Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

This site is currently in beta, and your feedback is helping shape its ongoing development.

Fishery Biology and Stock Assessment Division (FBSAD) Recruit Reef Fish Belt Transect and Habitat Quadrat Surveys at Hawaii Island (Big Island), Main Hawaiian Islands, 2005 (NCEI Accession 0046935)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 29, 2026 | Last Modified: 2021-10-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
Shore-based belt transects were conducted at 8-13 m depths at 3 longshore sites on the leeward coast (North and South Kohala districts) of the Big Island (Hawaii Island) in the MHI during spring 2005. From 8-10 randomly positioned transects were surveyed at each site; each transect was 25-m long x 2-m wide (50 m**2 area). Raw survey data consist of species-specific and size-specific (total length, TL, in cm) numerical counts of recruit (>5 cm total length, TL) and larger (5-10 cm TL) juvenile reef fishes encountered within transect boundaries. Habitat quadrats were surveyed at 8-13 m depths using shore-based transects swum at 3 longshore sites on the leeward coast (North and South Kohala districts) of the Big Island (Hawaii Island, in the MHI) during spring 2005. Substratum percent cover and rugosity were characterized within multiple quadrats at each site. A total 90 "Reference" ('REF') quadrats (whose positions were randomly selected) and a total 89 "Target" ('TAR') quadrats (positions centered on sightings of recruit fishes), each of 1-m2** area, were surveyed at the 3 Sites. In each quadrat, the percentage cover of each of seven (7) major substratum types were estimated, as was a "Rugosity Index". The study was published in a peer-reviewed marine science journal in August 2007. The full citation is: DeMartini EE, Anderson TW (2007) Habitat associations and aggregation of recruit fishes on Hawaiian coral reefs. Bulletin of Marine Science 81(1):139-152.

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov