Edward Emile DeMartini

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | UH Manoa · Institute of Marine Biology

Supplemental Material – Andrews et al. (2019) Growth and longevity of Hawaiian grouper (Hyporthodus quernus) — input for management and conservation of a large, slow-growing grouper. Additional information on specimens and measurements made in the associated published work. Plots of otolith mass-to-TL (used as a tool in elucidating accurate growth...

Reproductive characteristics of a fish stock provide important tools for assessing population health. Change in length-at-maturity (L50 ) is a potential indicator of exploited fish populations but when criteria for determining maturity classifications are inconsistent, it is difficult to accurately assess change over time and space. Etelis coruscan...

Life history characteristics of the Pacific yellowtail emperor, Lethrinus atkinsoni, were described from commercial samples in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands spanning a 28‐month market sampling period. Derived statistics pertaining to growth, life span, mortality and reproductive features were obtained through analyses of sectione...

In this study, the authors describe a process that consistently identified sex based on differences in the length and characteristics of the urogenital papilla septum of Etelis carbunculus, a deep‐water snapper (Lutjanidae, Etelinae). These characteristics, regardless of fish size, were found to be accurate for 96% of 157 specimens evaluated. The a...

What follows is a look back over a long and productive career and avocation in a field that I love, but one that has also been struck occasionally by personal tragedy, including the loss of my father at an early age, the unexpected death of my beloved wife and life partner in 2010, and a stroke in 2020 that has left me partially disabled. But impac...

Mesophotic reefs (30–150 m) occur in the tropics and subtropics at depths beyond most scientific diving, thereby making conventional surveys challenging. Towed cameras, submersibles, and mixed-gas divers were used to survey the mesophotic reef fish assemblages and benthic substrates of the Au‘au Channel, between the Hawaiian Islands of Maui and Lān...

The reproductive characteristics of the longtail snapper, Etelis coruscans — known locally in Hawaii as “onaga,” — was last assessed in 1989; therefore, updated information is needed for improving its stock assessment and management in the bottomfish fishery of the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). Specimens were collected during research cruises and ei...

Onaga Etelis coruscans is an important component of the commercial deep-water handline fishery in Hawaii and is one of the more valuable species because of its local popularity. This species is part of a management unit called the Deep 7, a data-poor fishery comprising six snapper and one grouper species for which information about age, growth, lon...

Mesophotic (30–150 m) reef fish assemblages in the Au‘au Channel, between the Hawaiian Islands of Maui and Lāna‘i, were compared visually with neighboring shallow (<30 m depth) reef fish assemblages for differences in structure. Between 2007 and 2011, approximately 7000 mesophotic and 4000 shallow reef fishes were identified, sized (standard length...

Aim Species ranges provide a valuable foundation for resolving biogeographical regions, evolutionary processes and extinction risks. To inform conservation priorities, here we develop the first bioregionalization based on reef fish abundance of the Hawaiian Archipelago, which spans nearly 10° of latitude across 2,400 km, including 8 high volcanic i...

Variation in life‐history characteristics is evident within and across animal populations. Such variation is mediated by environmental gradients and reflects metabolic constraints or trade‐offs that enhance reproductive outputs. While generalizations of life‐history relationships across species provide a framework for predicting vulnerability to ov...

Surprisingly little published information exists on the pros and cons of managing extracted resources that are pooled as compound taxa such as species complexes. Current fisheries management includes many species complexes; in Hawaii, this includes two taxa of species pooled at subfamily and higher levels. These include seven species of parrotfishe...

Hawaiian grouper (Hyporthodus quernus) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and is regionally important, yet little is known about its life history. This large species is managed within the Deep 7 bottomfish complex, which includes six snapper species that are assumed to have similar life history traits. Previous age estimates were not validated and...

A microscopic morphological feature (eosinophilic granulocytes, eG) was recently detected in the gonads of two species of economically important and broadly distributed, tropical Indo-Pacific eteline snappers, primarily in the ovaries of mature but reproductively inactive female Ruby Snapper Etelis carbunculus. Eosinophilic granulocytes have been k...

Abstract 1. Large declines in reef fish populations in Hawai’i have raised concerns about the sustainability of these resources, and the ecosystem as a whole. To help elucidate the reasons behind these declines, a comprehensive examination of reef fish assemblages was conducted across the entire 2500 km Hawaiian Archipelago. 2. Twenty-five datasets...

Growth rates and longevities were estimated for five major fishery species of parrotfishes (“uhu”) at Oahu, Hawai’i. All species grew rapidly with von Bertalanffy growth formula k values ≥0.4·year⁻¹. Longevities were found to range broadly among the three small species, 4 years in Calotomus carolinus and 6 and 11 years in Scarus psittacus and Chlor...

New estimates of median body length at sexual maturity (L50) are presented for females of ehu (Etelis carbunculus) and kalekale (Pristipomoides sieboldii) in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI); these are compared with published estimates for females of each species in the north-western Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). This case study illustrates the general i...

