Site Selection and Evaluation by Divers

Cha ter5 Site SelectionAnd Evaluation By Divers

By HeywamfMathews particularlythase using nets or trawls.Often there areabstructions or snagsin an areathat is already T hemast critical phaseof any artificial reef avoidedby netfishermen. 'Ihe selectionof suchan constructionproject is theselection of its site. areawill avoidany conflict with existingfishing A properlyselected reef site will attract,for a long operations,and beneflt the net fishermen by having time,large numbers of fishto a locationwhich is a buoy in the area of the obstructionsthat will al- easilyfound by fishermenand divers. Improperly low them to avoid it compIetely. An existing sited, the reef can become last, or settle into bot- wreck can be an excellentstarting point for an arti- tomsediments, or attractonly a minimalamount ficialreef, and the addition of materialscan only in- of fish. It alsocan become a hazardto navigation crease the fisherman's choices arouixl the wreck and bottom trawlersor even be found washedup seeAppendix F forfurther information on sitese- on somebeach. The researchdiver plays a vital lection!. role in thesite selection process by pmvidingfirst hand observations of the sea floor that cannot be Role of'Diversin Site Planning providedby simplefathometcr surveys, Divas anddiving clubs can make a veryim- portanttcontribution during the planning stages of a reefproject by surveyinglocal fishing spots and Some General potentialartificial reef sites. Often angleis have Considerations for Reef Sites onlya generalpicture of thcbottom based on depth soundertracings. They can seldom tell if thebot- In mostreef building projects, a generallo- tomhas living arals, sponges,or otherlive bottom cation for the reef site is usuallyselected, either by organisms,especially if theyare low profile. The localofficials, a fishingor divingclub or civicor- fathometertracing will notshow the supporting ganization. There is a tendencyamong angiers to abilityof thcbottom, so the diver must test the sub- selectan existingfavorite fishing spot to "sweeten stratewith hishand, some type of bottomprobe, or' it up" or make a "goodbottom" even better. If the retrievalof a bottomsample to determineif it will sitehas any type of naturalreef or "livebottam" properlysupport the reef materials, Chapter 4 pro- then thc usc of such a site for an artificial reef is videsfurther discussions about testing and describ- discouragedby the permittingagency. Part of the ingsediment for itsability to supportreef materials. reason for this is that there is insufficient research to determinewhat effectsan artificial reef may haveon thefunctioning of a naturalreef system. Prehminary Surface Survey In addition, the artificial reef materialsmay actually damagesome of theexisting natural battom Once a generalarea hasbeen selected,the canimunity,such as incrusting corals and sponges. diver/biologistshouM make a systematicfathome- ter surveyof the area unlessit has already been sur- When an artificial reef is built in the middle veyedand fished extensively in thepast. If of a flat, featurelessbottom, it can serveas an oa- possible,a permanentrecord of thissurvey should sisin a desertof sand.Divers have observe great be madeby usinga papertracing or videoof the concentrations of fish on new artificial reefs fathometerreadings. A seriesof transoMusing a withina fcwdays of placementin suchareas, goodquality fathometer is theleast costly and time Most oflshore areas which have such barren bot- consumingway to do this. In mostareas the "live toms areusually well knownto localdivers and bottoms"arc rock ledges or outcrops.Generally, fishermen,Where possible, the nearest site to a thesestructures may have some lateral orientation seabuoy or inlet is preferableto saveboth time with respectto thecoastline. 'Ihis occursas the andfuel costs for theusers traveling ta andfrom continentalshelf slopes seaward where it intersects the reef. The site should not be locatedin or adja- rockstrata that farm the ledges and outcrops which cent to a heavily usedshipping channel or fairway, have become covered with benthic cummunities. becausethese areas will be in useday and night by Knowingthat such structures iun at someangle small boats. with respectto theshore-line, makes it easyto es- Anotherimportant consideration for thesite tablishtransea lines. Theyshould be setup to run selectionis local commercialfishing operations, at rightangles to thesestructures ta reducethe

29 chanceof anc being missed. Oncethe transect file. It may be possibleto uselaw4ensity materi- lines indicatean areadevoid of any hardbottom als such as tires, on soft bottom sites. However, communities,then the physicalsurvey of the bot- greatcare must be takenwhen using law-density tom canbegin. reef materialssince these materials are proneto shifting during storms. Any reef that is in exposed waters thosereceiving direct wavesfxam the open VnderwaterSite Survey sea!should be constructed of onlyhigh4cnsity ma- Beforeany reef site is finally chosen,there terialsin depthsof lessthan 80 to 90 feet. In many must be an underwater survey by divers to verify areas,the Army Corpshas stapped permit ting tire that thereis no live bottom andmake a physical reefsin offshorewaters because of thepossibility andvisual checkof the bottoin type andmeasure of the materialsshifting off the reef site andeven its supporting ability. Generally, the surveyors endingup on the beach seeAppendix 6 for more shouldswim a 50-meterradius around the poten- informationon reef materials and cmnstruction!. tial site ta verify thereare no significant"live bottom" communitiesin the site area. Significant "live bottoms"would includeany largerock BiologicalSurvey Report ledgesor outcrappingshaving an incrusting at- Oncethe underwatersurvey is completed,a tached!ar fouling community.Even the baresand written initial biological report should be made bottomshave some marine life living in or on it, SeeAppendix H, pages3 and4 for example!. but cannotsupport a largecommunity of incrust- Thisreport is oftenrequired by thevarious permit- ing invertebrates and fish. The divers should docu- ting agenciesas part of the original application. ment fish andbenthic organisms along a 50-metcr Thisreport should include a carefuldescription of transectline. It is bestto count the organismsfor the bottom material sand,shell, mud.etc.! the de- a one ta three meter width on either side of the greesof firmness as measured by sedimentprobe ~ line. Geaeriilly,a two4iver teamis used andcare sample described in Chapter4! anda de- and the lead diver swims in a cxmstant direction scxiptionof the biological communitypresent on fram somestarting point with a slate,and the sec the site. The exactposition of the site shouldbe de- oad diver follows andplays out the measuredtran- terminedby Loran C readingand severalcompass sect line until the correct distance has been bearmgsto fixed pointson land if it is in view. cxivered.If possible,replicate transects should be 'Thisinitial biologicalreport is notonly im- run in different partsof the site permit areato esti- portantfor the permit application,but it is also im- matethe patchinessof the biologicalcommunity. If a knownpoint canbe usedfar the tresea line, portantto providea comparisonof the site before and after the reef construction. In mast instances then later runs along the same line after construc- of a reeffailing to remainon site or its lassof ef- tion, it will pmvide excellent data as to the effec- fectiveness,the initial site survey.or the lack of tivenessof the reef building effort. If possible,a such a survey was a major cause in the failure. specimenof any organismsthat cannotbe identified by the diversshould be collectedand pre- servedfor later identificationby a qualified Post-DeploymentSurvey biologist. If collectionis not possible,a photo Usually a pasMeploymentreef surveyis re- should be made instead. quiredto verify placementand fulfill the termsof Surveysby a tawedcamera for hardbottom the mnstructioncontract with the bargeand tug are inadequate,for they cansometimes be mislead- crew. Someserious problems have occurred in the ing. They inay show a bottomthat looks solid, but past when the actual site placement was several in fact inay havea firm sandoverlay on soft silt or hundredyards away from the site surveyedby the clay sediment. While it is unusual, there are some divers.lf the site is nearany live bottoms,be sure locations where divers have observed a thin sand ta havethe dive teampresent before the first place- layer which has covered a much softer sediment ment to make a final check. Often the use of a which cannotsupport reef materiaL Only a diver smail markerbuoy will insurethat the materials usinga long at leasta fivc-foot steelor fiberglass are placed in the exact location selected. This rad! sedimentprobe can check the sedimentta pre- markerbuoy will also help preventthe materials vent later lossof reef materialby sinking. from beingscattered by the bargecrew. The pro- In such instances, where there is evidencx file af the materialsappears to be very important, that soft sediment exists, reef materials should be sa the maximumpiling up af the materialsis de- selectedthat will provide profile andhabitat even sired,and a smalljug on thesite will helpgreatly, aftersome sinking has acxurrcd, If, for example, A postdeployment map and photographs should the reef is to be built fram bridge rubble,then a alsobe preparedto documentthe scatterand pro- layer of sinall sizedrubble could be placedfirst to file of material immediatelyafter the deployment, pmvide a base,then the largersections and pilings This wiU be useful for later comparisonsto deter- could be placedon tap to provide maximumpm- mine changesover time,

30 Divers play an essentialrole in reef site se- Mathews,Heyward H. Artificial Fishing lection well before and even after a reef site is de- Reefs,Materials and Construction.September veloped. They can insurethat existing"live 1983. Horida Sea Grant Publication ¹ ~29. bottom" babitatswill not be harmed,they canpre- Mathews, Heyward H. Artificial Reefs:Per- vent lossof reef materialin soft bottomsand they mit Application Guidelines. October 1984. Horida candocument the scatterand ptofile of the reef Sea Grant Publication ¹ SGEB-4. materials after the reef is constructed. Feedback Burchfldd,Bill. Constructingan Artificial from trained diver-observers is essential for maxi- mizing the effectivenessof reef site selectionand Reef Buoy. June 1979. Horida Sea Grant Publica- tion ¹ ~9. construction efforts. To receivethese pubQcatio~ write Hor- lda SeaGmnt CollegeProgram, Suiiing%3, References University of Horlda, Gainesvllle, Horida 3261 I. Mathews, Heywaed H. Artificial Reef Site Selectionand Evaluation. August 1979. Florida Sea Grant Publication ¹ MAFS-20.

Cha ter 6 Collecting Biological Data: Benthic A Planktonic Plants R Animals

by glinton 8'hite

hepresence of planktonand benthic organ- T ismsand plants are important reasons why Why Sample Benthic k many species of fish are attracted io an artificial Planktonic Organisms? reef. Theseorlpwiisms make up a livingoommu- To understand how a reef iunaions and to nity which providesfood andshelter and are the unravelthe questionof which fish areattracted to major living componentsof the artificial reef com- the reef and why; you must understandthe reef's munity. living componentsand interrelationships. Since Thesampling necessary to lookat the~@- thebenthic and planktonic organisms associated of anartificial reef must include not only with any reef comprise"food" for Qsh,it is an es- thefish, but thebenthic bottom living! andplank- sentialpart of thepuzzle that needs to be deter- tonic See-floating!organisms which areassoci- mined. ated with it. 3lgtnat is the term used to define thetotal amount of living materialin a givenarea. Wbeathe biomass is measuredata specificpoint The Diffimlties Sampling andtime, it is calledthe ~~~it of thearea. Standingaop differs from productivity in thatit Benthic 4 Planktonic doesnot lookat thechange in biomassamount Organisms over the time, nor at the rate at which biomass is produced.Productivity is thechange in biomass Thecomplexity, or atleast the potential com- plexity, of the planktonicand benthic invertebrates per unit time. andplants on an artificial reef structureis iin- To undersuindhow productivity on a reef mense.Over time, diNerentoqpinisms become at- changes,we can constructa f~~r~tl or ~ tachedto a reefand compete with theirneighbors ~. The food chain illustrates "who eats whom." for space.In somecases, one or twospecies will It is basedon photosynthesizingplant materials dominate,whereas in othercases a numberof spe- cieswill crowdtogether. It is impossibleto inven- biomass,in turn,is consumedby hgf;ij}}~ ani- tory the entire reef structure, therefore we are inals that eat plants!,and then the herbivoresare forced to divide it into small subsections which consumedby the gltnilti~ animalsthat eat ani- canbe studied in detaiL'%is is sampling.Since mals!.'Ihis canbe illustratedby the~food i~id we arenot going to examineevery squarecentime- shownin Figure6-1. terof thereef, it is importantthat the sampling be Fi ure6.1

FoodPyramid: Eachbox represents the relative biomass of plantmaterials and benthic inverte- bratesfound in thefood chain associated with natural and artNcial reef ecosystems.

