Observations on the Ecology of Epinepheline and Lutjanid Fishes of the Society Islands, with Emphasis on Food Habits

Abstract

Food habits and habitats frequented by several groupers (Epinephelinae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) of the Society Islands were investigated preliminary to the introduction into Hawaiian waters from French Oceania of selected inshore marine fishes of food and sport-fishing value. Fifteen species of groupers and 14 snappers which do not occur in the Hawaiian chain were collected in Tahiti and Moorea. Stomach contents of 1,305 specimens of 16 species were examined. Of these, 1,131 were from the snapper, Lutjanus vaigiensis, and the two groupers, Epinephelus merra and Cephalopholis argus, these three species being the most important market fishes of these two groups in Tahiti. E. merra is common in lagoons, and about two-thirds of the specimens had fed on benthic crustaceans (principally crabs) and the rest mostly on fishes. During the southern summer, however, when juvenile fishes were abundant on the reefs, fish made up three-fourths of the diet. C. argus is the dominant carnivorous fish on outer reefs but is also found in lagoons. More than three-fourths of the stomachs of this species contained fishes and the rest benthic crustaceans. L. vaigiensis, also a fish of diverse habitats, consumes fishes and crustacea in about equal amounts. Very few of the fishes found in the stomachs of these three species are of commercial importance.