Influence of Habitat Structure on Pomacentrus sulfureus, A Western Indian Ocean Reef Fish

Bergman, Kajsa C; Öhman, Marcus; Svensson, Sara

doi:10.1023/a:1007610023865

Cited by 47 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, predators, conspecifics, and prey availability are also likely to influence the distribution and abundance of damselfish, independent of the abundance or availability of suitable coral hosts [34,37,83]. Although structural complexity and subsequent coral cover are often positively associated with fish biodiversity [1,4], results of this study showed that these two variables did not predict occupancy or biomass of coral-dwelling damselfish that closely associate with corals, consistent with previous studies [7,9,25,[84][85][86]. Furthermore, latitude did not significantly affect colony occupancy or biomass; consistent with other studies reporting distribution and abundance of planktivorous damselfish along the Great Barrier Reef [18].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Chase

Hoogenboom

2019

Diversity

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Associations between habitat-forming, branching scleractinian corals and damselfish have critical implications for the function and trophic dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. This study quantifies how different characteristics of reef habitat, and of coral morphology, determine whether fish occupy a coral colony. In situ surveys of aggregative damselfish–coral associations were conducted at 51 different sites distributed among 22 reefs spread along >1700 km of the Great Barrier Reef, to quantify interaction frequency over a large spatial scale. The prevalence of fish–coral associations between five damselfish (Chromis viridis, Dascyllus aruanus, Dascyllus reticulatus, Pomacentrus amboinensis and Pomacentrus moluccensis) and five coral species (Acropora spathulata, Acropora intermedia, Pocillopora damicornis, Seriatopora hystrix, and Stylophora pistillata) averaged ~30% across all corals, but ranged from <1% to 93% of small branching corals occupied at each site, depending on reef exposure levels and habitat. Surprisingly, coral cover was not correlated with coral occupancy, or total biomass of damselfish. Instead, the biomass of damselfish was two-fold greater on sheltered sites compared with exposed sites. Reef habitat type strongly governed these interactions with reef slope/base (25%) and shallow sand-patch habitats (38%) hosting a majority of aggregative damselfish-branching coral associations compared to reef flat (10%), crest (16%), and wall habitats (11%). Among the focal coral species, Seriatopora hystrix hosted the highest damselfish biomass (12.45 g per occupied colony) and Acropora intermedia the least (6.87 g per occupied colony). Analyses of local coral colony traits indicated that multiple factors governed colony usage, including spacing between colonies on the benthos, colony position, and colony branching patterns. Nevertheless, the morphological and habitat characteristics that determine whether or not a colony is occupied by fish varied among coral species. These findings illuminate the realized niche of one of the most important and abundant reef fish families and provide a context for understanding how fish–coral interactions influence coral population and community level processes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Chase

Hoogenboom

2019

Diversity

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“…Despite the fact that numerous studies have explored substrate and habitat preferences of reef fish in the context of spatial patterns of abundance, many have examined relatively general reef characteristics such as overall reef size, presence or absence of conspecifics or relative amounts of habitat disturbance (Jennings et al 1996;Bell and Kramer 2000;Bergman et al 2000;Syms and Jones 2000;Bay et al 2001;Garpe and Ohman 2003). We have shown that understanding specific habitat preferences at the microhabitat scale can yield important insight into the possible behavioral mechanisms that can affect larger scale patterns of distribution and abundance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While settlement and post-settlement processes driven by larval supply and early mortality have been important foci in investigations of spatial patterns of abundance (Steele 1997;Schmitt and Holbrook 1999;Munday 2004), the influence of habitat selection by juvenile or older stages also has garnered attention (Jennings et al 1996;Bergman et al 2000;Holbrook et al 2000;Munday 2000Munday , 2002Garpe and Ohman 2003;Morris 2003;Nanami and Nishihira 2004;Nanami et al 2005;Brooks et al 2007). Habitat selection can be influenced greatly by social organization and interactions among group members.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of microhabitat preference and social organization in determining the spatial distribution of a coral reef fish

et al. 2008

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Both habitat preferences and social organization can influence the spatial distributions of individuals. We explored effects of individual behavior and social organization on distributions of arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus) in lagoons of French Polynesia. Analysis of habitat selectivity data obtained during surveys revealed that the most highly preferred microhabitat of arc-eye hawkfish was large Pocillopora coral with an open branching morphology. However, such corals were rare and most hawkfish occupied smaller, less preferred Pocillopora. Indeed, total abundance of Pocillopora explained nearly two thirds of the lagoon-wide variation in abundance of hawkfish and the derived relationship between the numbers of hawkfish and Pocillopora predicted 86% of the spatial variation in hawkfish abundance during subsequent surveys. In contrast, large, open-branched Pocillopora explained little of the spatial variation in abundance of hawkfish. Individual behavior and social organization significantly impacted use of the most highly preferred Pocillopora. During a colonization experiment set up outside hawkfish home ranges, all colonizers resided on the most highly preferred corals. Following addition of the most highly preferred Pocillopora corals to areas occupied by hawkfish, only the largest, socially dominant individuals obtained access to added corals, spending significantly more time and increasing both aggressive acts and prey attacks from these substrates. These results illustrate the importance of understanding the modulating effects of social behavior on habitat use and explain why most hawkfish individuals do not occupy their most preferred microhabitat type.

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“…Ambushing or highly mobile piscivores may therefore benefit from highly rugose reefs where they may be less likely to be perceived by prey (Rilov et al 2007). Accordingly, higher rugosity does not always correspond to high damselfish abundance (Bergman et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Influence of predation risk on the sheltering behaviour of the coral-dwelling damselfish, Pomacentrus moluccensis

et al. 2018

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Predation is a key ecosystem function, especially in high diversity systems such as coral reefs. Not only is predation one of the strongest top-down controls of prey population density, but it also is a strong driver of prey behaviour and function through non-lethal effects. We ask whether predation risk influences sheltering behaviour of damselfish living in mutualism with branching corals. Host corals gain multiple advantages from the mutualistic relationship which are determined by the strength of damselfish sheltering. Distance travelled by the Lemon Damselfish Pomacentrus moluccensis away from their host colony was measured here as a proxy for sheltering strength and was expected to be shortest under highest predation risk. Predation risk, defined as a function of predator abundance and activity, turbidity and habitat complexity, was quantified at four reef slope sites in Kepulauan Seribu, Indonesia. Damselfish sheltering strength was measured using stationary unmanned video cameras. Small damselfish (< 2 cm) increased their sheltering strength under high turbidity. Predator feeding activity, but not abundance, influenced damselfish sheltering strength. Contrary to our expectations, sheltering behaviour of adult damselfish decreased under high predator activity. While these observations are in line with riskaverse behaviour by juvenile P. moluccensis, they may indicate the presence of sentinel behaviour in the adults of this species. Habitat complexity seemed to be less important as a driver of damselfish behaviour. These counterintuitive results may indicate complex social behaviour and age-specific strategies for predator avoidance.

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Influence of Habitat Structure on Pomacentrus sulfureus, A Western Indian Ocean Reef Fish

Cited by 47 publications

References 70 publications

Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

The role of microhabitat preference and social organization in determining the spatial distribution of a coral reef fish

Influence of predation risk on the sheltering behaviour of the coral-dwelling damselfish, Pomacentrus moluccensis

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