Coral reef fish

About: Coral reef fish is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3762 publications have been published within this topic receiving 158772 citations. The topic is also known as: coral reef fishes.

Mangroves enhance the biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean.

Abstract: Mangrove forests are one of the world's most threatened tropical ecosystems with global loss exceeding 35% (ref 1) Juvenile coral reef fish often inhabit mangroves, but the importance of these nurseries to reef fish population dynamics has not been quantified Indeed, mangroves might be expected to have negligible influence on reef fish communities: juvenile fish can inhabit alternative habitats and fish populations may be regulated by other limiting factors such as larval supply or fishing Here we show that mangroves are unexpectedly important, serving as an intermediate nursery habitat that may increase the survivorship of young fish Mangroves in the Caribbean strongly influence the community structure of fish on neighbouring coral reefs In addition, the biomass of several commercially important species is more than doubled when adult habitat is connected to mangroves The largest herbivorous fish in the Atlantic, Scarus guacamaia, has a functional dependency on mangroves and has suffered local extinction after mangrove removal Current rates of mangrove deforestation are likely to have severe deleterious consequences for the ecosystem function, fisheries productivity and resilience of reefs Conservation efforts should protect connected corridors of mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs

The Ecology of fishes on coral reefs

Abstract: Basics: PF Sale, Introduction WN McFarland, The Visual World of Coral Reef Fishes JH Choat and DR Bellwood, Reef Fishes: Their History and Evolution Trophic Ecology: ES Hobson, Trophic Relationships of Fishes Specialized to Feed on Zooplankters above Coral Reefs ME Hay, Fish-1Seaweed Interactions on Coral Reefs: Effects of Herbivorous Fishes and Adaptation of Their Prey JH Choat, The Biology of Herbivorous Fishes on Coral Reefs GP Jones, DJ Ferrell, and PF Sale, Fish Predation and Its Impact on the Invertebrates of Coral Reefs and Adjacent Sediments Larval and Juvenile Ecology: JM Leis, The Pelagic Stage of Reef Fishes: The Larval Biology of Coral Reef Fishes BC Victor, Settlement Strategies and Biogeography of Reef Fishes PJ Doherty, Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Recruitment GP Jones, Postrecruitment Processes in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fish Populations: A Multifactorial Perspective Reproductive and Life History Patterns: DY Shapiro, Intraspecific Variability in Social Systems of Coral Reef Fishes DR Robertson, The Role of Adult Biology in the Timing of Spawning of Tropical Reef Fishes RR Warner, The Use of Phenotypic Plasticity in Coral Reef Fishes as Tests of Theory in Evolutionary Ecology Community Organization: RE Thresher, Geographic Variability in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes: Evidence, Evolution, and Possible Implications D McB Williams, Patterns and Processes in the Distribution of Coral Reef Fishes MA Hixon, Predation as a Process Structuring Coral Reef Fish Communities AW Ebeling and MA Hixon, Tropical and Temperate Reef Fishes: Comparison of Community Structures PF Sale, Reef Fish Communities--Open Nonequilibrial Systems Fisheries and Management: GR Russ, Coral Reef Fisheries: Effects and Yields References Index

Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves.

Abstract: The worldwide decline in coral cover has serious implications for the health of coral reefs. But what is the future of reef fish assemblages? Marine reserves can protect fish from exploitation, but do they protect fish biodiversity in degrading environments? The answer appears to be no, as indicated by our 8-year study in Papua New Guinea. A devastating decline in coral cover caused a parallel decline in fish biodiversity, both in marine reserves and in areas open to fishing. Over 75% of reef fish species declined in abundance, and 50% declined to less than half of their original numbers. The greater the dependence species have on living coral as juvenile recruitment sites, the greater the observed decline in abundance. Several rare coral-specialists became locally extinct. We suggest that fish biodiversity is threatened wherever permanent reef degradation occurs and warn that marine reserves will not always be sufficient to ensure their survival.

Larval retention and recruitment in an island population of a coral-reef fish

Abstract: For close to a century, recruitment of larvae to a local population has been widely accepted as a primary determinant of marine population dynamics1,2. However, progress in elucidating the causes of recruitment variability has been greatly impeded by our ignorance of the sources of recruits. Although it is often assumed that recruitment is independent of local reproduction3,4,5,6, there is increasing circumstantial evidence that physical7,8 and behavioural9,10 mechanisms could facilitate larval retention near source populations. To develop a direct method for reconstructing the dispersal history of recruiting larvae, we put forward the hypothesis that differences in nutrient and trace-element concentrations between coastal and open oceans could result in quantifiable differences in growth rate and elemental composition between larvae developing in coastal waters (locally retained) and larvae developing in open ocean waters (produced in distant locations). Using this method, we show that recruitment to an island population of a widely distributed coral-reef fish may often result from local retention on leeward reefs. This result has implications for fisheries management and marine reserve design, because rates of dispersal between marine populations—and thus recruitment to exploited populations—could be much lower than currently assumed.