ISLAND OF MOLOKAI

kalaekapu bay:

This site is a small south east facing embayment with large basalt boulder points on either side. There were several species of intermediate and small sized coral colonies on the interior of the bay growing very close to shore. The long spined sea urchin Echinothrix diadema was very abundant in this zone. We counted 25 urchins in a 1 x 1 meter area. There was very little algae in this area aside from very well grazed turf covering all non-coral surfaces. Along either side of this site in the basalt/boulder area, many species of marcoalgae were found. This was a high energy wave washed zone and not many urchins or corals were found here. On the south side of the bay in a rubble substrate area, Liagora sp. and Halimeda discoidea were growing in large patches. There were no houses or residential activity at this site aside from a few horses across the street.

Table 1.  Information regarding site characteristics and alien species abundances. The  number recorded for each alien species of algae is a ranking of the abundance of that species at each given site. Impact ranking values range from 0 (not present) to 10 (100% cover). 

Table 2.  Species list of all of the algal samples that were collected at this site. Alien species are displayed in green. 

Table 2.  Species list and relative abundance of all herbivorous fish encountered at this site.