Temporal changes in fish community structure near a sewage ocean outfall, Mokapu, Oahu, Hawaii

Abstract

The results of a study performed before and after the discharge of an ocean outfall off Mõkapu Point, Oahu, Hawaii, from 1975 to 1979 show large increases in the number of species and abundance of fish around the outfall site. The construction of the outfall afforded new rock substratum for the attachment of algae and sessile animals which attracted large aggregations of fish. During a 1 1 2 year period there were no significant community structure 1–5 km from the outfall when measured by similarity indices. No significant changes in algal biomass occurred between samplings. Similarity indices may be better indicators of fish community change than diversity indices since the former reflect changes in the relative abundance of species in common and large temporal changes in a community structure may occur without changing the value of its diversity index. Morisita's (1959) similarity index has greater sensitivity to the changes in fish community structure than the index derived by Sorensen (1954) due to emphasis on the relative abundance of dominant species.