Comparison With 

 the Diel Migrations of Other Fishes 



Numerous other temperate (see Hobson and 

 Chess 1976; Hobson et al. 1981; Allen and DeMar- 

 tini 1983) and tropical (reviewed in Helfman et al. 

 1982) fishes are known to make horizontal migra- 

 tions at dusk and dawn away from and back to 

 reefs and other shallow areas. Such migrations 

 have been characterized as a form of commuting 

 between daytime resting/sheltering and night- 

 time feeding areas (Hobson 1965, 1973). These be- 

 haviors are most widely recognized for tropical 

 coral reef-based fishes that forage on night-active 

 benthic invertebrates in surrounding sandflats 

 and seagrass beds or on nocturnal meroplankton 

 in the water column (Hobson 1965, 1973; Domm 

 and Domm 1973; Helfman et al. 1982; and others). 

 The diel migration of queenfish certainly suggests 

 feeding as a major, if not principal function. Both 

 predator avoidance and feeding are probably 

 major determinants of the nearshore distribution 

 of immature queenfish. Feeding is probably the 

 principal reason for the crepuscular onshore, off- 

 shore migrations of adults. Offshore movement for 

 spawning may be of secondary importance, but 

 data are inconclusive. 



With the exception of the relatively short-range 

 (within-reef) migrations observed for some tropi- 

 cal wrasses (see Moyer and Yogo 1982 and others), 

 we are unaware of any study of the diel migratory 

 behavior of nearshore.temperate or tropical fishes 

 that has demonstrated a primary spawning func- 

 tion for the behavior We do not now believe that 

 spawning is a major reason for the nocturnal off- 

 shore movements of queenfish, although we still 

 feel that spawning is partly involved. We strongly 

 recommend that future studies of the diel migra- 

 tory patterns of temperate and tropical fishes be 

 watchful for possible spawning as well as feeding 

 activity. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank Art Barnett for graciously allowing us 

 to cite some of his unpublished data and Jan Fox 

 for typing the manuscript. An anonymous re- 

 viewer helped us recognize the relative strengths 

 and weaknesses of our arguments. This paper is 

 the result of research funded by the Marine Re- 

 view Committee (MRC), Encinitas, Calif The 

 MRC does not necessarily accept the results, find- 

 ings, or conclusions stated herein. 



FISHERY BULLETIN; VOL. 83, NO. 2 



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