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Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems pp 409–423Cite as

Cook Islands

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Part of the book series: Coral Reefs of the World ((CORW,volume 12))

Abstract

The Cook Islands are located in the southern Pacific Ocean, east of Fiji and west of the Society Islands. They consist mostly of coral atolls in the north and high basaltic islands in the south. The islands have a narrow fringing reef, a shallow-reef area several hundred meters wide sloping gently to a depth of about 30 m, and a precipitous drop-off extending to 200 m or more. Research on fishes in mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) in Rarotonga, the largest and most populous island, were documented during expeditions from 1989 to 2012 using conventional SCUBA and technical diving, resulting in the discovery of many new species. Very little is known about other groups in MCEs, but data downloaded from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) reveals a clear pattern of undersampling on MCEs for all taxonomic groups. Patterns of diversity and species richness among fishes are similar to those for reef fishes in general, but differ in several ways, including an underrepresentation of Gobiidae (likely due to sampling bias) and an overrepresentation of Acanthuridae. The primary threats to Cook Islands MCEs are the same general threats that apply to shallow reefs, as well as all reefs at all depths worldwide (i.e., climate change, ocean acidification, and overfishing of food fishes). Over the course of more than 20 years of direct, albeit qualitative, observations in Rarotonga, there have been no major changes in the overall health, abundance, and diversity of organisms on shallow or MCE habitats.

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Acknowledgments

We are particularly grateful to Charles “Chip” Boyle for his pivotal role in drawing attention to the undiscovered diversity inhabiting MCEs in the Cook Islands (and, by extension, the extent of undiscovered diversity on MCEs worldwide). We are also grateful for his extensive support of several exploratory deep-diving expeditions to Rarotonga between 1989 and 2012, as well as his generous support of research in providing important (and extremely valuable) specimens of new fish species. The Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust was instrumental in capturing and organizing information related to this chapter, especially the contents of the CIBNH database. The single largest set of data used for analyses within this chapter came from Explorer’s Log, developed and maintained by Robert K. Whitton. Additional data used for these analyses downloaded from GBIF was provided by 18 different datasets submitted by 16 institutions, especially the US National Museum of Natural History; the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum (BPBM), which collectively contributed over 94% of the data. Other individuals who have contributed in substantial ways to both the content of this chapter and the exploration and documentation of MCEs in the Cook Islands include Brian W. Bowen, John L. Earle, Robert K. Whitton, David F. Pence, Athline Clark, Lisa A. Privitera, Claire T. Michihara, and John E. Randall. Support for the 2012 expedition to Rarotonga was provided by a grant from the Seaver Institute to the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (University of Hawaiʻi), with supplementary support from BPBM, the Association for Marine Exploration, and Charles Boyle. We also wish to thank Corinne Kane, Steve Lindfield, and one anonymous reviewer for their very helpful comments and Thomas Bridge and Kimberly Puglise for their excellent editorial contributions to this chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Richard L. Pyle

  2. Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, Kāneʻohe, HI, USA

    Joshua M. Copus

  3. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

    Gerald McCormack

Authors
  1. Richard L. Pyle
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  2. Joshua M. Copus
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  3. Gerald McCormack
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard L. Pyle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Yossi Loya

  2. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD, USA

    Kimberly A. Puglise

  3. Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum Network, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Tom C.L. Bridge

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Pyle, R.L., Copus, J.M., McCormack, G. (2019). Cook Islands. In: Loya, Y., Puglise, K., Bridge, T. (eds) Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92735-0_23

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