scholarly journals Dependence of Caribbean reef fishes on mangroves and seagrass beds as nursery habitats: a comparison of fish faunas between bays with and without mangroves/seagrass beds

2001 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 225-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Nagelkerken ◽  
S Kleijnen ◽  
T Klop ◽  
RACJ van den Brand ◽  
EC de la Morinière ◽  
...  
ZooKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 843 ◽  
pp. 71-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Ross Robertson ◽  
Omar Domínguez-Dominguez ◽  
Yareli Margarita López Aroyo ◽  
Rigoberto Moreno Mendoza ◽  
Nuno Simões

A series of small emergent coral reefs and shallow, submerged coralliferous banks are scattered along the western edge of Campeche Bank (southwest Gulf of Mexico), 150–200 km offshore from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Here a reasonably comprehensive, annotated checklist of reef-associated fishes for one reef, Cayo Arcas (expanded from 162 to 209 species) is presented, with preliminary checklists of such fishes from three other emergent reefs (Cayo Arenas, Triángulo Oeste, Triángulo Este) and four submerged bank reefs (Banco Obispo Norte, Banco Obispo Sur, Banco Nuevo and Banco Pera). During 2017–18 a total of 260 species was observed or collected from those reefs, and previous studies and georeferenced museum records in the global aggregator Fishnet2 added another 101 shallow-living species recorded on or adjacent to those reefs. Some coral-reef fishes are thought to be strongly dependent on seagrass and mangrove areas as nursery habitats for maintenance of their local populations on reefs near to those habitats. The abundance of a number of such “nursery” species on these Campeche reefs indicates otherwise, as there are no seagrass- or mangrove habitats for reef fishes within ~ 150 km of the study reefs. Other isolated Caribbean-area reefs that lack mangroves and, in some cases, seagrasses, also support many such nursery species of reef-fishes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliana Chollett ◽  
D. Ross Robertson

Copeia ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 1969 (1) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Victor G. Springer ◽  
John E. Randall
Keyword(s):  

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Lu Lee ◽  
Colin K.C. Wen ◽  
Yen-Hsun Huang ◽  
Chia-Yun Chung ◽  
Hsing-Juh Lin

Seagrass beds and coral reefs are both considered critical habitats for reef fishes, and in tropical coastal regions, they often grow together to form “mosaic” habitats. Although reef fishes clearly inhabit such structurally complex environments, there is little known about their habitat usage in seagrass-coral mosaic habitats. The goal of this study was to examine potential factors that drive habitat usage pattern by juvenile reef fishes. We quantified (1) prey availability, (2) potential competitors, and 3) predators across a gradient of mosaic habitats (n = 4 habitat types) for four dominant carnivorous fishes (lethrinids and lutjanids) in the main recruitment season at Dongsha Island, South China Sea. We found that the coral-dominated habitats had not only a higher availability of large crustacean prey but also a higher abundance of competitors and predators of juvenile fishes. Food availability was the most important factor underlying the habitat usage pattern by lethrinids and lutjanids through ontogeny. The predation pressure exhibited a strong impact on small juvenile lethrinids but not on larger juveniles and lutjanids. The four juvenile fishes showed distinct habitat usage patterns through ontogeny. Collectively, mosaic habitats in the back reef system may be linked to key ontogenetic shifts in the early life histories of reef fishes between seagrass beds and coral reefs.


1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Albrecht

Four species of sympatric damselfishes (Eupomacentrus, Pomacentridae) from certain Florida reefs can be distinguished by certain sound characteristics used during courtship. Apparently the fish use these characteristics for species recognition. These characteristics involve the temporal structure of a sound, i.e. the length of the pulse interval, containing the necessary code for communication.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10496
Author(s):  
Zeferino Blanco-Martínez ◽  
Roberto Pérez-Castañeda ◽  
Jesús Genaro Sánchez-Martínez ◽  
Flaviano Benavides-González ◽  
Jaime Luis Rábago-Castro ◽  
...  

Seagrasses are critical habitats for the recruitment and growth of juvenile penaeid shrimps within estuaries and coastal lagoons. The location of a seagrass bed within the lagoon can determine the value of a particular bed for shrimp populations. Consequently, differences in the abundance of shrimp can be found in seagrasses depending on their location. As shrimp density increases, density-dependent effects on biological parameters are more likely to occur. However, knowledge about density-dependent processes on shrimp populations in nursery habitats remains limited. The present investigation was undertaken to examine the effects of population density on shrimp condition in two selected seagrass beds, located at different distance from a tidal inlet, one 25 km away (distant) and the other 1 km away (nearby), in a subtropical coastal lagoon. The study was based on monthly samplings during one year in Laguna Madre (Mexico), performing a total of 36 shrimp trawls (100 m2 each one) within each seagrass bed (n = 3 trawls per bed per month for 12 months). Shrimp density was related to the proximity to the tidal inlet (higher density was consistently observed in the nearby seagrass bed), which in turn adversely affected the condition of both species studied (Penaeus aztecus and P. duorarum). In this regard, the present study provides the first evidence of density-dependent effects on shrimp condition inhabiting a nursery habitat. Both shrimp species exhibited a negative relationship between condition and shrimp density. However, this pattern differed depending on the proximity to the tidal inlet, suggesting that shrimp populations inhabiting the nearby seagrass bed are exposed to density-dependent effects on condition; whereas, such effects were not detected in the distant seagrass bed. Shrimp density within the distant seagrass bed was probably below carrying capacity, which is suggested by the better shrimp condition observed in that area of the lagoon. Intra and interspecific competition for food items is surmised to occur, predominantly within seagrass beds near the tidal inlet. However, this hypothesis needs to be tested in future studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-486
Author(s):  
Dung Quang Le ◽  
Siau Yin Fui ◽  
Kentaro Tanaka ◽  
Suhaimi Suratman ◽  
Yuji Sano ◽  
...  

We conducted stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) and gut content analyses to understand habitat use of juvenile reef fishes (Lethrinus lentjan, Lutjanus russellii, and Epinephelus coioides), particularly the influence of spatial habitat structure along seagrass–mangrove continua. Sampling was conducted in Setiu Lagoon, located in the southern waters of the South China Sea (Malaysia). Gut content analysis indicated that the focal fishes preyed mainly on benthic invertebrates and other smaller fishes; these were used as potential prey items for isotopic tracers to track fish habitat use. Stable isotope analyses highlighted that the juvenile reef fishes were highly associated with seagrass beds as feeding grounds; however, site-specific analyses suggest differences in fish feeding habitats. The juvenile fishes, particularly large juveniles, preyed in both mangrove and seagrass areas from the central lagoon, whereas all juveniles showed preferential foraging within seagrass meadows in the nearby lagoon mouth. Furthermore, the mean stable isotope values of muscle tissue differed among fish size classes, indicating their ontogenetic habitat/diet shifts, especially for L. lentjan and E. coioides. This study provides important information to support current efforts in protecting and preserving mangroves and seagrasses as crucial nursery habitats for juvenile reef fishes from the anthropogenic activities influencing Setiu Lagoon.


1973 ◽  
Vol 107 (953) ◽  
pp. 157-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Ehrlich ◽  
Anne H. Ehrlich
Keyword(s):  

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