Geographical gradients of marine herbivorous fishes: patterns and processes |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">S?R?FloeterEmail author M?D?Behrens C?E?L?Ferreira M?J?Paddack M?H?Horn |
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Institution: | (1) National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, 735 State Street Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101-5504, USA;(2) Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA;(3) Departamento de Oceanografia, IEAPM, Rua Kioto 253, Arraial do Cabo, RJ, 28930-000, Brazil;(4) Division of Marine Biology & Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA;(5) Department of Biological Science, California State University Fullerton, 800 N. State College Boulevard, Fullerton, CA 92834-6850, USA |
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Abstract: | We present new data and the first rigorous analysis of latitudinal and thermal gradients of diversity, density and biomass
of marine herbivorous fishes and review proposed explanatory mechanisms. Consistently, negative relationships between latitude,
and positive relationships between sea surface temperature (SST), and relative richness and relative abundance of herbivorous
fishes were found worldwide. Significant differences in the strength of gradients of richness and abundance with latitude
and SST between tropical and extratropical zones were found consistently across ocean basins. Standardized sampling along
the western Atlantic also showed negative relationships between latitude and total density and biomass. The trends, however,
are driven by different components of the fish assemblages (i.e., scarids in the Caribbean and acanthurids in Brazil). Patterns
of abundance along thermal gradients, generally associated with extensive latitudinal gradients, also were found at the local
scale. Feeding rate of the ocean surgeonfish Acanthurus bahianus decreases with temperature more rapidly than the mean metabolic rate of teleost fishes. This relationship suggests a temperature-related
physiological constraint. From the new standardized and comparative data presented and the review of the explanatory hypotheses,
we conclude that temperature-related feeding and digestive processes are most likely involved in the distribution patterns
of herbivorous fishes.
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