Acoustic tagging and monitoring of cultured and wild juvenile crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus) in a nursery habitat

The movements of cultured (n=18) and wild (n=28) juvenile crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus) are reported for a known nursery off windward Oahu, Hawaii. The 2 batches of fish were tagged with acoustic transmitters in separate years (2006, 2007) and monitored with a receiver array for up to 10 weeks. Of the cultured fish, 75% left the nursery within 3 days, more than twice the exit rate for wild fish tagged the following year. The number of wild fish detected peaked during daylight hours, indicating that the fish were diurnally active. Tidally driven changes in bottom temperature did not explain the behavioral patterns of the wild fish that remained in the nursery for multiple weeks. Additional receivers deployed on the slope adjacent to the nursery detected that two-thirds of the wild fish departed from the nursery after a short period (mean: 1.2 days [SD 1.69]), by crossing areas with soft substrate similar to that of the nursery. In contrast, the fish that exited by rock ledges stayed near the rock ledges longer (mean: 13.3 days [SD 20.9]). These movement patterns provide insight into the early life history of this deepwater snapper and a glimpse at some of the challenges for future stock enhancement efforts.