The Ecological Impact of an Alien Marine Invertebrate on Hawai‘i’s Deep Water Coral Reef Community  (Year 1 of 1) Project Number: HURL-R2004-01 Principle Investigators: Grigg, R. W., and S. E. Kahng Region(s): Kauai, Molokai We propose that three distinct locations be explored as part of the Carijoa research program in CY2004-2005. The choice of locations cover an appropriate representation of black coral habitat for testing the hypotheses listed above. Several alternate locations exist and are also consistent with testing these critical hypotheses. Opportunity exists to adjust the choice of research locations to coincide with the geographic requirements of other HURL research. • The Maui Black Coral Bed: a confirmed, deep water location of C. riisei infestation. • The Makawaena Point Black Coral Bed on the southwest coast of Kaua‘i: a historically important black coral bed within the Hawaiian precious coral fishery were C. riisei status is unknown. • “5 fathom pinnacle” WNW of Kaula Rock: a remote, offshore and deep water habitat and black coral bed approximately 40 km away from the nearest inhabited island, Ni‘ihau. At each location, the following major tasks will be performed: site planning, ROV surveys, technical scuba dives, and sample preservation. At the conclusion of the cruise/dives, additional port-cruise science tasks will also be performed in the laboratories at the University of Hawai‘I and the Hawai‘I Institute of Marine Biology. The purpose of this proposal is to complement the existing research funding (Grigg, 2001) by studying the ecology of C. riisei in deep water habitats and remote locations away from frequent anthropogenic activity (i.e. the shallow, coastal waters of the main islands). The use of the ROV and submersible will enable detailed site investigations and collection of coral samples for population genetic analysis in areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Deep water surveys of the distribution and abundance of C. riisei will help discover the extent of the infestation at depth and reveal its lower depth & temperature limits. C. riisei distribution and abundance relative to that of commercially valuable stocks of black corals in other known precious coral beds will help confirm the extent of the infestation. The presence or absence of C. riisei at offshore, remote locations will help implicate or exonerate the role of human activities in long-distance dispersal of C. riisei. The collection of deep-water DNA samples will add an important component to ongoing population genetic research of Carijoa (Toonen et al., 2003). This project was funded in part by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grants Program Coral Reef Research Grants. Leg 1    Begin Date: 9/9/2004   End Date: 9/14/2004   Support Vessel/Platform: R/V KOK System Ops Days Dives Dive Time (hrs) Depth (m) Pisces V 6 6 27.5 137 RCV-150 4 4 8.82 193

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