa which could not be identified to species level 
at the time of this report.

#PURPOSE:  
In September of 2000, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Rapid Assessment 
and Monitoring Program (NOW-RAMP) Expedition resurveyed the Northwestern 
Hawaiian Islands. The purpose of this multi-agency project was to obtain 
more detailed information about the marine fauna of these remote islands 
and represents the first intensive marine invertebrate survey in this 
region since the Tanager in 1923. This report reviews the findings of 
the NOW-RAMP survey of French Frigate Shoals.

#LOCATION EXTREMES:
SOUTHERNMOST LATITUDE:  23.6422
SOUTHERNMOST LATITUDE HEMISPHERE: N
NORTHERNMOST LATITUDE:  23.88167
NORTHERNMOST LATITUDE HEMISPHERE: N
WESTERNMOST LONGITUDE: 166.3254
WESTERNMOST LONGITUDE HEMISPHERE: W 
EASTERNMOST LONGITUDE: 166.0545
EASTERNMOST LONGITUDE HEMISPHERE: W  

#LOCATION KEYWORDS: 
North Pacific, Hawaii, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands,
French Frigate Shoals.

#SAMPLING STATIONS: 
see ../data/station_descriptions.txt
    ../data/station_map.jpg

#BEGIN AND END DATES: 
20000911 - 20020320

#SAMPLING PERIODS:
see ../data/station_descriptions.txt

#PARAMETERS: 
marine species
habitats

#METHODOLOGY:
Marine surveys were conducted at 39 stations by three different Rapid 
Ecological Assessment (REA) teams, usually having 4 -8 members, on two 
separate research vessels, the Townsend Cromwel/ (11 -25 Sep 2000) and 
the Rapture (23- 27 Sep 2000). Each REA team conducted surveys at different 
stations, and one member of each team was responsible for all invertebrate 
animals other than corals. Surveys were conducted using SCUBA and usually 
involved a combination of observations and collecting of large 
macroinvertebrates and small collections by hand of chunks of reef substrate, 
rubble, sand and algae in an attempt to collect microinvertebrates.  Some 
large common invertebrates observed were recorded as present on underwater 
paper datasheets carried by researchers and were not collected. Specimens 
and rubble/sand collections were labeled and transferred to either 10% 
formalin or 70% EtOH upon returning to the research vessels. In the lab, 
animals were removed from coral rubble, if necessary, and then identified to
lowest feasible taxonomic level.  All collections and observations were made 
betwwen 0 and 20 m.  All reported species are based on observation or
collections of living individuals except for molluscs.  Empty mollusc
shells were identified and those species were considered present
despite not being found alive.

Due to logistical constraints (e.g., lack of space on support skiffs,
inadequate lab facilities on the Rapture, and limited experienced
personnel), both detailed observations and extensive collections
for small invertebrates could not be made at all 39 stations.

An additional survey of the seawall at Tern Island was conducted
by Steve Coles, Bishop Museum, in March 2002.  The seawall, a likely
place for nonindigenous species, was not accessible to the NOW-RAMP
REA teams during the initial study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding for the analysis of French Frigate Shoals specimens and the 
preparation of this report was provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
Funding for the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Rapid Assessment Monitoring 
Program (NOW-RAMP) survey was provided by the National Science Foundation 
(NSF) and the Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative (HCRI). The NOW-RAMP survey was
conduced in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, the Hawaii Department of Aquatic Resources, the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, the Bishop Museum, the Universityof Hawaii, and the 
University of California at Santa Cruz.  Many of the taxonomic 
determinations provided in the report would not have been possible 
without the generous assistance of the following researchers: Sammy 
DeGrave (shrimp), David Gulko (coral), Gordon Hendler (ophiuroids), Brian 
Kensley (isopods), Jim Maragos (corals), Patsy McLaughlin (hermit crabs), 
Peter Ng (crabs), and Chela Zabin (bryozoans). Steve Coles collected
the specimens from the Tern Island seawall station, and Pakki Reath 
assisted in sorting many of the samples. Jim Maragos provided the 
discussion of the FFS corals, and Lu Eldredge reviewed the manuscript. Lab 
space and supplies were provided by the Bishop Museum and the Los Angeles
County Museum of Natural History .

#INSTRUMENT TYPES:
SCUBA
collection bags

#REFERENCES: 
2002-018. DeFelice, R., D. Minton & S. Godwin. 2002. Records of
   shallow-water marine invertebrates from French Frigate Shoals,
   Northwestern Hawaiian Islands with a note on nonindigenous
   species. Bishop Mus. Tech. Rep. 23, 78 p.

#SUBMITTING MEDIUM:
MS Excel spreadsheets by email

#FILE FORMATS: 
The original data were provided in MS Excel spreadsheets.
Redundant copies in CSV format were made of each sheet.

FILES:
FILENAME:
   French_Frigate_Spp.xls
CONTENTS: 
   Species surveyed at the the given sites
FORMAT:
   MS Excel

FILENAME:
   French_Frigate_Spp_all_spp_by_habitat.csv
   French_Frigate_Spp_stations.csv
CONTENTS: 
   Redundant copy of each sheet in spreadsheet,
   the first containing species and the second
   station information
FORMAT:
   ASCII CSV

FILENAME:
   station_descriptions.txt
   station_map.jpg
CONTENTS: 
   Station information
FORMAT:
   ASCII text and JPG figure format, respectively

#DATASET SIZE:
291 Kbytes

#NUMBER OF DATA UNITS:
39 stations

#MISCELLANEOUS:
