FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78, NO. 2 



Figure 25. — Aprion virescens, 503 mm SL, 2.5 kg, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. 



21 contained fishes; 6 had fishes and macro- 

 plankton; 5 had only macroplankton; and 4 con- 

 tained cephalopods. Among the fishes taken from 

 the stomachs were scarids, ostraciids, siganids, a 

 bothid, and Caesio coerulaureus. 



Talbot (1960) reported on 259 specimens caught 

 by handline and surface lure on the east African 

 coast which ranged from 202 to 800 mm SL 

 (weight to 11.3 kg). He presented a diagram of the 

 relative abundance of food organisms for this fish 

 as follows: fishes 49%, plankton 17%, cephalopods 

 14%, and crustaceans exclusive of plankton 

 (mainly portunid crabs) 12%. He did not indicate 

 how many specimens had empty stomachs. 



The stomachs of 15 specimens from the Mar- 

 shall Islands and 1 from Hawaii were examined. 

 Ten were empty. Four contained fishes; (one prey 

 fish identified as Scarus sp.); one A. virescens (481 

 mm SL) had also eaten an octopus (one-third 

 stomach volume). A 457 mm fish contained a 10 

 mm calappid crab, and one of 650 mm a 

 stomatopod. 



Lutjanus hohar (Forsskal) (Figure 26): This red 

 snapper has been implicated more frequently in 

 ciguatera than any fish of the Indo-Pacific region. 

 It is probably the species which sickened the crew 

 of Captain Cook in the New Hebrides in 1774 

 (Banner 1965). Its toxicity has also been reported 

 under the junior synonym Lutjanus coatesi Whit- 

 ley. This species occurs along seaward reefs and in 

 passes. It is more common around atolls and low 

 coral islands than high islands (Randall and Brock 

 1960). It is especially abundant in the Line Is- 

 lands. Reef fishes became highly toxic there dur- 

 ing and immediately after World War II; the toxic- 



ity declined in the early 1960's (Banner and 

 Helfrich 1964 ). When the toxicity was high, L. bohar 

 from these islands was used for the chemical and 

 pharmacological work on ciguatoxin at the Uni- 

 versity of Hawaii (replaced by Lycodontis 

 javanicus from Johnston Island in later years). It 

 was the species used by Banner et al. (1966) to 

 demonstrate the long periods of retention of 

 ciguatoxin in the tissues of poisonous fishes when 

 removed from the source of the toxin. 



The toxicity of 95 specimens from Enewetak 

 from 430 to 635 mm SL (2.5-7.5 kg) was tested. 

 Fifty-six were nontoxic; 22 gave a mongoose test of 

 1; 11 were 2, 5 were 3, and 1 (533 mm) was a 5. 



From Bikini 143 specimens which ranged from 

 330 to 760 mm SL were tested. Of these, 112 were 

 nontoxic, 15 were 1, 8 were 2, 6 were 3, and 2 gave 

 a mongoose test of 4. 



From the atoll of Rongelap (lat. 11° N, long. 

 167° E) in the Marshall Islands we obtained 12 

 specimens of L. bohar which weighed from 3.2 to 

 9.1 kg. Eight of these were nontoxic, two gave a 

 reaction of 2, one was a 3, and one a 5. 



Hiatt and Strasburg (1960) found fragments of 

 fish in one of two specimens of L. bohar from 

 Bikini. Talbot (1960) examined 854 specimens 

 from the East African coast; 58% had empty 

 stomachs. Fishes composed 62% of the food mate- 

 rial, crustaceans 24%, and mollusks 8%. Helfrich 

 et al. (1968) determined the diet of 2,276 speci- 

 mens from Palmyra and Christmas Islands in the 

 Line Islands; 21.4% of these were empty. Fishes 

 dominated the stomach contents (48.7% by volume 

 at Palmyra and 65.4% at Christmas), of which 

 acanthurids were the most common among those 

 identified. Mollusks represented 19.1% by volume 



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