33 done systcmaticaUy so that it may be repeatedaccu- name capitalized and underlined, and the species rately on other similar structuresfor comparisons. namejust underlinedwithout caps for cxamplc It is essentialthat systematicsampling be done,using replicateefforts, so that meaningfulcompari- speriesnames are underlinedbecause they come sons can be made. Isolated observations are useful n Greekor Latin derivativesand areforeign but not meaningfulfor makingcomparisons or de- words in our print. We italicize the print in books termining causation, as is systematic quantification for such mmes; but since we do not have Ibat ca- and sampling. pability with typewriters,we normally underline It is beyondthe scopeof this chapterto dis- them. This is also true in handwritten cases. cuss the philosophy and statistics behind sampling theory. Be awarethat a singleobservation is useful, but it gives you no informationabout change Planning & Preparation for over time. The single observationmerely shows that the eventhappened "once." To accuratelyfol- Sampling low the changesthat may be occurrin on a reef,it Staadardhe Everything is necessaryto userepetitive sampling techniques It is essentialthat regular and repetitive sam- that areas nearlyalike aspossible, For example, pling be donein order to detectany trendsex' bio- Diver Dan makesa serie of observationsusing a logical patternsthat dcvclop. Much caresbouM six-inch square area as bis sample size. He takes a be takenwhen decidingbow' much sampbng can, series of closeup photographs and scrapes this area or shouldbe done. For example,it is betterto take and places the sample in a plastic bag to bc ana- a numberof smaUsamples rather than onc large lyzed. Scuba Sam makes a similar dive at a later sample. This is becauseyou havea greaterchance date, but uses a square foot as his sample area. He of getting moreand differentspecies in a number photographs the area and also scrapesmaterial into of smaUsamples than you do bi onelarge sample, a plastic bag for future analysis, Later, Data Ana- You shouldtbcreforc decide how manysmall sam- lyzer Debbie looks at the two samples. If sbc did plesyou ain take in a givenresearch dive. Re- not know that they camefrom different sizesam- memberthat eachdiver is limited by bottom time, ple sites,tbc analysesand ber conclusionsmight experience,and sampling capability, The diffi- be very misleading. Remember,it is importantto culty of working underwatercompounds the sam- be consistent in sampling methods. Once you have pling problems. Experiencebas shown that most decided on a sampling method, stick with it. If diversare initially overly optbnistic in their objec- you find it needsto be,modified, takespecial aire tives. They think that theycan gathermore sam- to record these changes in method on the data ples than is actuaUy possible. Howcvcr with sheets. experience,you wiU find that task loading I'rom having to work safely underwater will limit how much you can acaomplish. One gcneml guideline Mentification of Plants & is to think about what you atn do and then try to do half of it; thenbe happyif you get at leasthalf Encysting Organisms of that done. Dependingon the time of yearand tbc gen- erallocation of an artificial reef,the potentialfor In s~izing everything,bc sure that the finding variationin tbe planktonand benthiccom- coUcctingroutines and thc informationthat is col- munitics is tremendous,There are approximately lectedeach time is consistentand repetitive. It 1~,000 speciesof living tbmgsnow described does not do any good to have one set of divers re- and namedin the scientific literature. Luckily, cording salinity and turbidity, while the next sct of 800,000 of these are non-marinc insects, but that divers is only observing temperature. Prioritize still leavesapproximately 700,000 species. Per- the information that is needed and inakc sure that hapsyou arebeginning to get tbe idea that it is it is obtained on each and every sampling event. very difficult to know exactlywhat inigbt be found where. Most organisins can be identified only af- How Big is a Sample? ter they have been properly sampled, preserved and returned to a laboratory. Referenceslisted at It is difficult to give an ~ before the the end of this chapter are a partial bibliography of fact! desirable quantitative size for each benthic books and reference material for identifying inver- sample. What can be done wiU bc partially based tebrates. Even when experienced scientists iden- on the type of reef being studiedand thc natureof tify an organismdown to the genusand species the question to bc answered, Benthic communities are normally attached to the bottom or some level. they will often send it to an independent authority for verification. substrate assoc+ted with the reef. A number of largepieces of concreteplaced on the bottom as Scientistswould like to identify organismsto an artificial reef will be impossibleto bring to the the specieslevel. This is whereyou seethe genus

34 surface ta examine. If the need to aollect benthic techniquesby trial and error. Think throughex- samplesis a possibility,place smaU, removable actlywhat you want to aaximplish and carcfuHy pieceson the reef that could be easily returnedto plan how to bestcomplete the task. COHecting the surfacefor analysis. Typically, on any onetrip east benthic fouling! organisms,will usuaHyre- to a reefsite, at leastthree samples should be quire somescraping device and a containerfor the taken. The nuinber three is usef'ul because it is an sample. Useof a simpleputty knife andplastic odd number of samples frain which data can be ex- zip lock bagsoften suffice. Fabricationof special tractedand better analyzed statisticaliy. scrapingtools may bc needed,cspeciaHy if the sampleis to be quantiTied. Photographing Wheneverpossible, a seriesof photographs Materials and Methods shouldbe usedto documentbenthic growth. Some Somethought should be given in advancere- suggcstiansfor successfulscientific data! photo- gardingmaterials needed to handlethe kinds of graphsof benthiclife are: speci!ncaa biaught bade to thc surface. A number 1! Includea scaleor sameknawn object for of handyitems include phstic bagsand refrigera- tor mataincrsin which to placeyour specimens, scale in the photograph; alongwith the access'tryformalin far preserva- 2! Take the photographat an abliquc angle tion. If the substrateto be sampledis largeand un- in order to shaw some degree of three-di movable,then a smaIlscraper, or hammerand meosional structure--hence, it is often best chisel may be necc!isary ta dislodge the specimens. During sampling,care should be takennot not ta shoot straight down on a subject, to disrupt the substrate surface, and to prevent the but ratherta shootat an angle note haw lassor escapeof mobile organisms.lee sampled ever, yau would shootstraight dawn on a specimenscan usuallybc placedin a plasticbag or subjectwhen accurate quantification is box, and returnedeasily ta the boat, In planning your dive, it wouM be wise not to attempt to carry neededfram the photograph; tao many individual pieces back to thc boat. 'This 3! Get claseto the subject. Broadsweeping simply intxcascsthe rhanccthat somemight be photographs are not good for species iden last. It ajso meansthat they may be confusedor mixed up. Confusedor jumbled datais worthless. tification, but can be used to indicate the Oncean boardthe boat,the diver shout prcscrve quantity of growth presentin a givenarea; thc samplesquickly, or at leastkeep them cool in 4! Includea dateand location tag in the an ice chestuntil broughtta shore. Immediate photoscrlca; processingcan bc importantas manyorganisms will die and deteriorate in the heat and low dis- 5! Make surethe photosare recxxdcd in a solvedoxygen of thc small samplebags or boxes. photo log book. Ideatifyiag Preserviag Ideally, it would be nice to identify by name In general,collected spcciincns should be aH the specimens obtained using the scientific bi- preservedas soonas possible after they are nomial nomenclature bemuse these names are broughtto the surface, This canbe donein a 10 unique. In practice, however, for much of the percentformalin solution thenlater transferredto a work on artificial reefs,it wiH only be necessary 40 percentisapiopyl alcohol or 70 percentethanol to recognize the fact that a given organise is a dif- to makeit easier less irritating smell! on the per- ferent species and not that it be identified to the ge- sondoing the identification. For plant specimens, nusspecies level. A generalbiology textbookcan initial as weHas final ~ation in alcoholis be usedas a sourcefor the descriptionsand classi- adequateas naturalpigmentation will usuaHybe ficationsof animalsinto relatedtaxonomic groups lost using either technique. caHedPhyla, and plants inta relatedtaxonomic groupscalled Divisions. Appendix I is a general- izedclassification scheme. These species lists can How to CollectSamples alsobe usedto suggestwhat speciesare generally Oneof themast difficuh things to tell a diver presenton thesereefs, Rcfcrcrxxs ae beused to is haw to coHectspeciincn samples. What works identify speciesfound alongthc Florida axist. for onediver will not alwayswork for another, Di- This referencebst is fairly extensiveand serves as vers often vary tremendouslyin the degreeof com- a goodbibliography far invertebrateand marine fort and efficiency theyshow underwater.It wiH plant idcntiTication, be neccs!wryfor yau to developsame of your own

35 Oncea specimenhas been identified, it is a Cook, David G. and RalphO. Brinkhutst. good idea to save it for the reference collection. It 1973. can be usedlater to help with future identifica- . NOAA tions. The reference collection will serve as an in- TechnicalReport NMFS CIRC-37421p. valuabletool for training future reef research Correa, Diva Diniz. 1961. Nemcrteans from divas aswelL Much time can be savedby training new researchdivers to identify reef organisms . 11!: 44p. fromreference specimens, before they actually dive on the reef site. NOAATechnical Report NMFS Circular 403 7 p. Suggested References ' Available from commercial bookstores. ' Abbott, R. Tucker. 1968, ~gag~ CIRC-375. Deichmann, Elisabeth. 1939. The Holothuri- ' Abbott, R. Tucker, 1974 ~~~is}- ans of the Western Part of the Atlantic Ocean. ~ ~ Van NostrandReinhold Company, New York. 663 p. ' Amos, StephenA. andWilliam H, Amos. de Laubenfels,M. W. 1949. Spongesof the The AudubonSociety Nature Guides. 9~ Western Bahamas. No. 143125p. P- de Laubenfels,M.W. 1953. ~gJtl<~+ Universityof EbILIJtltDover Publications Inc., New York. Miami Press. 490 p. de Laubcnfels,M.W. 1953. Spongesfrom Brattegard,Torleiv. 1970. MysidaceaSom the Gulf of Mexico. Shallow Water in the Bahamas and Southern Fla- 2 !: 511-557. ida. Part 25agja41: 35P, Cain,Thomas D. 1972. Additional Epi- fauna of a Reef off North Carolina. ~ttttttlt~ . U.S. De- parunentof Commerce. NOAA TechnicalReport CaMcr, Dale R. and Morris L Brehmre. NMFS SSRF-729!37p. 1967. SeasonalOccurrence of Epifaunaon Test Downey,Maureen E. Starfishesfrom the Car- Panelsin HamptonRoads, Virginia. tilt;ttlttttt;sII ibbean and Gulf of Mexicu. 1 !: 149- 164. Dorjcs,Jurgen, 1972. GeorgiaCoastal Re- gion, SapcloIsland, U.SA: Sedimentodogyand . South Carolina Biology, VII Distributionand Zonationof Macm- ScaGrant Marine Advisory Bulletin 11. 13p, Calgren,O. and J.W. Actiniaria, Zoantharia 182. and Ceriantharia from Shallow Water in the North- 'Emerstxt, William K and Morris K. Jacob- westernGulf of Mexico. Publishedby the Insti- son, 1976, tute of Marine Science,University of Texas2 !; 141-172. Knopf, New York, 482p. I Florida Departmentof EnvironmentalRegulation, Tampa 71p, Smithsonian Insti- tute Press,98; 179p. Chitwood, B.G. 1951. North American Ma- rine Nematodcs. AngelosCounty, Science Series 28. !: 617~. Coc, WesleyR. 1951. The NemerteanFau- w nas of the Gulf of Mexico and of Southern Florida. v -W . Smithsonian Institu- tion Press,Washington, D.C. No. 221. tying I !: 149-186.

