Distribution and relative abundance of flyingfish (Exocoetidae) in the eastern Caribbean. I. Adults

• Published in: Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) Vol. 117; no. 1/3; pp. 11 - 23
• Main Authors: Oxenford, Hazel A., Manon, Robin, Hunte, Wayne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Inter-Research 01-03-1995
• Subjects: Archipelagos; Cruises; Datasets; Exocoetidae; Fish; Fish scales; Fisheries; Geography; Marine fishes; Ocean fisheries; Surface water
• ISSN: 0171-8630; 1616-1599
• DOI: 10.3354/meps117011

We investigated the distribution and relative abundance of adult flyingfish by transect visual survey across a 67 500 square nautical mile (nmi²) area of the eastern Caribbean from April 10 to May 6, 1988, using a 26 m research vessel and a rotating team of 23 observers. Flyingfish abundance (no. of fish per 0.5 nmi) was significantly correlated between data sets from port and starboard viewing stations, and we detected no evidence of observer bias. Flyingfish abundance varied significantly across the survey area, but was not correlated with any of the surface water characteristics measured (temperature, salinity, NO₂-NO₃-N, PO₄-P, silicate). For the commercially harvested species Hirundichthys affinis, as well as for the smaller Parexocoetus brachypterus, abundance was high west (leeward) of the Lesser Antilles island chain and in an area between and to the east of Barbados and Tobago, and it was low between the Lesser Antilles chain and Barbados and Tobago. Cypselurus cyanopterus was less common than H. affinis and P. brachypterus, and was largely restricted to the northeast of the survey area. Flyingfish distribution was patchy in all geographical zones of the survey area, mean patch width being 3.9 nmi and mean inter-patch distance 2.0 nmi. Patch width and patch density (fish density in patch) were positively correlated with each other and with flyingfish abundance on a transect, and inter-patch distance was negatively correlated with fish abundance. Both within and outside of patches, flyingfish occurred in schools. Flyingfish fleets from eastern Caribbean islands presently fish across areas of both high and low H. affinis abundance. Moreover, H. affinis abundance did not appear to decrease towards the east or west boundaries of the survey area, suggesting that catch rates may be similar to current rates if fishing fleets expanded their present geographical range. The high abundance indices obtained for P. brachypterus indicate that the feasibility of developing a small-scale fishery for this species in the eastern Caribbean should be further explored.