FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72, NO. 4 



Table 24. — Food of Mulloidichthys samoensis. 



light, and through morning twihght, the stomachs 

 of 12 were empty, but the other 2 contained prey in 

 varying stages of digestion that appeared to have 

 been taken during the night (one night with, the 

 other without, moonlight). In contrast, all 16 

 specimens speared on the reef during the after- 

 noon contained prey in varying stages of diges- 

 tion, including fresh material. Items in the 18 

 containing identifiable material are listed in 

 Table 25. 



No obvious difference in diet was noted between 

 the 2 individuals of P. multifasciatus that appar- 

 ently had captured their prey at night and the 14 

 that had been feeding in daylight; however, the 

 data are too few for a meaningful comparison. 



Juveniles of P. multifasciatus sometimes 

 aggregate up in the water column where plankton 

 abounds, apparently feeding on these organisms, 

 but none of these individuals were collected. The 

 relatively high incidence of crab megalops in the 

 diet of this and other bottom-feeding goatfishes 

 may reflect some predation on free-swimming 

 forms in the water column, but I believe that at 

 least most of these megalops were taken off the sea 

 floor. 



CONCLUSION. — Parupeneus multifasciatus is 

 primarily a diurnal predator that takes benthic 

 crustaceans. 



Parupeneus bifasciatus (Lacepede) — munu 



This goatfish, which exceeds 300 mm when fully 

 grown, is especially numerous among basalt 

 boulders — frequently solitary, but also in groups 

 of two or three. In daylight, its actions appear 

 much like those of P. multifasciatus, which it re- 

 sembles, but after dark, when P. multifasciatus 

 generally rests on the reefs, P. bifasciatus usually 

 moves about. Nevertheless, when P. bifasciatus is 

 illuminated by the diving light it often settles 

 immobile onto the reef^an action that compli- 

 cates assessing its nocturnal activity. Like P. mul- 

 tifasciatus, P. bifasciatus often displays at this 

 time a blotched red-colored pattern that seems to 

 be a response to the diving light. 



Twenty-seven specimens (229: 164-300 mm) 

 were speared during day and night. Of 1 1 taken as 

 they swam close to the reef during early morning 

 (between flrst light and 3 h after sunrise), the 

 stomachs of 2 were empty, but the other 9 con- 

 tained prey in varying stages of digestion, some of 



960 