The crimson jobfish, Pristipomoides filamentosus (Hawai’i local name - opaka’paka) is a deep-water eteline lutjanid that supports important commercial and recreational fisheries in Hawaii and throughout much of the Indo-Pacific region. It is one of the top two species of the ‘Deep-7’ bottomfish species complex in the commercial bottomfish fishery o...

Bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis) from Hawaii were aged to >50 years using cross-sectioned sagittal otoliths. Fish length was a poor indicator of age because of rapid and variable early growth, exemplified by fish aged to be 4 years near maximum length. Growth was deterministic with adult ages decoupled from body length. Otolith mass and thick...

External morphometrics were quantified and compared with body size for adults of an Oahu (Hawaii) population of the Bluespine Unicornfish (Naso unicornis). Specimens were obtained by monthly fishery-dependent collections during the period from April 2011 to July 2012. Three apparently size-related, sexually dimorphic traits were measured (cephalic...

Corals of the Hawaiian Archipelago are well situated in the North Pacific Gyre (NPG) to record how bomb-produced radiocarbon has been sequestered and transported by the sea. While this signal can be traced accurately through time in reef-building corals and used to infer oceanographic processes and determine the ages of marine organisms, a comprehe...

First estimates of sex allocation patterns and body size-at-sexual maturity and at protogynous sex change are presented for the five major (including one endemic) species of parrotfishes of Hawaii. Median body size at initial maturation as a female (LM50) and at protogynous sex change from adult female to adult male (LΔ50) varied greatly among the...

A comprehensive status review report in response to a petition to list the humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The Galapagos Sailfin grouper, Mycteroperca olfax, locally known as bacalao and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, is culturally, economically, and ecologically important to the Galapagos archipelago and its people. It is regionally endemic to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and, while an important fishery resource that has shown substantial declines...

The Galapagos Sailfin grouper, Mycteroperca olfax, locally known as bacalao and listed as vulnerable by IUCN, is culturally, economically, and ecologically important to the Galapagos archipelago and its people. It is regionally endemic to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and, while an important fishery resource that has shown substantial declines in r...

The Galapagos Sailfin grouper, Mycteroperca olfax, locally known as bacalao and listed as vulnerable by IUCN, is culturally, economically, and ecologically important to the Galapagos archipelago and its people. It is regionally endemic to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and, while an important fishery resource that has shown substantial declines in r...

The local diversity and global richness of coral reef fishes, along with the diversity manifested in their morphology, behaviour and ecology, provides fascinating and diverse opportunities for study. Reflecting the very latest research in a broad and ever-growing field, this comprehensive guide is a must-read for anyone interested in the ecology of...

Refinements to the methodology of bomb radiocarbon dating made it possible to validate age estimates of the humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum). Age for these species has been estimated from presumed annual growth zones in otoliths at similar to 30 and similar to 40 years respectively. The validity...

Background/Question/Methods It is widely recognized that removal of apex predators can have broad ecological consequences for terrestrial and aquatic communities. However, the indirect effects of predator removal are oftentimes less well understood. In marine ecosystems, fisheries exploitation directly alters fish communities by targeting large-b...

We herein evaluate several reproductive metrics of Hawaiian Archipelagic populations of the bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis), an economically and ecologically important, broadly distributed tropical Pacific reef fish, based on multi-year, fishery-dependent and fishery-independent collections. Sex-specific spawning seasonality was characterize...

Reef‐fish management and conservation is hindered by a lack of information on fish populations prior to large‐scale contemporary human impacts. As a result, relatively pristine sites are often used as conservation baselines for populations near sites affected by humans. This space‐for‐time approach can only be validated by sampling assemblages thro...

We herein describe a long-term (22 consecutive yr, 1990 to 2011) time series of recruitment surveys for a guild of coral-sheltering fishes at 7 to 12 sites along a 26 km section of the west coast of Hawaii Island. For arc-eye hawkfish, the numerically dominant species, recruitment (defined as the contribution of young-of-year to the benthic populat...

Some major anthropogenic stressors have impacts that occur at infrequent, unpredictable intervals; their effects are difficult to evaluate in a timely manner unless space is substituted for time. In this paper we substitute space for time along an environmental gradient that aliases a predicted temporal response to habitat restoration. We herein de...

Growth characteristics of Pristipomoides filamentosus, a deepwater eteline snapper of major economic importance, are incomplete and inconsistent across its geographical range. Early growth rates have been validated using daily increment and length–frequency analyses, but historical estimates of adult growth rates are variable and longevity is unkno...

This study took advantage of a unique opportunity to collect large sample sizes of a coral reef fish species across a range of physical and biological features of the Hawaiian Archipelago to investigate variability in the demography of an invasive predatory coral reef fish, Cephalopholis argus (Family: Epinephelidae). Age-based demographic analyses...

Group incidence and size are described for recruit parrotfishes, wrasses, and damselfishes on Hawaiian reefs over 3years (2006–2008) at sites spanning the archipelago (20–28°N, 155–177°W). Coral-poor and coral-rich areas were surveyed at sites with both low (Hawaii Island) and high (Midway Atoll) predator densities, facilitating examination of rela...

