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Increased occurrence of the rare golden color morph of Pacific chub Kyphosus sandwicensis in a no-take marine reserve |
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| Authors: | Erik C Franklin Madeleine T Platt Pelika Andrade |
| Institution: | 1. Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Kane'ohe, Hawaii, USA;2. Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Kane'ohe, Hawaii, USA
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;3. University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA |
| Abstract: | Pacific chub, Kyphosus sandwicensis, are typically gray but some individuals display a golden color morph. We estimated that the frequency of occurrence of the golden morphs increased significantly from 2007 (1.9%) and 2012 (2.6%) to 2017 (5.0%) inside a no-take marine reserve around Nihoa Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. While sporadic observations of a golden color morph have been noted for several other marine fish species, we provide a quantitative estimate of changes in the frequency of occurrence of the morph within a wild marine population. |
| Keywords: | golden morph Kyphosus sandwicensis occurrence Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument xanthochroism |