36 Field, Louise RandaU. 1949 S~KG~ . Duke ' a: . U.S, Environ- UniversityPress 5: 29p. inentalProtection Agency, Ohio, Fox,Richard S. andKenneth H. Bynurn. 1975. 'Ihe AmphipodCrustaceans of NorthCaro- e ' dad a a . Dana Rep. 46, 284p. !: 223-237. Fox,Richard S. andEdward E. Ruppert. 1985. 5@~JJIzga.U. S. GovernmentPrinting Office. . Universityof South 18p. CarolinaPress, Columbia. 329p. ' George David and Jennifer. 1979. 55' '. U. S. NationalMuseum Bulletin 278 147p. McCaul,William E. 1963. Rhynchocoela: York, 288p. Nemetteansfrom Marine and EstuarineWaters of 'Gosner, Kmneth L 1978. !~ad Quid Virginia. . HoughtonMifflin Corn- 111-124. pany. Boston.329p. McCkiskey,Latvrence R. 1973, Iitfittc 'Gamer, Kenneth L 1971. ~tttitit;Jttlllt; Fa t Zgzgggtlititl. NOAA TechnicalReport NWFS 't . John CIRC 386 12p. Wiley 8hSons, Inc. New York. 693p. McDougaii,Kenneth DougaL 1943. Sessile Gray,I.E., MaureenE. Dawneyand M. J. Marine hvertebratesof Beaufort, North Carolina. Cerame-Vivas. 1968. Sea Stars of North Caro- 9!' ~ !:' Manning,Raymond B. andFenner A. Chace, Hartman,Olga. 1945. MarineAnnelids of Jr. 1971, North Carolina. ggg~. 2: 53p. Hiltunen, Jarl K. and Donald J. Leimm, Washington. 1980. Maram,Eveline and Ernst. 1960. Opistho- . U.S. Envi- brsnchs from American Atlantic Warm Waters. ronmentalProtection Agency Ohio. Holme,N. A. andA. D. McIntyre,eds. ~. 10!: 129-203. 1984. Maturo,Frank J.S. 1957. A Studyof the BlsckweilScientific Publications, Oxford. 387p. Bryozoaof Beaufort,North Carolina and Vicinity. . 11-68. Maturo,Frank J.S. 1966, Bryozoaofthe SoutheastCoast of theUnited States: Bugulidae . Rijks- andBeaniidae Cheilostomata: Anasca! Mlcliu nuseumvan Naturrhjke Historic. Netherlands. * 157p. ' Meimkoth, Norman A. 1981, ~ ' Kaplan,Eugene H. 1982. l~~

HoughtonMi fflin Menzies,R. J., O. H. Pilkey,B. W. Black- Company, Boston. 289p. welder,D, Dexter,P. Huling, A SubmergedReef Off North Carolina gttt;. 15 !: 393-431, Mikkelsen, Paul S, and Robert W. Virnstein. PetersenField Guide Series; Houghton Mifflin 1982. Company,Boston. 425p. ~. Harbor Branch Foundation,Inc, Technical Keer,George A. 1976. Itltli~~m Report No. 46, ' Miner, Roy Waldo. 1950, Qg~~ hngtonVa. Preparedby T. Wolcott!. 105p. ~~i~!g. G. P. Putnam'sSons, New York. Kirkland, Patricia A. 1981 idaltifiQliitltt 888p.

. Marine Science EducationCenter, Mayport, Florida. 19p. ~W'bodies. HoughtonMiffiin Company,Boston. 330p.

37 Stuck,Kenneth C., Hamet M. Perryand t - Kbinm RichardW. Heard. 1979. An AnnotatedKey to ~ NOAA TechnicalReport the Mysidaceaof the North CentralGulf of Mex- NWFS Circular 405, National Marine Fisheries Service. Thomas, Lowell P. 1962. The Shallow Pearse,A. S. andJ. W. Littler. 1938. Polyc- WaterAmphiurid Brittle Stars Ediinodermata, Iads of Beaufort, N. C. a gtg,. 235-247. . 12 !: 623-694. Perez, Farfante, I. 1969. Western Atlantic VanDover, Cindy and William W. Kirby- Shrimpsof the genusZggga. U. S. Fish and Wild- Smith. 1979.

Perez,Farfante IsabeL 1978. FamiliesHip- . Duke poolytidea,Palaemanidae caridea! and Penaeidea, University Marine Lalxxatory. 78p. Sicyoniidae,and Soletxxxxidae Penaeidae!, in Vincx, Magda. 1981. New and Little FischerW. FAO Speciesidentification Sheets for Known Nematodes from the North Sea. Qghigga FisheryPurposes, Western Central Atlantic VoL VL Pettibone, Marian H. 1976. ~mjtlt~ ' Voss, Gilbert, Lee Opresko,and Ronald Thomas. 1973.

[email protected] Institution Press,Wash- University of Mi- ington, D. C. No. 229. ami SeaGrant Pmgram. 33p.

Banyan Books, Inc., Smith- Fkxida 199p, sonianInstitution Press,Washington, 40: 22p. Pilsbry, Henry A. 1953. Notes on Florida Barnacles Citripedia! ma' Came. NOAA TechnicalReport NMFS e CV: 13-30. Circular423. 23p. WeHs,Harry W., Mary JaneWells, andI. E Gray. 1960. MarineSponges of North Carolina. The JohnsHopkins University Press,Maryland. . 200-245. 118p. Wells, Harry W. andI. E. Gray. 1964. Poly- Pravenzano,Anthony J., Jr. 1959. The Shal- chaetousAnnelida of the Cape Hatteras Area, 33K . 70-78. ~ 9 !: Wells, Harry WMary JaneWells and l. 6 349-420. Gray. 1964. The Calico ScallopGxnmunity of Reanod,Jeanne C. 1956. A reporton some North Carolina. PolychaetousAnnelids from the Miatni-Bimini Area. ' ' . No. 181240p. Wilhams, Austin B. 1964. Marine Deca- Sawyer, Roy T., Adrian R. dewier, 8k,Robin pod Crustaceansof the Carolinas.HShC X3lkUt'- M. Overstreet. 1975. Marine Leeches of the East- 65 !: 292p. em United States and the Gulf of Mexico with a Williams, Austin B. 1984 ~tip~ Key to the Species. ' . 9: 633-667. . Washington, Serafy,K. Keith. 1979. Echinoids Echino- D,C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. dennata: Echinoidea! Wood,Carl E. 1974, Key to the Natantia . Vol V Part III. Florida Departmentof Crustacea,Decapoda! of the CoastalWaters on Natural ResourcesMarine ResearchLaboratory. the Texas Coast. St. Petersburg. gag,. 18: 35-55. Shier,Daniel E. 1964. Marine Bryozoafmn Zingmark, Richard G. ed. 1978. g~~ Northwest Florida. . 14 !: 602-662. Qgg~tl, University of SouthCarolina Press, Columbia, 364p, . Spauld- ing Company, Massachusetts. 208p. Stimpson,Kurt SDonald J. Klemm, and Jarl K. Hiltunen. 1982. NMFS Circular 425, National Marine Fisheries Service. ~~It;~. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio. 38 Cha ter 7 Sampling And Studying Fish On Artificial Reefs byStephen A. Bortoneand James A. Bohnsack Reasonsand Objectivesfor StudyingArtificial Reef Fish An Introduction to Fish Thereare many importantreasons for study- About 30,000species of fish arethought to ing the fish which live on artificial reefs. Many inhabit thc world today. Tlic potentialnumber of study reef fish simply becausethey arefascinat- specieswhich one may encounteron a mzjgg arti- ing, It is no wonderthat aquariumkeeping is one ficial reef is quite high. Of all the speciesof fish of the mostpopular hobbies in the world today. known today,about 58% occur in the marinecnvi- Artificial reefsserve to enhancefishing and may rotunent. Of these, 40% inhabit the warm, shallow increasefish abundancein local areas, By study- continental shelves, the areaswhere artificial reefs ing how the fish areassociated with artificial are usuallylocated. Fish haveexisted on earthfor reefs,we candiscover what features,factors, or at- about600 million yearsand in thattime have tributesof reefshelp contributeto their potential evolvedand adaptedinto a widevariety of forms effectiveness. We can assess the relative fitness or specializedfor a widevariety of habitats.Most liv- conditionof the area,by observingan artiTicial ing fish arehoney fish but a numberof jawless ag- reef for the kinds of fish, their numbers, and their nathous;e.g., lampreys and hagfish! and condition. Evenminor changesin environment cartilaginous boneless! fish sharks,skates, and may leadto noticeabledramatic changes in the rays!are also known. compositionof a fishcommunity, since fish re- Fishare aquatic, cold-blooded vertebrates spondto changesin environmentalconditions in with gillsand fins. 'Iliey occurin fresh-,brackish-, the ocean. A data base of information collected for over a periodof time on a fish communitywill and saltwaterand individualsof some speciescan survivein watersbelow freezing in thcAntarctic permit us to detectthe effectsof environmental changescaused by naturallyor human-inducedac- Ocean while others have been found in warm waterspringshotterthan 104 F0 C!. Inaddi- tivity. tion,they have been recorded in mountainousareas The threemost common goals of sampling at altitudesas high as 3,1 miles km! andto studies on artiTicial reef fish populations are to: depthsof 68 miles1 km! in theoceanic I! monitor the reef fish communitycomposi- trenches. tion over time; Fish occur in a widesize range. Adult fish 2! comparethe fish populationsbetween arti- canbe assmall as 5/8 of an inch long 5 mm; the dwarfpygmy goby! and as large as 69 feet1 m; ficial and natural reefs; thewhale shark!. All fishstart out either as an ex- 3! evaluatevarious reef constructionmeth- temallyor internallyfertilized egg. Mosteggs re- ods, materials and configurations, for leasedinto thc water are externally fertilized and the desired effect. becomeeither free living pelagic!or attachedto something demersal! until hatching into a larvae Thesestudies can target a specificgroup stage.After a fewweeks, the free swimming lar- such as a commercially important species or they vae often transforminto juveniles which may re- can treat all observable species. sembleadults exoept for color andminor Severaldifferent kinds of datamay be gath- differencesin shape. Eggsfor many speciesdo not eredto accomplishthe abovegoals. Coinparisons undergoexternal development. They remainin- can be made within and between artificial reefs us- side the body of the femalewhere they arefertil- ing a cumulativespecies list. Thisentails main- ized, nurtured,protected, and born resembling taininga listof speciesobserved during each dive small adults. or surveyon that site. An improvementon the spe-

