Burrow utilization by yellowedge grouper, Epinephelus flavolimbatus, in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

SynopsisSubmersible dives were made on a site in the Gulf of Mexico 160km southeast of Galveston, Texas in September 1984. Both yellowedge, Epinephelus flavolimbatus, and snowy grouper, E. niveatus, were observed utilizing shelter around rock ridge habitats. The yellowedge grouper also sought shelter within three types of burrows cut into soft sediment. Many of these burrows were significant excavations consisting of large trenches 7-8 m long, 2-3 m wide, and l-l.5 m deep. Burrows were found in depths from 265 to 290 m. Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, also occur at this site, usually inhabiting the characteristic vertical burrows already described for this species. In four daytime submersible transects covering a linear distance of over 13000 m, we observed a total of 66 yellowedge groupers. Twenty-five were in burrows, 39 among rocks, and two over open bottom. It is suggested that this species may have an advantage over congeners that utilize only rocky habitat for cover. It may also compete for shelter with tilefish at depths where the two species overlap.

Intertidal burrows of the air-breathing eel goby, Odontamblyopus lacepedii (Gobiidae: Amblyopinae)

“…Burrows are home to a number of fishes and are found in a wide continuum of aquatic habitats from fresh to marine waters of varying substrates (Atkinson and Taylor 1991) and from air-exposed tidal zones (Clayton 1993;Ishimatsu et al 1998Ishimatsu et al , 2007Itani and Uchino 2003) to deep-sea environments (Jones et al 1989). Fish burrows provide many benefits, including protection from predators and environmental extremes, feeding grounds, and spawning and egg incubation chambers (Silverberg et al 1987;Atkinson and Taylor 1991;Takegaki and Nakazono 2000).…”

Hazards of managing disparate species as a pooled complex: A general problem illustrated by two contrasting examples from Hawaii

“…Habitat engineers in other ecosystems and fisheries are not limited to herbivores that influence the dynamics of algae and hard substrata, however. Golden tilefish ( Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps , Malacanthidae), for example, importantly contribute to multiple bottom longline fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; their extensive burrows in soft sediments add critical habitat dimensionality that supports diverse communities of benthic organisms (Grimes, Able, & Jones, ; Jones, Gutherz, Nelson, & Matlock, ). In some regions, burrow associates include other important fishery targets like the yellowedge grouper ( Hyporthodus flavolimbatus , Epinephelidae) (Matlock et al, ).…”

Age estimation and lead-radium dating of golden tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps

“…Δ 14 C measurements from yellowedge grouper (Epinephelus flavolimbatus, Cook et al 2009) and barrelfish (Hyperoglyphe perciformis, Filer and Sedberry 2008) provided an offset context of Δ 14 C values, relative to the regional time-specific Δ 14 C references from the Northwestern Atlantic (Loess -NWA otolith, Campana et al 2008) and the Gulf of Mexico (Loess -GOM coral, Andrews et al 2013a), and a basis for exploring the possible reasons for the anomalous Δ 14 C values measured for golden tilefish (Harris 2005). Loess curves are a smoothed function to provide a visual representation of the trends provided by the original data series burrows (Jones et al 1989). Even though juvenile yellowedge grouper can recruit to shallower depths (25-125 m; Cook et al 2009), reduced Δ 14 C levels in otoliths of this species indicate it may typically recruit to greater depths with a prompt migration to even greater depths (Andrews et al 2013a).…”