Many fishes, including groupers, produce sounds associated with mating behavior; recording and analyzing the occurrence of these sounds can provide long time-series records of grouper use of spawning habitat. Red hind Epinephelus guttatus sound production was recorded on spawning aggregation sites off the west coast of Puerto Rico and at Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Audiovideo recordings were used to identify a species-specific sound produced by male red hind, most commonly during territorial patrols, and also during interactions with females. This sound is low in frequency (50 to 400 Hz) and consists of a series of pulses repeated at a variable rate. Long-term acoustic recorders were placed off the west coast of Puerto Rico at Abrir La Sierra and at Mona Island to record the timing of red hind sound production from January through March. Red hind sounds were detected at all times of the day, with peaks in sound production just before dusk. Monthly peaks in sound production were evident in each time series, but the monthly peak in sound production at Abrir La Sierra was 6 d later than the peak at Mona Island, suggesting that the timing of spawning of these 2 aggregations, while on a lunar schedule, was not broadly synchronized during this time period. This research lays the groundwork for both long-term monitoring and mapping of red hind spawning sites that will be useful for managing spawning aggregations, especially in remote areas.KEY WORDS: Red hind · Spawning aggregation · Sound production · Mona Island · Puerto Rico Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherRed hind were recorded by Tavolga (1968) and Fish & Mowbray (1970) as part of a survey of sounds produced by fishes. In their studies, red hind were found to produce low-frequency pulsed sounds with most of the energy below 200 Hz. These sounds were recorded from captive specimens, and were likely defensive sounds associated with being handled. It is possible that the sounds recorded in captivity were not representative of the sounds that might be produced by aggregating red hind, as has been observed for many sciaenids. The goals of the present study were to record and characterize sounds from wild red hind on known spawning aggregation sites and to document long-term patterns of sound production from daily to monthly time scales at 2 sites separated by deep water in Puerto Rico during the red hind spawning season. MATERIALS AND METHODS Underwater video recordings.Underwater audiovideo recordings of red hind behavior were conducted by SCUBA divers at Mona Island, Puerto Rico, using Sony PC-110 and SR80 video cameras. Each camera was housed in an Ocean Images underwater video housing and connected to an HTI 96-min hydrophone (sensitivity 2 Hz to 37 kHz; -164 ± 1 dBV µPa -1 ). Recordings were made from January to March 2007 during dives from 16:00 h through dusk. The video recordings were used to record red hind behavior and associated sound production. The audio portion of the recordings was only used for des...

Regional abundances of Nassau grouper Epinephelus striatus and yellowfin grouperMycteroperca venenosa have declined due to overfishing of their spawning aggregations, prompting permanent and seasonal fisheries closures in the US Virgin Islands (USVI). As both species produce sounds associated with reproductive behaviors (courtship-associated sounds; CAS), passive acoustic and acoustic telemetry methods were used to determine temporal patterns of reproductive activity, site usage, and fish movements in order to assess the effectiveness of current management strategies at 2 marine protected areas (MPAs) in the USVI: the Grammanik Bank (GB) and Hind Bank Marine Conservation District (MCD). Patterns of sound production and ultrasonic acoustic tag detections showed that both species formed spawning aggregations from January through May at the GB, highlighting the current seasonal regulations (1 February to 30 April) as insufficient for protecting spawning stocks during the entire reproductive season. Acoustic tagging confirmed connectivity between the GB and MCD and exposed the broad extent of habitat used, including non-protected areas, during the spawning season. Spawning did not likely occur within the MCD, but the MPA did support abundances of calling individuals during spawning periods, indicating that both species produce CAS away from their spawning sites. This finding coupled with the detection of routine migrations between spawning and non-spawning sites presents a potential mechanism to lead conspecifics to the aggregation site and thereby increase reproductive fitness and spawning output. KEY WORDS: Nassau grouper • Epinephelus striatus • Yellowfin grouper • Mycteroperca venenosa • Passive acoustics • Ultrasonic acoustic tagging • Fish movement patterns • Marine protected area Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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