EFFECTS OF HABITAT ON THE SETTLEMENT AND POST SETTLEMENT SUCCESS OF THE OCEAN SURGEONFISH ACANTHURUS-BAHIANUS

Authors
Citation
A. Risk, EFFECTS OF HABITAT ON THE SETTLEMENT AND POST SETTLEMENT SUCCESS OF THE OCEAN SURGEONFISH ACANTHURUS-BAHIANUS, Marine ecology. Progress series, 161, 1997, pp. 51-59
Citations number
78
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
ISSN journal
0171-8630
Volume
161
Year of publication
1997
Pages
51 - 59
Database
ISI
SICI code
0171-8630(1997)161:<51:EOHOTS>2.0.ZU;2-D
Abstract
Local population dynamics of fishes on coral reefs are dependent on pr ocesses affecting the settlement of pelagic larvae and the subsequent persistence of these new settlers. The ability of larvae to choose fav ourable places to settle in terms of persistence may make the dynamics of certain populations predictable at the reef scale, and cause patte rns of recruitment to differ from those of larval supply. I collected data on settlement, recruitment and persistence of the ocean surgeonfi sh Acanthurus bahianus in different physiographic zones of the Tague B ay reef, on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. There was si gnificantly higher settlement and recruitment to the back-reef zone th an to the fore-reef zone or seagrass zones at the bases of the back-re ef and fore-reef, suggesting that larvae select settlement sites and d o not necessarily settle to the first reef zone encountered. On the ba ck-reef, settlers used pavement more than any other type of substratum , and the post-settlement persistence of settlers and recruits was hig hest on pavement when compared to these other substrata. These results suggest that patterns of ocean surgeonfish settlement are affected by reef-based processes, and that selection for certain zones and substr ata occurs. Subsequent modification of these initial settlement patter ns by increased persistence in preferred habitats adds predictability to patterns of recruitment, resulting in larval supply alone being an insufficient explanation of the distribution and abundance of ocean su rgeonfish populations at this scale.