HASTINGS ET AL.: FISH FAUNA ASSOCIATED WITH OFFSHORE PLATFORMS 

 Table l. — Continued. 



'Abbreviations are as follows: sev-several, corn-common, abun-abundant. B-on bottom, L-lower water column, P-on pilings, 

 0-open water around platform, U-middle to upper water column under platform. 



^Echeneis neucratoides on Epinephelus. Sphyaena, Seriola, Balistes. and Caretta. 



^Equetus sp. - an undescribed species listed by Bullis and Tfiompson (1965) as "Equetus sp. nov." and by Strufisaker (1969) as 

 "Blackbar drum Pareques sp. (undescribed)." 



waters, which are attracted to solid, reeflike 

 structures. Smaller baitfishes, such as Harengula 

 pensacolae, Sardinella anchouia, Etrumeus teres, 

 Opisthonema oglinum, Decapterus punctatus, 

 Trachurus lathami, and Scomber japonicus , were 

 abundant at times and formed dense schools 

 under the stages. Klima and Wickham (1971) 

 demonstrated the potential for harvesting com- 

 mercial quantities of these and other species by 

 attracting schools to artificial structures. In re- 

 search conducted near Stage II during 1969, they 

 found Decapterus and Sardinella more numerous 

 than Harengula, but did not record the other 

 species. Harengula pensacolae was usually the 

 most common species at Stage II during our ob- 

 servations made in 1972, while Decapterus and 

 Sardinella were more common in other years. 



Larger pelagic species often recorded at the 

 stages were Rachycentron canadum , Caranx 

 bartholomaei, C. crysos, C. hippos, C. ruber, 

 Elagatis bipinnulata, Seriola dumerili, Euthyn- 

 nus alletteratus, and Sphyraena barracuda. These 

 species were recorded at the stages often enough 

 to indicate some attraction to the structures, even 

 though they are characteristic open-water 

 species. Part of the attraction for these larger 

 predators may be the large number of smaller 

 baitfishes which provide much of their food 

 (Wickham et al. 1973). Publications on the attrac- 



tion of fishes to artificial reefs have noted that 

 pelagic species such as those listed here are 

 attracted to artificial structures in greatest num- 

 bers when the structures extend a considerable 

 distance above the bottom or even reach the sur- 

 face, as do these offshore platforms (Unger 1966; 

 Gooding and Magnuson 1967; Hunter and Mit- 

 chell 1967, 1968; Klima and Wickham 1971). 

 Springer and Woodburn (1960) noted thatS. bar- 

 racuda occurred near shipwrecks off the Tampa 

 Bay area but not on natural rocky reefs. The oc- 

 currence of barracuda may be associated with 

 the higher relief of structures such as shipwrecks 

 or the stages. In this respect the offshore plat- 

 forms are ideal for attracting large numbers of 

 typically open-water fishes. 



Sharksuckers (remoras) were often seen as- 

 sociated with other fish species around the stages 

 (especially the larger pelagic species such as 

 Caranx hippos and S. barracuda) but were never 

 numerous. The species was probably Echeneis 

 neucratoides , although £J. naucrates could also be 

 expected in the area. Four Echeneis were also 

 seen attached to one of two loggerhead turtles, 

 Caretta caretta caretta, which were observed 

 asleep on the bottom below Stage I. The remoras 

 were attached to the turtle's plastron and ventral 

 margin of the carapace and were inactive except 

 for movements of their opercula. 



391 



