Reef fish assemblages in the Eastern Pacific (EP) represent an interesting system to understand how areas with lower diversity respond to multiple factors and their effect on ecosystem functions and services. Among the multiple approaches that have emerged, the evaluation of functional metrics provides an initial comprehension of these relationships. In this context, to better understand reef fish variability in the EP, we evaluated spatial differences in ecological metrics, the composition of fish assemblages, and their relationship with habitat structure in coral communities at 3 islands in Mexico (Marietas, Isabel, and Cleofas). To include a functional approach, we created a functional entity (FE) matrix using species abundance and 6 categorical functional traits; specifically, we calculated ecological metrics that reflect the representation or under-representation of species in the functions or FEs (redundancy and vulnerability) and the rarity in FEs and species and their relationship with habitat structure. Overall, most of the fish FEs in the EP were represented by 1 species (i.e. high vulnerability and low functional redundancy). Despite the low redundancy recorded in the islands, reef fish performed multiple key functions; however, many functions remained rare. Furthermore, both metrics and fish composition showed high variability among sites and islands, but this variability was only partially explained by a few variables of habitat structure (i.e. rugosity). These results, in combination with the unique characteristics of coral communities in the EP, highlight the need to identify the drivers of fish assemblages and their effect on the ecosystem processes and services in order to implement unique management strategies for each island.
Serranilla is a protected island of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, far from dense human population. These characteristics could help sustain structurally complex coral reefs, often associated with higher biodiversity, abundance, and biomass of reef-associated organisms, including reef fish. However, the multiple threats present in Serranilla, including intense illegal fishing, can impact coral ecosystems generally and also specific key groups, such as the parrotfish, in particular. During the “Seaflower Research Expedition 2017”, we assessed how structural habitat complexity influences reef fish assemblages. In addition, we explored differences in parrotfish species (family: Scaridae) between Serranilla and San Andrés, the most populated island in the Archipelago. On Serranilla, we found that habitat structure, rugosity, and coral cover accounted for up to 66% of variation in reef fish diversity, abundance, and biomass, with values being higher on more complex reefs. Parrotfish species differed between the islands, with larger species supporting higher biomasses at Serranilla, by comparison with San Andrés; however, the abundance, biomass, and lengths of parrotfish species were low in both areas compared with those reported from other protected Caribbean reefs. Our study indicates that despite the evident relationship between structurally complex habitats and reef fish, other threats in Serranilla could be affecting parrotfish populations, such as illegal fishing, a widespread activity in the area.
Hermatypic corals have the potential to construct calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) reefframework, maintain habitats tridimensionality and contribute to both the biogeochemical and the geo-ecological functionality of coral reefs. However, in the past decades, coral reef growth capacity has been affected by multiple and cumulative anthropogenic stressors, threating the reef functionality and their ecosystem goods and services provision to humankind. This study evaluated temporal changes in geo-
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