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oe
important items in their diet.
Of the more than 700 species of reef fishes at Bikini Atoll,
we. Belected three species commonly eaten by the Marshallese and
representative of three feeding habits: the mullet,* a plankton
feeder;
the convict surgeonfish,
goatfish,
a grazing herbivore;
a bottom-feeding carnivore.
and the
The specific radionuclides
found in fish and their concentrations are often associated with
feeding habit, hence this was a necessary consideration in
selecting samples representative of the kinds of fish which would
be eaten when the Bikinians return.
A fourth kind of reef fish,
groupers, was also collected as respresentative of the higher
Department of Energy
order carnivores.
Historian’s Office
ARCHIVES
The troll-caught fishes are all high-order carnivores and
fall into two broad subcategories: resident lagoon fish, wlua
and dogtooth tuna; and migratory fish, yellowfin tuna.
caught in or near Enyu Pass.
All were
Bikinians who were part of the
clean-up crew cut filets from the yellowfin tuna and preserved
them by salting.
They said tuna is one of their favorite fish
and, presumably, would fish for tuna if they return to Bikini.
LLE1O0S
The invertebrates sampled were the spiny lobsters
(langouste),
coconut crab and "giant" clams (Tridacna sp., and Hippopus
hippopus).
Some of the species of Tridacna never exceed a few
centimeters in length, and only the smaller species were found
_
* For a list of common names and scientific names,
Appendix Table 16.
see