Nocturnal Visual Census of Pelagic Fauna Using Scuba near Kona, Hawai‘i

Milisen, Jeffrey W.; Matye, Sarah A.; Kobayashi, Donald R.

doi:10.2984/72.4.1

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Collecting and imaging.-The dives took paying guests to deep water near shore at night to observe vertically migrating organisms. Gelatinous plankton including salps, siphonophores, ctenophores, and cnidarians constituted the majority of animals encountered (Milisen et al, 2018), although the most popular organisms tended to be cephalopods and larval fishes. Prior to collection, intact specimens were photographed in situ (when possible) with a housed, digital SLR camera affixed with twin 2000-lumen focus lights, 60 mm macro lens, and two Ikelite external strobes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blackwater Diving: An Exciting Window Into the Planktonic Arena and Its Potential to Enhance the Quality of Larval Fish Collections

Nonaka

Milisen

Mundy

et al. 2021

Ichthyology & Herpetology

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Blackwater diving,'' or nighttime SCUBA diving in epipelagic environments, has become highly popular in recent years because lay participants encounter animals that are difficult and expensive to observe through other methods. These same observations can be priceless for researchers working with these species, so an interface between the scientific communities and recreational divers would be mutually beneficial. In this paper, we describe one such interface through the photography, collection, and DNA barcoding of larval fishes from the island of Hawaii. The images and videos from this activity provide an exciting window into the epipelagic environment and the way larval fishes appear and swim within it. Blackwater diving allows us to see the often-elaborate appendages and other specializations of these larvae as they appear in situ, prior to extensive net and fixation damage. However, blackwater diving remains an almost exclusively recreational pursuit, particularly popular among underwater photographers, who have little interest in (or object to) collecting specimens for scientists. Nonetheless, a logical next step is careful hand collection of specimens for scientific study. Growing numbers of recreational divers around the world have access to an otherwise expensive-to-research habitat. Here we present, for the first time, in situ and post-fixation photos of larval fishes that were hand collected and fixed in 95% ethanol by blackwater divers operating out of Kona, Hawaii, with DNA barcode identifications congruent with morphology and pigmentation where possible. With the right motivation, blackwater diving could augment research in the pelagic ocean and significantly enhance natural history collections and our knowledge of the larvae of marine fishes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blackwater Diving: An Exciting Window Into the Planktonic Arena and Its Potential to Enhance the Quality of Larval Fish Collections

Nonaka

Milisen

Mundy

et al. 2021

Ichthyology & Herpetology

Self Cite

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“…Gibbons et al [105] also considered the value of divers photographing ctenophores in the ocean. Standardized blackwater diver survey methods can be developed to learn more about the communities where fish larvae live and to obtain photographs or specimens [168], so much remains to be learned about the behavioral ecology of teleost fish larvae and the communities in which they live.…”

Section: Future Research On Fish Larvaementioning

confidence: 99%

43 Years after H.G. Moser’s Seminal “Morphological and Functional Aspects of Marine Fish Larvae”: The Commonalities of Leptocephali and Larvae of Other Marine Teleosts

Miller

2023

Fishes

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H.G. Moser was not particularly well known regarding the Elopomorpha, but he began his seminal 1981 fish larvae morphology review by describing the mysteries of European eels and their leptocephali, and he eventually described some California Current leptocephali. Descriptions of all types of leptocephali and then microscope photographs have revealed complex pigmentation patterns and diverse body shapes that parallel the features of the other teleost fish larvae that his review showed so clearly, some of which appear to mimic gelatinous zooplankton (GZ). Most recently, underwater photographs and video of leptocephali indicate that predator avoidance through transparency, shape-change-mediated mimicry, or morphological features have evolved in response to natural selection from predation in ways generally similar to other fish larvae. Several families of leptocephali perform remarkable curling into round or flattened shapes or use expandable chromatophores when threatened, which appears to mimic GZ for predation reduction. Like a number of other teleost fish larvae, some leptocephali have body extensions or telescopic eyes, and at least one has a long caudal filament with pigmented swellings that is similar to the remarkable GZ mimicry appendages of some fish larvae. The morphology and use of mimicry of leptocephali in comparison to other fish larvae is reviewed as a tribute to H.G. Moser’s remarkable career.

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