39 cics list data would be ta include some ESTI- perseover an areabecause af changingrequire- MATE OF RELATIVE ABUNDANCE. This mentsin their naturallife history i.e., way of life!. may be donesubjectively i.e., by usingwords Forexample, aggregations can form for reproduc- like; abundant,common, few, rare,etc.! ar objec- tion, feedingor predatoravoidance. tively by including somemethod of quantiTication Fish may form looseaggregations or schools by aaunting, Improvementson a relativeestimate that can be very well ordered. Schools can be com- of species' abundancewould be to determine as ac- posedof anc or severaldifferent species,and this curatelyas possiblethe ABSOLUTE ABUN- cancomplicate underwater identification. Many DANCEwhich could in turnbc relatedto species fish havea particularhabitat preference. For exam- density. A further impmvementof the datainay ple, certainspecies are always found on the under- bemade by obtainingnot only an estimate of num- sideof a structure,and thus, may be abundant only bersbut also of the sizesof individualspresent. wherethe reef has many overhanging features Thc methodsdesigned to obtain thesedata will be suchas a shipwreckhaving inany exposed decks! dished later. or evenabsent from reefs without this type of Notes on the condition of individual fishes cover suchas a bargewith the huII intact!. can bc used to assess and dctcrmine the differ- Samespecies show very obviouspatterns of ences,similarities, or changesthat may havetaken dailyactivity which affect their apparent abun- placeon a particularreef or between~ artifi- dance. Day, night, and crepuscular dusk arxl cial reef's. These data could include notes on the dawn!activity patterns in variousspecies can se- healthof individual species,such as, the presence verely affect our ability to observethe fishcommu- of opensores or waundson their bodies,the num- nityon a reef. This mustbe consideredin the ber and typesof parasitesftom specimens,and the samplingstrategy. Somenight-active nocturnal! generaloverall behaviorof the fish, In short,just species,although mm monon an artificial reef, aboutany attribute of fish or theirmmm unity can mayseem absent because individuals are "resting" bc Bxldcd, monitoredand analyzedto assessthc in crevicesout of view of the daytimeobserver. differences and similarities of fish communities on various artificial reefs. Changesor differencesin ~ater conditions can also influentx:the presenceor relativeabun. danceof fishspecies on artificial reefs. Lunar,so- Problems Associated with lar, andother tidaI factorsmay greatlyinfluence currentflow which,in turn,affects the dispersal AssessingFish and aggregationpotential of fishes,especially on the shaUaw, inshore reefs, and around estuaries or On Artificial Reefs entrancesta baysand harbors, In someareas even A discussionof the problemsassorted minortidal changes may produce extremely strong with the assessmentprocess is essentialin order to bottomcurrents, which may alter the turbidity becomeaware of the limitationsof particularmeth- water Clarity, temperature,and salinity. These ods and to ~y interpretand evaluate the changescan affec a species'chances of being seen data. Theseproblems can be found at severallev- since they may influence them to move from one els: place ta another, This movement will, of course, 1! problemsinvolving the fish; affectthe observed composition of a communityas- sociatedwith a givenreef. The accuracyand con- 2! ptobicmsinvolving the habitat; sistencyof underwatervisual assemmcnt 3! problemsinvolving the observerthat can techniquesare also greatlyaffected by waterclar- be overcame; and ity turbidity!, which impactsthe effectivenessof 4! problems that cannot be overcome. each method as we will see later. When water dar- ity, andconsequently visibility is reduced,the ef- Fish all move to somedegree. Some move- fective volume or area observed is reduced. mentsare relatively obvioussuch as thoseper- Therefore, if one makes a visual assc.wheat when formedby: pelagic free swimming! species, the underwatervisibility is 50 feet and thenmakes which form schools;or by thosethat shifl or anotherassessment in the sameplace at another changeposition frequently. However,even those time when the visibihty hasbeen reduced to 10 specieswhich are sedentary bottom dwelling and feet, the actual volume of water observed has been lethargic!move as well. Fish may alsocome to- drasticallyreduced. Depending on the methodcho- getherto form clumps,schools, or aggregations, sen,water clarity can haverather severe effects on whichmay themselves move. These clumps, ag- therepcatabihty and subsequently, Ihc comparabil- gregations,or "patches"of fish mayresult from ity of the study. one or more factors. Includedamong those are randomchance, where na factorcauses the a~ Mostof thesampling methods divers employ gation, Most groupings,however, occur for one or in studyingartificial reefs involve some type of vis- morereasons. Many species congregate or dis- ualsampling. Behavior, color, and morphological shapeand size! differencesainong species can in- Fisb and Fauna Data fluencevisual detectability. Large fish are usually morenoticeable than small fish; andbrightly col- Perhapsthe most importantaspect of any ored,actively swimmmgfish aremore noticeable studyassessing the fish on artificial reefsis that thansedentary or cryptically txsnouflaged!ml- the species'' arcd species.Secretive species, even when brightly colored,may bc missedbecause they are sonsand evaluations is basedon correctspecies hiddenfrom the field of vision. Schaolingspecies identification. With a little training, practice,pa- presenttheir awn samplingproblems because of tience,and care, anyone can accurateiy identify the geometry,size, and speciescomposition of the mostof the speciesencountered on artiTicialreefs schooL One studyhas shown that diversconsis- in the coastal southeastern waters of the United tently overestimateabundatice of fish in a small States,especially in water shallowerthan 130feet. schooland typically underestimateabundance in largeschaois Klima and Wickham,1971!. NO%K: Use of LOCAL COMMON Human activities can also influence a fish NAMES OF FISHES SHOULD BE AVOIDED. community. Continual harvesting by both com- Probablymore problems, misinformation, and just mercial and recreational fishermen this includes plain bad data have resulted because of the use of hook-and-lineas well asspear fishing! canvery local names. An example from the northern Gulf quickly alter the community composition, espe- of Mexico illustratesthis point ratherwelL Off cially an a smallreef. This may occurin selective Pensacolathere occurs a speciesof grouperscien- removalof all largerfood fish or by the removalof tifically called ' ' note: sci- only onear two of thc preferredfood fish. 'Ibis re- entific namesfor organismsare usually underlined moval can have indirect effects. For exampie, if a or printedin italics!. Its official andcorrect com- valuable food fish is removed hn a reef by avcr- mon nameis the gaggrouper. Unfortunatelylocal fishing, it may be replacedby anotherperhaps less fishermenrefer to it as the bla* grouper. This in desirablc fish, which auld now exist on the reef itself is not a maja problem,except that off south- becauseof reducedcompetition. Studieshave ern Horida thereis anotherspecies of gmupcr shownthat the faunalcomposition of a community whose official common name is the black grouper, shifts dramaticallywhen the major predatorsare h4 no longcl'present. cursvery frequently. The result is that anyonenat familiar with local common names win have great difficulty using data froin a survey made in an- CollectingData other area when local common names have been used. If data between two areas are corn pared, On Artificial Reefs there would be a very real possibility of making false conclusions on the cemparative abundanm of Pbysicai Environment twa species,thought to be the same,but which are TIie physical data or mformation describing in reality quite different. thc structure and environmental conditions associ- Ice AmericanFisheries Society has set atedwith an artificial reef canbe just asimportant standard common names for fishes in North Amer- as the dataon the fish communityitself. Physical ica. This has resulted in a publication: dataprovide a basisto fully evaluatean artificial reef andestablish its effectivenessor cornpare that A List of Comman and Scientific Naines of to itself or another reef. Data are needed to help Fishes fram the United States and Canach", 1980, determinewhat factor or factarsmay be associated C.R. Robbins et al., available fram the American with, or responsiblefor, the differencesin the fish FisheriesSociety, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Be- aoininunities.This is passibleonly througha care- thesda,Maryland, as SpecialPublication Number ful examinationand comparisonof both the physi- 12 $10 paperbackor $15 hardboundas of January cal andbiological datawhich will thenallow us ta 1986!. understand ar predict fish community structure. Mast books, handbooks, and texts for identi- Appendix J providesthe minimal typesof fication of fishes use the caininon names as physicaldata which shouldbe rccondedduring any adoptedand established by this AmericanFisher- assessmentof the fish community on an artificial ies Societypublication. reef. I he readershouM refer to the other diapters Oneway to ensurethat the fish areaccu- in this handbook, specifically, "Chapter 4, Oceano- rately identified, is to establisha voucheror refer- graphicData Collectionand ReefMapping" and encecollection of accuratelyidentified and labeled "Chapter5, Site Selectionand Evaluationby Div- fishesrcprc!anting those species that are usually ing" for specific methodsof properlyobtaining observedon the artificial reefsbeing studied. By a physicaldata. voucher collection we mean that at least one or

41 moreindividuals somemales, females, and juve- mostdive shopsunder the coHoquialname of niles! shouldbe collected,properly preserved, "goodie-bag". identified, labeled, and then saved for reference. Cast nets of various diameters and mesh The voucher collection can be used to train divers sizes can bc used by divers in coUecting fishes. A or serveas a kindof review for key characteristics diver merelyswims to a positionabove a speci- that will aid them in fish identiTication, It will also menor evena smallschool of fish anddrops the aid in identifying observedfish suspectedas being parachute-likenet aver them. 'Ihe leador bottom unusual or different. A cortect fish identification line conforms to the substrate and blocks the es- canbe assuredby an observerwho hastaken the capeof the fish in aHdirections. Onceentrapped, time and made the effort to become familiar with the fish is forcedagainst the nettingmaterial the one or two key or main anatomical features whereit canbe held beforetransfer to a holding which aid in cortectly determininga species'iden- bag. A piece of 1/4 or 3/8 inch meshnylon net- tity. FamiUarity with the specimens in a voucher tingcut in a circlewith a diameterof 3 feetand coHectionalong with a knowledgeof the descrip- weighted with a piece of chain or some lead tions and iHusttations m various field identifica- weightsalong the perimetercan serveas a mini- tion booksof fishesare important in this regard. aturecast net. This net is especiallyuseful for col- Photographsand videotapes taken at study sites lectingsniaUer fishes. It is easyto make,easy to canbe valuablebecause they show colorsand pat- use, inexpensive, and effective. tems which may fade in preserved specimens. A slurp gun,which is simply a largebore di- ameterdear plastic tubefitted with a plunger,can Fish Collection also be useful when capturing small fishes around artificial reefs. Whenoperated, the plungeracts to CoHecting techniques used to make voucher aeate a vatsiumin the tube andthe fish is literally coHcctionsate varied andno onesingle technique suckedin. The tubeentrance must quickly be is effectiveon aHspecies. Sometimes special tech- blockedto preventescape. Many fishestend to niquesmay haveto be developedin order ta obtain swim up-current. With this in mind, one can force an especiallydifficult to catchspecies. Before us- waterout of the tubeand causea fish to swim "up- llig any tccllniquc,however, check local iegula- current"into the mouthof the slurp gun where tions. they can then be more easily "slurped". Much Hook-and-linefishing is good for collecting practiceand patienceis neededto be truly effec- mastof the commerciallyand recteationaHyimpor- tive with a slurpgun. tant fish speciesassociated with artificial reefs. Spear fishing has been, and will continue to Using smaHcrhooks and/or special baits may help be,one of the mostpopular and effective ways of in caHectingspecies not normallycollected by capturingfishes on artificial teefs. Spearfishing usualfishing inethods. Sometimesdivers can actu- can be used to obtain specimens but care must be ally usethe hook-and-linemethod underwater to taken not to excessively damage the fish. Many obtain certain fishes needed for the voucher collec- anatomical features of fish. espcciaHy those about tion or to verify a sightidentification. the head area, are important for aocurate identiTica- Baitedfish traps are also usefulin obtaining tion. Obviously,smaller fish arethe mostsuscep- specimensbut mayrequire special care and ex- tible to damagefrom spearfishing, especiallyif a penseon the part of the user. Somedivers usea largespearhead armed with a doubleor single baited,large clear glass jar, Many smaHreef fish, barb,is used, An Australian thrce-pionged,pyra- such as wrasses and damsel fish, will venture in- mid pattern!spearhead minimizes damage and is side thejar to obtain the bait evenin the presence especiaHy effective oti smallerfish down the 3 or of a diver. Oncethe fish is inside a divermerely 4 inches in length. SUng-type spears may also be covers the mouth of the jar to trap the specimen. morc useful to divers when trying to capture small Handheld netsor dip netscan be usedto ob- speamens under turbid conditions. tain smaller species such as gobics, blennies, and Careshould always be takenwith speared juveniles of largerspecies, such as snapper, grou- fish becausethc blood Fromthe spearedfish may per, grunts,and porgies. Onc techniquefound use- attract sharks. 'Ihis problem can be relieved some- ful when usinga handnet /4 or 3/8 inch meshis what by quickly removingthe fish from the water goodfor mast purposes!is to chasethe fish into a and by conducting the spear fishing at the end of corner ar crevitx, place the net over the entrance thc visual censusperiod. Every effort shouldbe and use the other hand to force the fish out of its made to keep fish slime and odors off the boat hiding placeinto the net. It is often usefulthen to deck andoff the divers. Hook-and-linefishing transferthe fish to a holdingbag. The holding bag should be conducted as a last order of business in canbe constructedof scrap 1/4 or 3/8 inch nylon an areaalso. Taking theseminimal precautions nct materialwith a drawstring,or purchasedfrom shouldreduce the chancesof havinga surveybi-

