Observations on the Offshore Reef and Platform Fish Fauna of Louisiana

Observations, photographs and collections of fishes on the western reefs of the outer Louisiana continental shelf and around oil platforms have verified the presence of an extensive tropical fish fauna. Of 105 species recorded, about 50% were tropical species either unreported or rarely reported from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Reefs contained more species than oil platforms, although a number were common to both, and 12 species were found only around platforms. The 67 species of fishes found at the deeper reefs were all typical Caribbean-West Indian forms.