Latitudinal variation in abundance of herbivorous fishes: a comparison of temperate and tropical reefs |
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Authors: | M G Meekan J H Choat |
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Institution: | (1) The Australian Institute of Marine Science, P.M.B. 3, Townsville M.C., Queensland 4810, Australia, AU;(2) Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4810, Australia, AU |
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Abstract: | The aim of the study was to provide comparable estimates of abundance of herbivorous reef fishes at temperate and tropical
localities using a standardized methodology. Faunas of herbivorous fish were sampled on the rocky reefs of temperate northern
New Zealand and on the coral reefs of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, and the San Blas Archipelago in the
Caribbean. A pilot study established the most appropriate habitat setting and the scale and magnitude of replication for the
sampling program in temperate waters. Herbivorous fishes, including members of families endemic to the southern hemisphere
(Odacidae and Aplodactylidae), were most abundant in turbulent, shallow water (0 to 6 m) and had patchy distributions within
this habitat. A hierarchical sampling program using 10-min transect counts within the 0 to 6 m depth stratum examined abundance
patterns at a range of spatial scales including mainland and island coasts, localities separated by up to 100 km and sites
separated by up to 10 km. This program identified a characteristic fauna of seven species of herbivorous fishes with mean
total abundances ranging from 23 to 30 individuals per 10-min transect. Species composition of the fauna varied between islands
and coasts. A similar methodology was used to sample the major families of herbivorous fish in a number of sites in each of
the tropical regions. These sampling programs revealed a fauna dominated by acanthurids and scarids in both the GBR and Caribbean
localities. Estimates of abundance from these regions were similar, with a mean of 108 individuals recorded on the GBR and
129 per 10-min transect in the Caribbean. Species richness varied between each region, with 44 taxa recorded from the GBR
and 11 from the Caribbean. Abundances of temperate water herbivores in New Zealand were found to be 75 to 80% lower than those
recorded from shallow water habitats sampled on coral reefs. This was not related to species richness, since both New Zealand
and the Caribbean locality had patterns of low richness. We suggest that the differences in abundance found by our study between
temperate and tropical regions are not restricted to herbivorous fishes, but are representative of general latitudinal trends
in reef fish faunas.
Received: 4 November 1996 / Accepted: 15 December 1996 |
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