42 ased,interrupted or terminatedby an unwanted eyes. If this shouldhappen, immediately flush the hungry guest. affectedarea with cleanwater and consulta physi- Trawlsand other commercial fishing gear may proveuseful in obtainingvoucher specimens. If possible,fish shouldbe alive when placed Althoughcommercial gear is generallynot used in the Formalin. If this is not possible,the fish directly in an area where an artificial reef is lo- shouldbe quick-frozenupon captureand allowed cated,it canbe extremely effective in sampling to thaw in the Forinalin. Lesspreferably, captured the adjacent fish fauna. Gill nets set over an artifi- fish shouMbe placedon ice and thenput directly cial reefare useful for obtainingpelagic or free in the Formalin. swimmingfish. Thistype of gearis generally moreeffective in turbidwater. Again, check local If specimensare larger than 4 or 5 inches,it will benecessary to makea small or 2 inch!slit regulationsregarding the useof any commercial into the body cavity on the GI~~ip of the fishes' flshing gear. bellies by tradition the left side should remain in- Photographictechniques using still photog- tactunless it is alreadydamaged!. This will aUow raphy,motion pictures,or video tapes especially thefixative, in thiscase Formalin, to morequickly in color! arevery good ways to "capture"a speci- penetratethe body cavity to insureproper fixation men, While it certainly is preferableto havea fixation merelymeans making the tissuesless wl- specimen"in band"when trying to establishits nerableto bacterialdecay! of the internalorgans. correctidentity, the next bestthing wouM be to Onvery large specimens over 2 feetlong! it is ad- havea gooddear photographor motion picture. visableto makea hnger cut into the body cavity. It wouM also be a goodidea to havea pictureof a Do not force the fish into its container so living or freshly collectedspecimen 'to be usedin that it becomes distorted and twisted. 'Ihe fish cxaijunctionwith the actualspeamen when trying shouM not be packed tightly in the container with to identify it. Live glor charactersare often im- very little Formalinfluid sinceplenty of flxstive portantfor identifying manyfish species.We mustsurround each specimen to reducebacterial haveavoided suggesting collecting methods decomposition. which employ chemicals such as rotenone or ex- plosives such as dynamite. While under certain Fish shouldbe kept in Formalinfor at least3 conditionsand with expertcare, these can be effec- daysbut no longerthan a week. Then they should tivein obtainingspecimens, the obviously nega- be transferred to a S1URAGE FLUID OR PRE- tive featurespreclude their useby most SERVATTVE,which is usualIymade of alcohoL non-professionals.Their userequires proper train- WhileFotmalin is verygood for fixing killing! ing and legal permits. cells andstopping bacterial decay, it hasa ten- dency to cause tissues to become soft with time, There are few methods which can be used to andthe fumes can be irritating to theeyes, making capture fish on artificial reefs. Remember that in- handlingquite uripleasant.The bestand easiest genuityoften prevailsover frustratingattempts to way to transferspecimens from the fixation fluid employ "standard"techniques to captureparticu- to the preservativefluid isopropylor rubbingalco- larly elusivespecimens. The importantthing is to hol! is simply to pour off the Formalinin a well collect a voucher specimen bc~use without it ventilatedarea, and replace it with the preserv- theremay be a questionor doubt raisedabout a ative. Isopropylalcohol, available at mostpharma- fish's correctidentity, cies,when diluted with an equalamount of tap water, becxxiies 50 percent isopropyl alcohol and makesa goodand inexpensivepreservative. It Specimen Preservation should be noted that the Formalin may be reused a Oncea fish hasbeen collected, it shouklbe coupleof times,then disposed of as a hazardous photographedbefore color loss thencare taken to waste. permanentlypreserve it as a voucherspecimen for The containersthat specimensare kept in are referenceand identificationpurposes. The pre- also important, Cleanglass jars shouldbe used. ferredmethod for handlingfish is to placethem in For aestheticpurposes, the jars shouldbe of the a containerof 10 percentFormalin as soonas pos- sametype andgenerally plain in design. The jar sible then later preservingin alcohol. Formalinis lids shouldbe plastic either Bakeliteor polypro- preparedby diluting concentratedformaldehyde pylene!. Metal lids shouldnot be usedfor they obtainableat mostpharmacies! with nine parts quickly cormde,especially in the presenceof For- water preferablywith water from wherethe speci- malin, Good quality glassjars can be obtained men was collected!. Caution should be exercised from bottle andjar distributingcompanies. A par- when handlingthis chemicalas it canburn or irri- tial list of North Americanbottle distributors,pre- tatethe skin and is a possiblecarcinogen. Special paredby the AmericanSociety of Ichthyologists precautionshould be takento avoidbreathing, in- andHerpetologists, is found in Appendix K. gesting,or gettingForinalin in opencuts, sores, or

Many fish havecolor patternsthat allow tions. A three-ring,loose-leaf notebook or a sur- themto be idcntiTiedfrom photographs of draw- veyor'snotcbaok will do for thisand don't forget ings. Others do not have features which make to usewaterIMaof ink pcn or penciIwhen writing. themeasily recognized.Therefore, it is important NEVERUSE FELT TIP PENS!. to becomefamiliar with the specieslikely to be en- Figure7-2 ls an example of a fieldnote counteredbefore making a diveto collectdata, sheetprcprinted with the typical dataone might TIiis is doneby studyingthe drawings and photo- want to jot down after a dive.Appendix B offers graphsin the texts,and taking the time to coUcct sane additionil examples, Pleasesee Hgnre 72! and identify the voucherspecimens, The blank spacebelow the prcprintedlines At this point, the rcscardi diver shouMbe is to recordthe speciesobserved, characteristics of readyto enterthc waterand begin someactual the fisheswhich might aid in their identification sight identifications, Beforean actualsurvey be- i.c.,color, size, ctc,!, relative abundance rare, gins, however,aU the participantsshould make at common,abundant, etc.!, life stage juvenile or leastone or two inspectiondives or trial runs in adult,male or female!,and any interesting behav- the areato da samepteliminary identification. ioral or ecologicalfeatures. Oncein the water,a pIasticwriting slateor Thc datamast desired by scientistsconcern- padof underwaterwriting paperto recordthe spe- ing fishon artificialreefs are species coinpasition, ciesscen wiU be needed.SpeciaI anatomical char- rcIative abundance, and estimates of individual actersshould, of course,be noted. It is highly sizes.A specieslisting by itselfhas relatively lit- probablethat one might seca speciesthat is totaIly tle value. However,if this is the only kind of data unfamiliar,but by writing down somedistinguish- possibleto caUect,given the circumstances,condi- ing features,confirmation of its identity is more tions,or experienceof the diver youp, evensome certain. Notesshould irnmcdiatclybe written kind of cornparison within and betweenreefs is down regardingthc species'notable charac- still passible.It is preferableto usea sampling teristic, color patterns,and other featuresthat wi11 strategywhich obtainsa representativesample of makeit easierto identify. Underwatercolor photo- the community. Thesedata can be useddirectly graphs or betteryet, color transparencies!will be as an indexof relativeabundance or they canbe a greataid, especiaDyif the specimenis suspected treatedmathematically to estimatetotaI abundance asbeing difTerent or unknownand cannot be cap- on a reef. tured. It is importantto comparenotes with fel- low observersand just as importantly,to leam to Fi ure 7.2 accept or reject if needbe! the identifications madeby others. Thereare ichthyoIogistsand fish- erybiologists at mostof theuniversities through- out theSoutheast, who can be caUcd upon to help you with your identifications. We emphasize againthat while variationand inaccuradcsin data gatheringon artificial reefsis inevitable,the data basemust contain aacurate species identifications. Whileit maynot be possibleto identifyeach individual to the specieslevel an alternativewould bc to identifyeach individual at leastto its correctge- nus or family.