Age estimation for opakapaka or pink snapper (Pristipomoides filamentosus) from the Hawaiian Archipelago has been an ongoing problem because otoliths of this species lack well-developed annual growth zones. Early growth was well documented and validation of otolith growth was successful for the first few years of life using daily increments, but de...

Age estimation for Hawaiian pink snapper or opakapaka (Pristipomoides filamentosus) from the Hawaiian Archipelago has been an ongoing problem because otoliths lack well developed annual growth zones. Early growth was well documented and validation of otolith growth was successful for the first few years of life using daily increments, but determina...

Reparameterized von Bertalanffy growth function: methods and results. (DOC)

Reparameterized von Bertalanffy growth function parameter estimates for each species by island combination. (DOC)

In recent years, it has become apparent that human impacts have altered community structure in coastal and marine ecosystems worldwide. Of these, fishing is one of the most pervasive, and a growing body of work suggests that fishing can have strong effects on the ecology of target species, especially top predators. However, the effects of removing...

Scheme for classification of species to functional feeding groups. (0.05 MB DOC)

Fit of linear, polynomial, exponential, and power models to the relationship between standing biomass as the dependent variable and functional richness as the independent variable. (0.06 MB DOC)

Data used to establish the link between energy consumption and body mass in fishes. (0.25 MB DOC)

Effect of the number of individuals on the relationship between diversity and standing biomass. (0.14 MB DOC)

Standing biomass as a surrogate of ecosystem processes. (1.25 MB DOC)

Interpretation of the significant interaction between human density and biodiversity. (0.07 MB DOC)

Changes in standing biomass along gradients of human density and biodiversity. (0.27 MB DOC)

Patterns of standing biomass and species and functional richness in coral reef fishes. (0.13 MB DOC)

Description of the assembled database. (0.05 MB DOC)

Data used to establish the link between biomass production and body mass in fishes. (0.10 MB DOC)

Sources of data. (0.07 MB DOC)

Author Summary The increasing intensity of human disturbance worldwide is triggering unprecedented biodiversity losses, which is raising concerns over whether ecosystems will work and continue delivering goods and services to humanity. In contrast to previous experimental studies, which describe saturating relationships between ecosystem functionin...

Egg masses of Xiphister atropurpureus (Kittlitz) and X. mucosus (Girard) are tended by a single adult male wrapped closely around the mass. Males tend up to three egg masses at once. It is suggested that males only tend egg masses that they have fertilized. Comparison of egg numbers in spawned masses and in ovaries of gravid females, together with...

A case study of the reproductive biology of the endemic Hawaiian grouper or hapu'upu'u (Hyporthodus quernus) is presented as a model for comprehensive future studies of economically important epinephelid groupers. Specimens were collected throughout multiple years (1978-81, 1992-93, and 2005-08) from most reefs and banks of the Northwestern Hawaiia...

A list is given of shore fishes known from Howland and Baker Islands, outliers of the Phoenix Islands group, and Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef in the Line Islands group. The list was compiled from literature sources, museum collection databases, and surveys conducted in 2000-2008 by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center...

In the Hawaiian Archipelago, shelter-dependent juvenile stages of many reef fishes and their coral habitats are increasingly put at risk by multiple anthropogenic stressors (e.g. overfishing and habitat loss, coral bleaching and sedimentation, respectively). We assessed coral bleaching (to identify relative susceptibility among growth forms) and th...

This paper describes the results of a field survey designed to test the prediction that the density of benthic juveniles of shallow-reef fishes is greater on wind-wave “exposed” sectors of a pair of isolated oceanic atolls (Kure, Pearl and Hermes) at the far northwestern end of the Hawaiian Islands, an archipelago in which east-northeasterly trade...

The body size-specific fecundity of Scyllarides squammosus is described based on the numbers of eggs carried externally on the pleopods of “berried” (ovigerous) females collected during June 1999, at Maro Reef, located mid-chain in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). Fecundity was positively and nonlinearly related to “tail” (abdomen) width (...

ABSTRACT: We describe the abundance, biomass, size composition, and trophic structure of fish assemblages of shallow (10 m depth) fore reef habitats at 2 US Pacific atolls (Kingman, Palmyra) and 2 Kiribati-owned atolls (Tabuaeran, Kiritimati) in the northern Line Islands. Our characterization spans several coincident gradients (in human habitation...

The nature and degree of impact of ship groundings on coral reefs and subsequent recovery is not well understood. Disturbed benthic and associated fish assemblages may take years-decades to return to pre-impact levels or may attain alternate stable states. Rose Atoll, a small, remote coral atoll in the central South Pacific, was impacted by a major...

Pacific remote island areas (PRIA) are sovereign United States unincorporated and unorganized territories not falling within the jurisdiction of any other US territory or State (GAO 1997; US DOI 2003). There are eight PRIA and all are under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Interior (DOI). All are low reef islets or atolls in the central Pac...

Coral reef fish generally have relatively sedentary juvenile and adult phases and a presumed highly dispersive pelagic larval phase, yet previous studies that have tried to relate pelagic larval duration (PLD) to population structure have given inconsistent results. In the present study, the population structures of two damselfishes, Stegastes fasc...