Baseline assessment of high-latitude coral reef fish communities in southern Africa

Floros, Camilla; Schleyer, Michael H.; Maggs, JQ; Celliers, Louis

doi:10.2989/1814232x.2012.673284

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Carnivores, sensu lato, represented the majority of the present fish community, as in other studies in the WIO (Floros et al, 2012;Chabanet & Durville, 2005;Gillibrand, Harries & Mara, 2007). Further comparisons show that the relative proportions of carnivores, omnivores and herbivores are very similar to WIO areas (Table 4); this supports the assertion of Kulbicki (1988) that the trophic structure of reef fish communities is constant throughout a region.…”

Section: Acanthurus Lineatus;supporting

confidence: 87%

Reef fish communities of Praia do Tofo, Mozambique, and the need for best practice management

Fordyce

2016

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The coral reefs around Praia do Tofo, southern Mozambique, are known for their aggregations of marine megafauna but as yet few studies have comprehensively examined their broader biodiversity. This study is the first to assess the ichthyofaunal diversity of this economically important area. Methodology involved SCUBA and snorkel underwater visual censuses conducted between February and May, 2016, and the use of photographic records from 2015 to capture rare species. A total of 324 species, representing 79 families, were recorded from 16 reefs in the region. The area shows comparable species diversity and notably high family diversity in relation to other areas of the Western Indian Ocean. The trophic structure of the reefs, similar to that recorded in the wider region, suggests the reefs are in good health and fairly resilient to disturbance. This study highlights the area’s high biological value beyond its megafauna and lends support to greater management of these ecosystems for the benefit of the associated human population.

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Section: Acanthurus Lineatus;supporting

confidence: 87%

Reef fish communities of Praia do Tofo, Mozambique, and the need for best practice management

Fordyce

2016

Preprint

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“…The marine environment is a transition zone between the temperate southern African and tropical western Indo-Pacific marine ecoregions [38] and has some of the world’s highest latitude hard coral reefs [39] and a diverse Indo-Pacific fish community [40]. Sampling was conducted within the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve and focused on a reef complex called the pinnacles.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Feeding Ecology of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Coastal Waters of the Southwest Indian Ocean Inferred from Stable Isotope Analysis

2013

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As apex predators, sharks play an important role shaping their respective marine communities through predation and associated risk effects. Understanding the predatory dynamics of sharks within communities is, therefore, necessary to establish effective ecologically based conservation strategies. We employed non-lethal sampling methods to investigate the feeding ecology of bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) using stable isotope analysis within a subtropical marine community in the southwest Indian Ocean. The main objectives of this study were to investigate and compare the predatory role that sub-adult and adult bull sharks play within a top predatory teleost fish community. Bull sharks had significantly broader niche widths compared to top predatory teleost assemblages with a wide and relatively enriched range of δ13C values relative to the local marine community. This suggests that bull sharks forage from a more diverse range of δ13C sources over a wider geographical range than the predatory teleost community. Adult bull sharks appeared to exhibit a shift towards consistently higher trophic level prey from an expanded foraging range compared to sub-adults, possibly due to increased mobility linked with size. Although predatory teleost fish are also capable of substantial migrations, bull sharks may have the ability to exploit a more diverse range of habitats and appeared to prey on a wider diversity of larger prey. This suggests that bull sharks play an important predatory role within their respective marine communities and adult sharks in particular may shape and link ecological processes of a variety of marine communities over a broad range.

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“…In particular, SR theor shows high similarity to areas in southern Mozambique and South Africa that are fully or partially protected (e.g. Floros et al . 2012; Maggs et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reef fishes of praia do Tofo and praia da Barra, Inhambane, Mozambique

Fordyce

2017

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The coral reefs around Praia do Tofo and Praia da Barra, southern Mozambique, are known for their aggregations of marine megafauna but few studies have examined their reef fish biodiversity. This study assesses for the first time the ichthyofaunal diversity of the seas around Praia do Tofo and Praia da Barra. Methods involved underwater observations during recreational dives between February and September 2016, and the use of photographic records from 2015. A total of 353 species, representing 79 families, were recorded from 16 patch reefs in the region. The area shows comparable species diversity to others in the southwestern Indian Ocean, suggesting these reefs are in good condition. But high primary productivity driven by coastal upwelling may make fish diversity and trophic structure unreliable measures of the health of these reefs. Future studies investigating the sustainability of this ecosystem would benefit from utilising a wide range of reef health measures.

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Baseline assessment of high-latitude coral reef fish communities in southern Africa

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

Reef fish communities of Praia do Tofo, Mozambique, and the need for best practice management

Reef fish communities of Praia do Tofo, Mozambique, and the need for best practice management

Comparative Feeding Ecology of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Coastal Waters of the Southwest Indian Ocean Inferred from Stable Isotope Analysis

Reef fishes of praia do Tofo and praia da Barra, Inhambane, Mozambique

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