Importance of Field Notes Too manytrust their memoriesonly ta leam or worse,never find out! that they haveforgotten some character, species, or observation critical to a study. This happensmost often whenconsider- able time takesplace between the dive andnote writing or datarecording. Eventhe bestof us haveproblems keeping track of informationwhen severaldives aremade on the sameday, or the weather is rough arxVor the excitement of the mo- ment causes a lapse in memory. We suggest, in addition to recordingthe physicaldata as outhned previously,that a field notebookbe usedto write down your immediateim prcssions and observa- Field Note Sheet Beginnerscan start by simply identifying cics. The secondmethod, Fixed Point Sampling, and recordingspecies of interest. 1hompsonand provides an index of abundanceof aH observable Schmidt977! andJones and Thompson978! species. developeda methodin which diversswim ran- domly amunda reefand attempt to locateand identify aHpossible species within a 50minute period. Moving Transect Sample Speciesare given a scarcof 5 to 1 dependingon The lack of structuraluniformity over space which respective10 minutetime intervalthey were and time on artificial reefs often makes traditional first observed. This is an exceHent method for pro- transectsampling strategies difficult or impossible. ducing a specieslist and for training divers on fish For this reason, we recommend using a fixed identification. searchraute or a timedsearch period in which all Advanced divers, using methods described individual fish of interest are located and counted. below, shouM collect more quantitative data which In situations where the reef structure is relatively estimates abundance and even sizes. Measuring constant, like a ship wreck, a prescribed search sizesunder water canbe a problembecause objects route can be established. Careful attention shouM appear closer and therefore enlarged!. Divers who be given to precisely following the same mute for desireto estimatefish sizesshould carry a measur- eachsample. 1he sainestarting and ending point ing device of some type. One which we prefer con- should be used. A route map should be made for sistsof a rodapproximately 3 feetlong with a ruler later use. Targetspecies are recorded as they are attachedperpendicularly on the far end. This will observed.The datacan be influencedby differ- help avoid problemsin estimatingtrue sizes. Di- encesin watervisibility. 'Thiscan bc ininimized vers shouM practice estimating sizes of various ob- by tectirdingonly thoseindividuals observed jects from a distance and then compare their within a predetermineddistance. The distancecho- estimates to the tneasured size underwater. senshould depend on prevailingconditions. Visual census data are most easily reoorded In complexhabitats, a timedsearch period of with a pencil on plasticized paper held by a clip- 15 minutesper sampleis suggested.During this board. We do not recommendusing datasheets periodaH observed individuals of the predeter- with preprintcdspecies' names because they tend minedtarget species are recorded. Likely hiding to bias thc diver's observations and usually do not placesfor particularspecies can be searched.In or- save time. It often takes considerable time to read derfor resultsto be comparable,a constantswim- and find names on a list underwater. Scientific ming speedshouM be maintainedduring the namescan usuaUy be abbreviatedusing the first search.Swimming speed should be the slowest threeletters of the genusand the first four lettersof speed ncces!ax@to adequately take data on the the SpeCifiCname e.g., the rcd snapper, Lg1jatHIS densestconcentration of the desiredtarget species. gg~pgg+IHlSbeCOmeS "lut camp". Plasticpaper Distancelivered can be estimatedby calibrating providesa convenientpermanent recording me- distance as a function of time at the established dium. nte Plaspyrusbrand paper referred to ear- swimming speed, although in areas with stmng cur- lier is good for this. Heavyrubber bands wiH help rentssuch calibration may not be effective. in hoMingsheets on a clipboard.Another method Severalindependent, smaH samples are gen- of recordingdata consists of usingopaque white! eraHymtxc desirablethan one largesample. Multi- sheetsof plexiglaswhich havehad their surfaces ple samplesare thorc desirablefor statistical toughenedwith sandpaper.These "slates" can be treatment. Therefore, small incranents of search reusedas they can be cleanedwith scouringpow- distance or time are recommended. More samples der or sandpaper.Pencil can be usedto write un- can be taken in large habitatsand the averageor derwateron both inaterials you caneven erase mean values used. Buddy team members shouM underwater as wcH with a plain old rubber eraser!. collect data in order to provide a variance estimate A simple way to transcribe the data on the slate, to betweenobservers. The first samplecoHected on a paper, is by using a oopy machine. given day can be used for comparison purposes in situations, where fish populations are affected by counting,such as when individual fish are fright- Samphng Methods ened away fmm a reef by the presenceof divers. In order to properlyassess fish on artificial reefs, we must have a firm understanding of the at- tributes and limitations of the methods we wish to Fixed Point Sampling employ. Below are two methodsdesigned to This methodis moresuited for samplingaH quickly andsimply visually monitor the reef fish specieson reefswith complexor diversecommuni- populations,1hc first method,Moving Transect ties, Studieswhich concentrateonly on a few spe- Samples,is usedto samplespecific speciesof inter- cies might not revealaH the informationwhich is est,such as snapperand grouper,although the biologicaUyimportant. Largerspecies are likely to methodcan bc usedon any speciesor groupof spe- be attractedto sitesbecause of the presenceof smaller"trashfish" or "baitfish" species.Scientists cies that continuallyswim throughthe samplearea. would like to know more about the relationships 'Ihis procedure will reduae chances of recording betweenthe largeand small species. the saine individuals mare than once. Data on bot- With this method,fixed pointsare selected tom featureswithin the sampleradius may be re- from which data an community composition are cordedfor later reference,Photographs of the site coHectcd.Points can be randomlyselected pm- maybe helpful. vided points chosen are truly random in the statisti- Again, greatcare must be takenta record cal sense!or they am be fixed at certainlocations andkeep track of all essentialinformation about for purimsesof comparison.On a particularartifi- the dive. Otherwise the data collected wiH be use- cial reef, such as a wreck, sites might be chosen less. Copiesof which can be easily relocated, such as on the an- chor, the fo'c'sle, or a pointalong the hull on the canbe recopiedand organized far analysis, Names ufeurrentor dawncurrentside. Permanentpoints of divers,date, weather condibans, depth, name of are recommended for detecting temporal i.e., time reef andsample locations should be recorded. associated! changes and when different divers are Numberingeach sample is recommended.Any ad- monitoringthe samesite. ditional informationthat can be pmvidedshould be recordedsuch as visibility, seaconditions, tidal cy- At each point, both members of the buddy teamfirst recordaH species observed within a pre- cle, doud cover, and unusual observations. setdistance of a 360'arc during a fiveminute period. This distance used should be constant. We recommend8 meters about25 feet! in areaswith Fish Survey Bata Type prevailingclear water although shorter distances Any analysis of the data obtained in a visual may be used. 'Ihc distance to bc sampled should survey must be considered as to kind as well as bc measuredand markedat one point. Several quality of data. 'Ihe kind of datawill generallybe brandsof fiberglasstape measures are comrncr- at leastone and perhapsall of the following: ciaHyavailable, which canbe submergedin salt 1! species Hst; water, Usually a stationaryobject on the bottom will serveas a handyreference point for eachsam- 2! qualitative species abundance; ple. 3! relativespecies abundance; Any fish that swims within the imaginarycyl- 4! absolutespecies abundance. inder extendingfram the bottomto the surface The appropriateways to handleeach of these within the five minutesample period is recorded. datatypes will bc consideredbelow. In aHaises At the end of the sampleperiod an estimateof the . Forex- numberof individualsobserved for eachspecies is ample,it would be erroneousand misleadingto thenrecorded. Miniinum, average,and maximum comparethe seasonalchanges in abundanceof red size eshmatesfor eachspecies can also be re- grouper at a particular artificial reef, if some of the corded. Only a few individualsof mostspecies ap- surveys recorded relative abundance and others pear within the sample radius during the five used qualitative estimates. To analyze the data in minutesample sa their numberscan usually be eas- the abave example, one would have to go to the ily remembered. Individual fish which are nat lowest common denominator of similarity in data likely to leave the sample radius am be counted af- type. In the aboveexample, the relativeabundance ter the five minute sample period by starting at one data would have to bc converted into qualitative pointand rotating around 360' until aHthe view- data to allow a meaningf'ul analysis. able area is txivcred. We recommend aaunting only one species at a time and working up the list from the bottom to avoid bias caused by a ten- SpeciesLists dencyto count eachspecies when it is particularly It is possibleto cornpare artificial reefs noticeableor abundant.Working systematically merelybased on a list of speciesknawn ta inhabit back up the list reducesthe chanceof overkiaking them. Granted,the analysismay be crude,but a speciesthat remainswithin the samplearea for thereare same things which can be said in a study only a shorttime canbe countedas they appear usingthese types of dataproviding one is awareof duringthe five minutesainple period. UsuaHy the assumptionsneamsary to validatethe compari- only a few speciesare in this category. son. When largeschools of fish arepresent, it A dive teammay surveya reefand merely might be necessaryto count by 10's, 20's, 50's, or notethe speciesobserved at the site at s particular even 100's. This methodrelies on detectingrela- time of day or time of year. It may be possibleto tive abundances so do not be concerned about ob- usethe presence/absenaeof certain species to gain taining absoluteaccuracy. The rnaximurnnumber someinsight into the natureof artificial reefs. Be- of individualsseen at one time can be usedfor spc- low aresome hypothetical examples of the uses

47 made from the kinds of information soineone jacent reefs,they may be vastly more numerouson might gatherfrom a simplespecies list. one of these structures. 1! A certainspecies of fish may havebeen Qualitativeabundance data are generally re- absentat onetime of the yearand present corded on some type of verbal or numeric scale. the remainder.This implies a seasonal A speciesmay be said to be abundant,common, few, rare,or given a numberscore for the abun- preference by the species. danceassessment e.g., 5,433,1! to signify the 2! A speciesmay be absentat onetype of verbalqualiTicrs above. 'Ihe verbalor numerical reef, yet presentat anotherreef which is scalescan vary of course. An extremelyabundant fish could becomea perfect10 on a 10point scale. dose by but composedof a differenttype It is preferablethat if qualitativeabundance scores of material. This implies a habitat prefer- areused, that they be accompanied by somerela- enceby the species. tive abundancedefinitions: e.g., abundant = more 3! Presenceof a speciesonly when another than 100 individuals; common = 25 to 100 individuals; few = 5 ta 24; rare = less than five. specieswas absent might imply compet- If defined in some similar manner as above, tion between the two species. qualitativedata am be treatedas relative abun- 4! Higher numbers of speciesconsistently re- dancedata and analyzed accordingly, 'Ihc prob- corded on one reef in comparison to others lem is thatbecause of the wide rangesin potential implies that something in the nature of the speciesabundance and the necmmily narrow rangeof qualitativecategories, a lot of usefulin- structureallows or permitsthis to remain formationin our visual surveysmay be last. because of some factor such as size of the reef, amountof fishing pressure,proxim- Relative SpeciesAbundance ity to natural reefs, or some other factor Relativespecies' abundances are perhaps not easily recognized without further the most appropriate kind of data for scientific study. analysisof the fish faunaassemblages associated Thereare several basic assumptions which with artificial reefs. Most of the datagathering are made when comparing artiTicial reefs by spe- techniquesoutlined previouslyrecord relative species lists. The first is thatwhen a speciesis noted cies abundance.Thc abundancefigures for each an a particularsurvey, it was in fact present again speciesare considered "relative" becausethey are errors in species identification can invalidate this relativeto the particulartechnique used. For ex- assumption!.The secondassumption is thatjust ample, an estimate of grouper using a moving tran- becausea speaes was not seen ar recorded does secttechnique gives a numberof grouperrelative not mean that the species was truly absent f'rom the ta that technique and would not be comparable to area. It fs of courseprobable, although unlikely, grouperabundance data gathered by a fixed point that after a seriesof surveyson a particularreef count technique. that one might missseeing a specieswhen it was actually thereall along. This may happenbecause Absolute Abundance Data of the geometricconfiguration of someartificial reefs,the behavioralfeatures of somespecies, also An improvement of the relative abundance the species' abundance,or variation between ob- databy speciesis the absoluteabundance which re- servers to see some species. It should be noted lates the relative abundance ta same special pa- that eventhough a specieslist really only notesthe rameter such as the surface area of the reef and its presenceof species,species abundance is impor- value should be independent of the census tant as it is theoreticallyeasier to missa species method. For aII practicalpurposes, these type of which is rare,especially if it is small andcrjjpti- data will not be considered further because of the cally colored. degreeof sophisticationrequired in their cxillec- tion and veriTication. This is because in order to qualify as absolute abundance data, accuracy must Qualitative SpeciesAbundance be achievedon all levelsof datagathering. The Species'abundance data of this type arepre- areaof the reef mustbc determinedwith certainty ferredover specieslists. 'Ihis is becausein a com- and mustbe acxompanied with accurateand pre- munity, fish are not just presenton a reef,but are cisely collectedfish faunaldata, Unlessextreine alsothere in varyingabundanccs. For example, careis takento handleall possiblevariation in eventhough gray triggerfishare present on two ad- datadue to cxpcrimentaidesign, it is bestto leave of speciesor thc total numberof individualsof aQ this type of datacoHccting to researchscientists. speciesversus coIlection data. 'Ihe relativeabun- danceor qualitativescore of individualsobserved is locatedon the vertical axis while the date, Data Analysis month,season, or time of day is locatedon the Volunteersshould rely on professionalscien- horizontalaxis. Theseplots canbe represented tists for dataanalysis. It is imperativethat the vol- eitheras a seriesaf pointsamnectcd by a lineor a unteersappredate the needfar aacurap and bistognun bar graph!as depicted ia Figure7-3. consistencyia theirflsh dataaollectioa. The major It is also possibleto usegraphs to look for objectivesof any study that assessesor surveysthe factorswhich may be relatedto tbc numberspe- community of fish aa an artificia reef sbouM be to ciesor numberof individuals present.For exam- hok for changesin the fish faunaabundance ple, a pht af abundanceof white gruntsversus the aacVarcomposition that occurwithin an areaor to tempct3ture recorded on a site may show a rela- look for differenna between areas, Whatever our tionshiplike that in Figure74. abjective,the mastimportant aspect, allowing for further aaalysisof the dataregardless of the Fi ure 7.3 methodemployed, is lo obtain~ data that havebeen recorded and reported gaggllgtlgg, This is essential,not only for thc analysisof the flsh assemblagedata themselves, but alsofor the physicaldata that werc recordedaa eachsurvey. Oneof theoutcomes of anydata gathering study is that the diffcrcnceaia rneasuremeats species abun- IO dancesor physicalfeatures! may occur. It is im- s 5 perativethat any differenceswc find aot be caused O 20 by changesin tbc techniqueused to abtain tbc J $ 0 5 II J J 5 $0 0 0 data Farexample, let ussay that your dive team P wantsto comparetwo artifidal reef's.One dive I -l05 teamalways surveys thc shallowestreef and the $J other tbc deepestreef. In comparingthe abun- dancedata you noticethere are always more red snapperat thc decpcrreef andmore gray saapper at the siNIIow reef, While the diffaenou may be real and reflect a aaturalhabitat affinity for the two speciesin question,we mustbe surethat both dive KJ$ 5 00 0J0 5 J 0 $0 0 groupsconducted their surveysia the samemanner MOITH5 andboth groupsknew the differencesbetween ted andgray snapper.Our aaalysismight condude Relative Abundance Data that deeperreefs tend to havemore redsnapper vs. Monthto Date Sarnplel andshallower reefs more gray snapper.If the differencesin speciesabundance werc caused by misi- deatificationof onegroup's preferenceto Not carrying the analysisfar enoughis an- overestimatered snapper,then our $xindusiansthat otherpoint to watch. In the exampleof a hypo- thc depthdifference between these two structures theticalrelationship between temperature and was responsiblefor the speciesabundance differ- abundanceof white grunt Figure 7-4!, the tempta- enceis likely to bc false. tion is to say that an increasein temperature causedthe increasein white grunt. To statethis would, however, make an assumption that tem- GraphicAnalysis perature caused the abundance levels when the Graphsare probablytbc simplestand dear- dataonly indicatethat temperatureis relatedto estway to begin an analysisof artificial reefcen- abundance.We might just as well haveargued susdata. A "first cut' of the datapermits a that white grunt abundancecaused thc temperature "picture" of the censusresults and may leadone to change! While inaeasedtemperature may have conductfather analysis,which answermtxe so- beenthc causeof the increasedfish abundance, phisticatedquestions of the data. Graphsam be of OurObServatian Of the tempImture-abundant'rela- severaltypes, based on tbc kind of mamination tionshiponly aUowsus to infer what the cause onewould like to conduct.Ferhaps the simplest was. Ia fact, the increased abundance of the white typeof graphis a plotof theabundance level of a grunt may haveresulted from an increasedfood particularspecies versus some feature of the physi- supplyiadependeat of ternperature. This is a ma- cal data. This ceuM be a plot of the total number jor point and mustbe understoodbefore procixd-

