DEEP-WATER MEGAFAUNA OF THE KOHALA AND HALEAKALA SLOPES, ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL, HAWAII

Eleven fish and 64 invertebrate taxa were identified from photographs and specimens obtained from a submersible at depths below 1000 m on the bathyal slopes of Hawaii and Maui islands in the Alenuihaha Channel. Abundance of deep slope benthic megafauna was patchy and estimated to be approximately 0.09 animals m-2. Most of the invertebrates were particulate feeders and attached to hard substrates. Fan-like gorgonians were orientated perpendicular to the direction of prevailing currents. Of the 28 identified species, 12 (mainly sponges, crustaceans and fishes) are cosmopolitan or widespread in the Pacific and 16 (mainly cnidarians and echinoderms) are found only in the central Pacific.