#TEMPORARY ACCESSION NUMBER:
#ACCESSION NUMBER:

#CONTRIBUTOR:
Lu Eldredge

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

#ORIGINATOR:
Dr. Ralph DeFelice
Dr. Steve Coles
Dr. David Muir
Dr. L.G. Eldredge
 
#ORIGINATOR INSTITUTION:
Hawaii Biological Survey
Bishop Museum
Honolulu, Hawaii

#TITLE: 
Investigation of the marine commmunities of Midway Harbor and
adjacent lagoon, Midway Atoll, Northwest Hawaiian Islands in 1998

#ABSTRACT:
A survey of the marine communities of Midway Atoll harbor and surrounding 
lagoon was conducted at 12 sites from September 5 to 9, 1998. The primary 
focus of these surveys was the invertebrates of the fouling communities 
present on artificial substrates. Occurrence of reef fishes at each site was
also recorded, and algae was collected and identified from four stations. 
A total of 444 taxa were identified (47 algae, 316 invertebrates, and 81 
fishes) from all stations. Approximately 250 invertebrate and 35 algae 
species are considered new records for Midway Atoll. All fishes observed
were previously record form the atoll.  Only three invertebrates identified 
in this survey are considered to be nonindigenous species in the Hawaiian 
Islands. One introduced bryozoan, Amathia distans, dominated the fouling 
communities atmost stations where artificial substrates were available. 
Another introduced bryozoan, Schizoporella errata, was also common at the 
same stations. A non indigenous barnacle, Chthamalus proteus, recently 
introduced from the Caribbean, was common on pier pilings inside Midway 
harbor. No introduced invertebrates were present in natural habitats. The 
introduced snapper, Lutjanus kasmira, was also present along the reef outside 
the lagoon.  The threat to the native reef community by established non- 
indigenous species is considered minimal.  The presence of these introduced 
species at Midway, especially Chthamalus proteus, suggests thatvectors of 
future, potentially more deleterious introductions exist. Transport of these 
introductions was most likely as fouling on ship bottoms, but other sources 
of introductions, such as ballast water carried in ships, should be guarded 
against to protect the relatively pristine reefs of Midway Atoll.

#PURPOSE:  
To define the characteristics of the marine biota and 
detect the occurrence of nonindigenous marine invertebrates.

#LOCATION EXTREMES:
SOUTHERNMOST LATITUDE:  28.1967
SOUTHERNMOST LATITUDE HEMISPHERE: N
NORTHERNMOST LATITUDE:  28.2667
NORTHERNMOST LATITUDE HEMISPHERE: N
WESTERNMOST LONGITUDE: 177.3950
WESTERNMOST LONGITUDE HEMISPHERE: W 
EASTERNMOST LONGITUDE: 177.3233
EASTERNMOST LONGITUDE HEMISPHERE: W  

#LOCATION KEYWORDS: 
North Pacific, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll

#SAMPLING STATIONS: 
see ../../data
Sand_Is_Map.jpg           map figure
Midway_Map.gif            map figure  
station_descriptions.txt   location descriptions

#BEGIN AND END DATES: 
19980905 - 19980909

#SAMPLING PERIODS:
Not explicitly given

#PARAMETERS: 
marine species
habitats

#METHODOLOGY:
Sampling was conducted at 12 stations around and within the atoll. 
Benthic organisms were collected from a variety of substrata using 
standard collecting techniques while using snorkel or SCUBA. Sampling 
locations were chosen to assure that a wide range of environmental 
conditions were assessed. The primary focus was placed upon fouling 
organisms which adhere to hard artificial surfaces such as cement 
dock pilings, but other natural substrates were investigated as well. 
The infaunal and epibenthic fauna of the sediments at some stations 
were also sampled using a hand held coring device. Visual observations 
of large benthic invertebrates and fishes were also recorded at each 
station. Organisms collected were preserved in 70% EtOH and returned 
to the Bishop Museum laboratory where they were sorted and identified 
to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Some individuals will be sent 
to specialists for verification of the identifications reported here. 
Given the difficulty of identifying some organisms and the instability of
taxonomy in general, several of the species names in this report will 
undoubtedly need revision.

#INSTRUMENT TYPES:
SCUBA
collection bags

#REFERENCES: 
1998-014. DeFelice, R.C., Coles, S.L., Muir, D. and L.G. Eldredge.
    Investigation of the Marine Communities of Midway Harbor and
    Adjacent Lagoon, Midway Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
    Report prepared for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific
    Islands Area Office, Honolulu.

1993-013 Randall, J.E., Earle, J.L., Pyle, Richard.L., Parrish,
    J.D. & Hayes, T. 1993. Annotated checklist of the fishes of
    Midway Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Science
    47(4): 356-400.

#SUBMITTING MEDIUM:
MS Excel via email

#FILE FORMATS: 
Data received as MS Excel.  Redundant ASCII copies made
and a few figures from the original report were scanned.

Files in ../../data:

Midway_Spp.xls             Original spreadsheet
Midway_Spp.csv             ASCII copy
Sand_Is_Map.jpg            map figure
Midway_Map.gif             map figure
station_descriptions.txt   location descriptions

#DATASET SIZE:
169 Kbytes

#NUMBER OF DATA UNITS:
12 stations

#MISCELLANEOUS:
Similar set for French Frigate Shoals, NODC ACCN: 0001083
