Akule and 'Opelu Larval Data from Plankton Tows Conducted off the Kona Coast in West Hawai'i between 1997 and 2018

The data described here includes the analysis of plankton samples for the presence and size of akule and 'opelu larvae, as well as the tow metadata of samples including tow type, mesh size, and distance from shore. This data was collected as a part of Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD)'s West Hawai'i Ichthyoplankton Time Series Project. This project targeted the biosampling of commercially important species including billfish and tuna, but included all available ichthyoplankton; from 2016-2018 the focus shifted to plankton community structure around the island and in/out of oceanographic features. This data was produced by analysis of plankton samples collected off the Kona Coast of Hawai'i from 1997 throughout 2018 by NOAA ships and small boats. Ichthyoplankton samples were collected by 6 ft. Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawls and 1m ring-nets towing aside the ships/boats. Neuston and vertical tows were conducted from 2016-2018 to better assess the vertical distribution of larvae in the top 10m.

Monitoring ichyoplankton levels helps us understand the composition of the neustonic plankton communities across space and time, with focus on larval dynamics of commercially and culturally important larval species. These data represent a strong mechanism to monitor spawning, recruitment, and phenology of larvae.

A NOAA technical memorandum will be published in 2023 with the use of this data; this metadata record will be updated with this link once it is published.

Gove JM, Whitney JL, McManus MA, Lecky J, Carvalho FC, Lynch JM, Li J, Neubauer P, Smith KA, Phipps JE, Kobayashi D, Balagso KB, Contreras EA, Manuel ME, Merrifield MA, Polovina JJ, Asner GP, Maynard JA, Williams GJ. 2019b. Prey-size plastics are invading larval fish nurseries. Proc Nat Acad Sci. 116(48):24143-24149. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907496116.

Whitney JL, Gove JM, McManus MA, Smith KA, Lecky J, Neubauer P, Phipps, JE, Contreras EA, Kobayashi, DR, Asner GP. 2021. Surface slicks are pelagic nurseries for diverse ocean fauna. Sci Rep. 11(1): 3197. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81407-00.

The data described here include tow data collected as a part of PIFSC/ESD's West Hawai'i Ichthyoplankton Time Series Project. The West Hawai'i Ichthyoplankton Time Series began in 1997, when ichthyoplankton was collected by neuston tows off West Hawai'i to assess the spatial and temporal variability in larval distribution and abundance. After samples are processed and fish are identified, environmental metadata helps us monitor seasonal occurrence, vertical distribution, habitat and temperature associations, and cross-shore distribution of larvae. The response of larvae to oceanographic conditions can provide insight into how the environment may modulate recruitment.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69140

While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

Sampling occurred off the Kona coast from 1997 through 2018.

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NOAA Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) Data Sharing Recommendations, version 9.0 updated August 12, 2015:

ESD welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on research issues contributing to the scientific basis for better management of marine ecosystems. ESD has a very diverse set of field activities that generates large volumes of data using an array of data collection protocols.

The following recommendations are for your consideration as you use this data:

1) Data analyses should take all field exigencies into account. The most effective way to do this would be active collaboration with ESD principal investigators.

2) In all presentations, product releases, or publications using data generated by ESD, proper acknowledgement of both ESD and the individuals responsible for data collection is expected. Citing the DOI (if available) is preferred, a non-DOI example is listed below.

3) If you collect or generate data for the same study areas, ESD requests that you share relevant information on complimentary data collections.

4) Those receiving data are strongly urged to inform the ESD Data Management Team of any errors and discrepancies that are discovered during the course of using these data. They are further urged to bring to the attention of the Team all problems and difficulties encountered in using these data. This information is necessary in order to improve the collections and to facilitate more efficient and economical data processing and retrieval. The users are asked to supply copies of any missing data that may be located, and to provide information as to significant subsets and special aggregations of data that are developed in using the material provided.

Example citation:

"This publication makes use of data products provided by the Ecosystem Science Division (ESD), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). The analysis and interpretations presented here are solely that of the current authors.”

Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

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Please cite NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) when using the data.

Example:

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2023: Akule and 'Opelu Larval Data from Plankton Tows Conducted off the Kona Coast in West Hawai'i between 1997 and 2018, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69138.

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A GPS unit was used to record distance to shore, and coordinates of each tow. The mean depth value was recorded by entering coordinates in ArcGIS using SRTM15+ v2 global bathymetry dataset (15 arc second resolution).

Larval fish of certain taxa are notoriously difficult to identify to species. We consulted the help of fish expert at PIFSC Bruce Mundy and his resources to help us identify 'Opelu (Decapterus macarellus) and Akule (Selar crumenophthalmus). We also utilized DNA barcoding to confirm ID's of larvae, and utilized the morphological characteristics of those larvae to identify others. Larvae smaller than 2mm were unable to be confidently identified.

Of the 1,016 neuston tows conducted in West Hawai'i, 660 of these contained whole and accurate metadata functional for analysis. All 123 vertical tows were included in this data set.

Research conducted before 2016 targeted the sampling of billfish and tuna primarily using large research vessels, and did not focus on oceanographic features (ie. surface slicks). Tows conducted between 2016-2018 were slick-focused and used both small boats and large vessels. Ichthyoplankton and larvae were processed in the same manner.

Tows with missing metadata (eg. length of tow, volume filtered, latitude/longitude) were excluded from analysis. Whole plankton samples were occasionally dried out or for some other reason unable to be processed, and these tows were also removed from this data set.

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.

The West Hawai'i Ichthyoplankton Time Series began in 1997, when ichthyoplankton was collected by neuston tows off West Hawai'i to assess the spatial and temporal variability in larval distribution and abundance. Samples were analyzed under microscope and larvae were identified, counted and measured for length. Distance from shore and mean bottom depth metrics were also utilized in the analysis of akule and opelu larval ecology. Environmental metadata helps us monitor seasonal occurrence, vertical distribution, habitat and temperature associations, and cross-shore distribution of larvae. The response of larvae to oceanographic conditions can provide insight into how the environment may modulate recruitment.