49 iag withaay analysiswhich uses a platof a rela- seemto haveas manyspecies as it shouldhave!, tionshipbetween tbe census data aad a physical theawe arcleft with theinteresting and often ie- feature of the artificial recta. wsrdiagtask of askiagsome additional questions sllcb as: Fi are 7.4 I! Wasit thetechnique? 2! Wasthere something about thc caaditioas on theday that tile study was conducted thatmight acxxxxit far ihcuncxpccbd dif-

40 ference sudi as unusual weather or very X O lowvisibility!? SO la 3! Wasthc reef in questionnewly cxia- 0 structed it maytake several years far a EO reef to "mature"and attain its "adult"ar aIO > climaxstatus!? 4! Werethere scxae other rcpt ~ 0 IO IS EO ES SO w'ludlwclcn't quxc usual iar tbcarea TEOIPEIISTIJOE VIP! suchas a red tide, bumaine, or intease Hypothetical Relationships-it is nec- Qsbiagpressure? essaryto define and carrythe analysisfar ThisseatIdting aad qucstiaaing aspeCt iS enoughto properlydNne the rebNlonship. what acicaceis all about. First, establishwhat is Thishypothetical graph cf temperttureand out there;seaaad, determine and documentthe te- abundanceof white grurNshows how incom- latiaashipsamong tbe fish aad their cmmmncat; plete analysis~ skew results, aadthen try ta cxplaiawhy some af thedata do natfit theexpected pattern of relationships. Tbeabove mentioned way af analyzingdais Prediction 4 Yrelcis aGowsus to lookat treadsamong and within artificial recta.Ja addition, wc mightalso waat io oxn- 'Ihraughtbe pracess af plattingcensus data pare the specieshst ar relative abundaacesof a of fishcxxtmunitics either the community as a particularspccica betweca two recta Herea nu- wholeor partiailartarget groups within tbe cxxa- mericalcomparison is perhapsbcsL Forexample, muaity!it maybc patsnbleto cvcntuallypredict reefA aa a yearlybasis tends to have20 species ihestatus of tbcfish community by abtaiaiagdata of fsib oa it with a minimum of 15 and a maxi- oa one or a few af thc environmental factors mumof 25 aada lowaverage aumbcr of ied snap- whichscen to havea relatiomiiipwhen we plot perat 35 pcrsurvey. Rccf B hasfewer numbers tbedata Far example,after cxamiaiag a scricsaf of speciesaa aa annualbasis 10 minimum oI 7, fathcxxtsta data we mightconclude that mare maximum 15!but red snapper wcte more numer- snowygrouper acxur on a reefw bcathc tcmpct3- ouswith an averageof 50 pervisual itxtpcctioa. tuteaad depth are at a certainleveL LogicaUy,we wouldfirst have ta dctctmincif tbc Whileit is du&tful thatsamnite prediction diffcceikxsin numberof speciesof redsnapper af aumbenof fishoa a reefwill alwaysbc possi- areimportaat or sigaiflatnt.'Ihcn we mighttry ta bleusing tbe tecbaiquc above, it shouldbe noted determine what tbe differences ia factors ar fea- thatby usingmare sophisticated statistical analy- tutesoa the twa structuresarc, which may have ia- seswith thesame data, reasonably reliable predic- Qucaccd the diffcreaces ia the ccasus data we tiaasaouM acxtir. Again, university or research obsctved.Whether ar nat thediffered aresig- institutionpetsaancl should be able io aidyou aificaatis reallya statisticalquestion, which can with theseaaalyses as longas tbe data have bcca onlybc answeredby someoneweil versedia the collectedaccui3tely aad in a aesistcntmaaner. subjectof statistics. Predictionin andof itselfis xitcrcsting aad maybe impartaat,but a potentiallymore impor- tantvalue of plottingdata is ta questionibe data SpeciesRehttlonships thatda not 'fit". Far example,lct ussay that a Aaotber way to analyze the abuadilacx:data verystrong relationship exists between tbe amouat of artiQcialreef fishes is to plotthc abundance of af surface area of arti6dal reefs aad thc number of oaespecies versus ance'. 'Ibis will helpdeter- speciesit normally lmsi Hviag aa it, regardlcasof minethe telatiansbip that exists between aay twa sessaa.If a surveydane on a verylarge reef has species.For example, when thc abundianac of veryfcw species on it ia otherwords, it docsa't whitegrunts is pated againstthe abundance of black seabass, we might seea generallypositive lot aboutthe fishery potentialand community dy- relationshipthat indicatesthat whenthere are a lot namicsof artificial reefs. Finally, storeyour data of white grunts,there are usually a lot of black sea in sucha way that others,in the future, can find bass. This might mean that the habitat features are andunderstand it. To do anythingless, will render favorableto boih species.Let us say, however, alJyour work worthless. that whenwe plot the abundanceof white grunts versuspinfish we find the oppositeto be true. That is, whenwhite gruntsare abundant,pinfish References are rare or few. This could mean, in addition to Bohniasck,JA. 1982. Effectsof piscivorous the reversefor the similar habitatargument posed preditorremoval on coral reef communitystruc- previously,that perhaps there was some competi- ture. pp. 258-267.In: G.M.Cailletand C.A. tion taking placebetween the two speciesand that Simenstad.Gutshop '81: Fish Food Habits Stud- wheneverone speciesbecomes abundant it tends ies. WashingtonSea Grant Program. Seattle. to excludeor outcompetethe other. Cbaplin, C.G. 1972. Fishwatcbers Guide to WestAtlantic Coral Reels. Livingston Publishing Summary Co., Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. It is not possibleto go into all the fine details Gteenberg,L andJ. Greenberl. 1977. of the dataanalysis in this shortintroduction to the Guide to Corals and Fishes of Florida, the Baha- subject. It is, however,important to keepin mind mas, and tbe Caribbean. Seahawk Press, Miami, somebasic ideaswhen analyzing artiTicial reef fish Florida. visual census data. Hoese, KD. 1977. Fishes of the Gulf of 1! Make surethe methodsused to gatherthe Mexican.Texas A andM University Press,College Station, Texas. datafor any given analysishave been Jonea,R8. and M J. Thompson,1978. taken with a CONSISTENT method of Comparisonof Florida reef fish assemblagesusing censusing. a rapidvisual technique.BulL Mar. Sci. 28: 159- 2! Double checkthe datafor accuracyand be 172. suspect that doesn'tmean throwing Klima, E.F. and DA. Wickbain. 1971. At- tractionof coastalpelagic fishes with artificial tbemaway! of datathat do not fit your ex- structures.Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 100!: 86-99. pecteddpattern. Randali, J.E. 1963. Caribbean Reef Fishes. 3! If they don't fit, try to determinewhy: TFH Publications,Jersey City, New Jersey. a! natural phenomenon? Robbins,C.R., R.M. Bailey,CW Bond, b! error in datarecording yes, it happens J.R. Booker, EA, Lacbner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. to the bestof us!? Scott. 1980. A list of common and scientific names of fishes Irom the United States and Can- 4! Examineor inspectthe databy graphi- ada. 4th edger, Fish. Soc.Spec. Pub. No. 12, cally displaying them. Bethesda,Maryland. 5! Look for relationshipsbetween commu- Roblbins,C.R., G.C. Ray & J. Donghss. nity andspecies abundance with other 1986. A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes of speciesor environmentalfactors by plot- North America, A Peterson Field Guide. Houghton Mifflin Company,Boston. V-XI, 354p. ting the data. Stokes,F J. 19&0. Handguideto the coral 6! Try to useyour graphsto help predictthe reef fishesof the Caribbean.Lippencott and Crow- abundanceof a species. eH, New York. 7! Seeif your predictionworks. If it does- 'nxiinpson, M J. aiMI T.W. Schmidt. 1977, n't, try to find out why. Validation of tbe species/timerandom count tech- If the speciesidentification, abundance and nique for samplingfish assemblagesat Dry Tortu- environmentaldata have been collected acxurately gas. Proc.Third Internat.Coral Reef Symp.I: and with consistentprocedures, you will havea 283-288. valuable data base froin which we can all learn a

Cha ter 8 Survey Techniques:Identifying the Economic Benefits of Artificial Reef Habitat

J. N'ak'er Milon amf Building 803, University of Florida, Gainesville, Ronald L. Schmied Rorida 32611. The exist is $2.00.

