Comparison of cryptobenthic reef fish communities among microhabitats in the Red Sea

Abstract

Knowledge of community structure within an ecosystem is essential when trying to understand the function and importance of the system and when making related management decisions. Within the larger ecosystem, microhabitats play an important role by providing inhabitants with a subset of available resources. On coral reefs, cryptobenthic fishes encompass many groups and make up an important proportion of the biodiversity. However, these fishes are relatively small, exhibit extreme visual or behavioral camouflage, and, therefore, are often overlooked. We examined the differences in fish community structure between three common reef microhabitats (live hard coral, dead coral rubble, and sand) using ichthyocide stations in the central Red Sea. Using a combination of morphological and genetic (cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcoding) techniques, we identified 326 individuals representing 73 species spread across 17 families, from fifteen 1 m2 quadrats. Fish assemblages in the three microhabitats were significantly different from each other. Rubble microhabitats yielded the highest levels of fish abundance, richness, and diversity, followed by hard coral, and then sand. The results show that benthic composition, even at a small scale, influences cryptobenthic communities. This study also provides new COI sequence data to public databases, in order to further the research of cryptobenthic fishes in the Red Sea region.

Coastal development threatens Datan area supporting greatest fish diversity at Taoyuan Algal Reef, northwestern Taiwan

“…Although biophonic soundscapes were largely dominated by snapping sounds produced by decapod crustaceans, the relative strength of biophony positively correlated with the abundance of fishes collected from tidal pools. This is not surprising, as cryptobenthic fishes and small benthic crustaceans both tend to occur at greater densities within similar microhabitat types (Kramer, Bellwood & Bellwood, 2014; Troyer, Coker & Berumen, 2018). That the intensity of snapping sounds produced by decapod crustaceans was relatively low at G2, where fish diversity recorded using other methods was greatest, aligns with previous studies that have failed to detect positive correlations between fish diversity and invertebrate snap rates (Nedelec et al, 2015; Staaterman et al, 2017; Lyon et al, 2019).…”

Coral cover and rubble cryptofauna abundance and diversity at outplanted reefs in Okinawa, Japan

“…Conversely, sites significantly affected both cryptofauna abundance and its diversity at the phylum level. This could be explained by differences in physical parameters (such as rubble size and shape) ( Troyer, Coker & Berumen, 2018 , but see Takada et al, 2014 ), as well as succession ( Choi, 1984 ), wave action ( Kobluk & Lysenko, 1987 ), fish abundance ( Troyer, Coker & Berumen, 2018 ) and/or anthropogenic disturbances ( Enochs & Manzello, 2012 ), which can affect the underwater landscape and, specifically the presence of rubble ( Wheeler et al, 2005 ). It is worth noting that both Maeganeku1 and 2 are located in the proximities of a dredged channel, which may have an effect on rubble size and smoothness/complexity.…”

A Comparison of Size, Shape, and Fractal Diversity Between Coral Rubble Sampled From Natural and Artificial Coastlines Around Okinawa Island, Japan

“…However, little is known about the influence of fractal and bed complexity in coral rubble communities. Several factors appear to be involved in determining community abundance and composition (Takada et al, 2007), but different studies have clarified that coral and rubble skeletal erosion levels can drive the richness and abundances of their respective communities (Enochs, 2012;Enochs and Manzello, 2012b;Troyer et al, 2018), with dead coral rubble fragments of intermediate degradation levels seemingly able to sustain richer communities (Enochs et al, 2011;Enochs, 2012;Enochs and Manzello, 2012a,b).…”