rtiTicial reds repent man's attemptto aug- ent the naturalproductivity of the oceans. The Basis for Economic While thesestructures may increasebiological di- Benefits versity and abundance, their ultimate successde- Thereis a axnmon perceptionthat arttTicial pendson the pleasurethey provideto sport reefsare just like other marinehabitats and should fishermenand sport divers. In the past,sportfish- be avaihkle to everyone.The difference,how- ing clubs,civic groupsand local governmentshave ever,is that artificial reefsare often ~ at pub- providedmanpower and funds to establishreef pro- lic expenseand are not a gift of nature. While jects. However,with increasingemphasis on fiscal they areopen and availableto everyone,everyone conservation,artifidal reef projectsare being doesnot havethe right to demandmore artificial forcedto competewith othercivic and recreation reef construction.Local or stategovernments for projectsfor pubUcspending. As a result,it is nec- examplewouM not be fiscaliy responsibleto their essaryto documentthe beneiltsof existingreef taxpayersif they built artificial reefswhich did structures and to determine the potential benefits not provide largertxxinomic benefits than the and creditsof new reef ptojects. Neglectof eco- costsincurred. TIte analogyto a privaterecrea- ixxnic factors can lead to underimestment in reef tion facility shouM be obvious. No businessman habitatby governmentand/or private concerns. wouM invest in a fishingpier unlesshe expected the economicreturns to be at leastequal to the TItis chapterprovides an overviewof altema- cosL tive techniquesto assessthe economicbenefits of artificial reefs. Since artificial reef use is not con- We assumethat artiTicialreefs provide an ttoIled throughentrance gates or admissionfees environment in which a food chain is established like manyother recreationfacilities, it is necessary that encouragesthe propagation or recruitment of to usesurvey techniques to determineusage and socially desirablemarine species. Sport fisher- the associated roaeational benefits. 'Ihe first sec- men and divers benefit from the structures be- tion dishes the basis of economic benefit meas- causethey enjoy recreationalexperiences that ures for recreahon activities where there are no might not otherwisebe availableor they would explicit admissionor userfees, as artificial reefs. haveto travel Irxigerdistances to enjoy a compara- The second section discusses three alternative ble experience.TIie task in identifying the bene- methodsfor estimatingeconomic benefits: I! com- fits of artiTicial reefs is to determine how much parativevaluation, 2! travel cost valuationand 3! the usersof thesefacilities would be "willing to contingentvaluation. Examplesof the surveyques- pay for the right to continue using an existing tions that could be usedfor eachmethod are pro- reef or to use a new reef. vided asAppendices L 4 M. The third sechon It is difficult to determine how much an arti- assesses the relative merits of alternative data col- ficial reef userwould be willing to payfor the ex- lection techniquesfor artificialreef usage surveys. perierwx:since it is not possibleto chargean Sinceit is not possibleto provide a completeover- admission fee, TIierefore it is necessary to use in- view of economicbenefit andcost techniques direct methods to determine how much fishermen within the spaoeof this handbook, the interested anddivers would pay for a typical "userday". reader should consult "A Handbook for Economic TItis amountbecomes the basisfor establishing Analysisof CoastalRecreation Projects" by J.W. the total benefits of an artificial reef. If the num- Milton andGrace Johns. &is publicationis avail- ber of userdays per fishermen/divercan be deter- able throughthe SeaGrant Extension Prograin, rnmed and the total numberof usersin a given

53 year, the total annual benefits can be established throughthe formula:

Forexample, if the averagediver werewill- four pcr year,and the total numberof diversusing ing to pay $SANper trip to an existing artificial the reef during thc year was 1,000, the total annual reef, the average number of trips to that reef was benefits for divers wouM be:

420,000 = $5.00 x4x f,000

A axnparabtccalculation for sport fisher- Hlc advalitagc of tllls iilctliad is that it is men aouM be made to determine the total annual quick anddata «re easy to collect The disadvan- benefits of thc reef. tagesare numerous. First, this approachonly Onc of the difficulties in establishingtbcsc measuresthc cast of getting to tbe dive site, not user day values is the exact nature of the "recrea- the actualvalue of the dive experience.This is tioncxpcricnce." Is this cxpcrienccon an existing similar to sayingthat the only value in going to reef ar an a ncw reef? Is this ncw reef thc Rst in Disney World is the expenseof getting there. Sec- thc areaor do severalalready exist? Are the types ond, thereis no distinctionbetween the quality of of experiencesdifferent on artificial reefsat differ- thc recreationexperiences. An artificia reef may ent waterdepths? All of theseare relevantaxi- be mtxe ar lessenjoyable than a natumtreef or ccrnsin establishingeconomic value, however, other dive site but this method cannot allow for eachcreates a separatere% problem. In the these differences between different dcstinatians, following discussion,we will assumethat we are Finally, establishinga measureof the userday trying to estimatethe economicbenefits for an ex- value is only ane part of determiningthe total isting artificial reef, We will look at three alterna- benefits of an artificial reef. It would still be nec- tive methods comparative, travel cost, and essaryto determinethe numberof userdays pcr contingent valuation! of establishing user day val- diver «nd thc total numberof divers using the reef ues and the total benefits for the reef. After a dis- during the year. The next inethodoffers some cussion of the three methods, we will conclude help aa theseaspects. with somesuggestions for assessingthe value of new reef projects. Travel Cost Method The travel cost method depends on users' ex- User Day Value Methods pendituresto get to a siteas a measureof their wittingncssto pay for that site. This methodhas Comparative Valuation Method been used since the 1950's to value recreation Thecomparative valuation method is per- sitesfor Federalprojects, including the U.S. Army haps the simplest but the least precise approach. Corpsof Engineers.It can be shownby using a The basic premise is that thc price of a aamparable simpleexample. Supposethat a surveypnmxhrc recreationalexperience can serveas a proxy for hasbeen set up so that interviewscan be con- thc userday valueof a particularrecreation. For ducted with divers at an artificia reef site, Tbc in- example, in order to establish the user day value terviewingis donerandomly amang divers at the of an artificial reef to divers, a aompsrative valu- site and the interviews are conducted at different ation wouM usc thc cost of a private charter dive intervalsduring tbe season year!. The interview trip to somelocal reef site. If tbe going rate is $15 questionnaire sec Appendix L! is designedto de- pcr trip, theait would be assumedthat this is the terminetbe diver's place of permanentrcsMence, userday value for divingexperierlccs in theareL thedistance traveled to thesite tacatmarina or

54 ramp!, the numberof dives madeat the site per datahad been collected and broken down into year,the numberof divers in the party and the ex- threegroups on the basisof distancetravelled pensesincurred enroute. Supposethe following travel zone!.

This information can iiaw be used to deter- ship lists from local diving clubs and certification mine economic bene6ts for all divers. First, it is lists from a divercertifying agency, Crosscheck- neces.~ to estimatethe total numberof ~i@~ ing was usedto eliminatedouble counting. We reef divers in eachof the travel zones. Suppose can combinethis informationwith the surveyinfor- for our examplethat this was doneusing member- mationin the foHowingtable:

The participationrate Column [3]! is deter- Total benefitsare determined by making inined by dividing the number of divers from each two assumptions:l! the travel costsof the divers zone by the total number of divers sampled. The irom the farthest zone measure the maximum will- total numberof trips per travelzone is determined ingnessto pay for useof the site, and 2! the differ- by multiplying the participationrate timesthe total ent', betweenmaximum willingness to pay and numberof divers per travel zoneand thenmultiply- the costsini~d by divers f'romother travel ing by the averagenumber of dives at the site per zones is a measure of benefits rcxeived. Thus to- year. tal benefits can be calculated as follows:

The travel cost method uses a number of sim- Contingent Valuation Method plifying assumptionsto determinean annualbenefits estimate. There are a number of alternauves One alternative to using a proxy such as that can be used to introduce more realistic assump- travel costfor the "wiUingnessto pay" of divers tions but theseextensions are beyond the scopeof for an artiTicialreef site is to ask themdirectly this discussion. The interested reader should con- what value they placeon the dive site. The pri- sult pages36-50 of mary advantageof this approachis that is provides a direct estimate of benefits without the restrictive

55 assumptionsof the travel cost madeL The major ing betweenhigh and Iow starting points say, shcrrtcamingis the hypotheticalnature of the ques- $200and $50!. In addition, the interviewershould tions. Respandentsmay not understandthe ques- not deliberate}ychange the startingpoint because tion or they may not respondseriously or the of perceiveddifferences in incomeof tbe respon- interviewermay bias the responsesby certainre- dents. marksor gestures.Some of theseshartcomirrgs Since much of the same basic information can be avercomeby carefulinstructions and pmpcr needed for the travel cxx t method is also needed questiondesign. for tbe axrtingent valuationmethod, it is useful to Thc simplestform of the contingentvaiu- combinethe two in a questionnaire.In this man- ationappreach is directquestioning. For example, ner the annualbenefits per diver canbe compared an interviewer at a dive site could ask divers the and a rarige of economic bcne6ts detamined. following questian: "If an annualpamit systemwas established for diving at this site,what is the maximum Survey Methods amountyou wauM bc willirrgto payfor thisper- Miiwt recreatiansurveys collect two typesof mit?" data: 1! basicdescriptive data about frequencyof 'Ihe ava3ge amountthat divers indicateas siteuse, purlxrse of trip, hometown,etc., and 2! theirwiIIingness to pay is a measureof tbeaverage measures of benefits such as travel casts or will- benefits and could be cenrbined with other inforrna- ingnessto payfor thcrecrcatian experience. In at- tion on the total number of divers at the site to de- temptingdiving/fishing surveysthere are two termine the total annual benefih. The main critical issues:determining how to contactdivas abjectionto direct questioningis that it is tao open- usingthe site and determiniirg how many divers in endedto producerealistic responses, An aitana- total are usingthe site. In general,a samplingpro- tive is ta useiterative bidding instead. The aedurecan be set up that useseither mail, tele- objectiveis to introducesome payment vehicle phone,or persona1interview methodsto e.g.a divesite permit or increasesin fuelcosts! determine the total number of divas. For exam- and thensuggest dollar amounts.The respondent ple, local dive club Ilats andcatification bsts wiII eventuallyconverge to a final responseand rxruld be used to determine the total number of di- this will be the wiilingncss to pay. Let's consider versin tbeimmediate area that aruM be usingtbe an example.The interviewerasks the foIIowing artificial reef. Then either a mail or telephanesur- questionsand receives the answersin parentheses; vey of these divers couM be used to determine if the processstops when the respondents'maximum they usetbe artificial reef. Information of type ! willingness to pay is reached. could be gatheredin this mannerand the total Dllrllbcf of Users determined. 1! If an annualpermit systemwas estab- The difficulty arisesin cailecting informa- lished for this reef site, would you buy a tion of type !. It is possibleto usemail and tele- permit if it cast $50? No! phone surveys to collect this information but there 2! Would yau buy one if the cost was$20? are serious questions whether these methods are accurate far this information. Personal interviews, Yes! preferablyon site or at a localmarina or boat 3! Would you buy one if the costwas $30? ramp,are preferredsince they allow the inter- No! viewer to correctlyinterpret the questirxrsfor the 4! Would you buy one if the cost was $25? respondent.'Ihe major problemwith the interview apprcrachis cost. It is experrsiveto keepan Yes! intaviewer at a siteand ta repeatthis processin Thus a maximumwillingness to pay of $25 orderto provide a sufficientlylarge sample. How- has been established. ever,if accumeyis very importantta the Gnalre- It is very importantthat the respondentunder- sults,the interview spinach is highly standthat tbe purpaseof the questionis not to recommerrded. "tax" themfar diving or to actually institutea permit system. This aoukl leadto deceptivere- sponses.An exampleof the type of introduction Surnnaary that cauld be usedis given in Appendix M. An- These considerations are summarized in the other cansideratianis the starting point in the itera- following table. 'Ihe ranking runs from A - most tive bidding process.In generalwhen an preferredto C - leastpreferred. Theserankings interviewerstarts off with a highinitial price, the are based on genaal resu/ts of recreation studies respondentwill end with a higherwillingncss ta for othertypes of facilitiesand the personal xperi- pay than if a lowerstarting point hadbeen selected. enccs of the authors. This problemcan be avoidedby randomlyswitch- A = most preferred, C = feast preferred!

The bestappmach to surveyingreef users Milton, J. W. and Johns,G. A Handbook for economic benefits would be to consult with for EconomicAnalysis of CoastalRecreation Pro- your local Sea Grant ExtensionAgent beforeyou jects,Horida Sea Grant Report Number 45, Uni- beginany survey work. Your agentcan put you in versityof Florida,Gainesville Fla, 32611 touchwith qualified universityresearchers who Tbompsm,M E andRoberts, K, K. "An canassist you in designingand implementing a EmpiricalApplication of theContingent Valida- survey for artificial reefs in your area. This will tiooTechnique to ValueMarien Recreation" save you money in the long run and will assure draft!, LouisianaState University, Center for thatyou collect the right kind of information. WetlandRetsxccet, Baton Rouge, La. 70803.

References Ditton,R, B. et al. "PredictingMarine Rec- reationalfushing from boat Characteristics and Equipment."Talons of theAmerican Fisher- iesSociety, Vol. 109980!: 644-648.