Ecological importance of snappers in the stability of modeled coastal ecosystems

España, Horacio Pérez

doi:10.1016/s0304-3800(03)00201-1

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…As for many countries in the south Pacific, much of the economy of French Polynesia is currently dependant upon reef resources, for tourism, fisheries and pearl culture and, therefore, perpetuating healthy reefs is vital (Hutchings et al , 1994). Thus, a comprehensive approach of movement pattern and more generally of demographic variables of snappers is needed to allow long‐term management of this fishery resource (Pérez‐España, 2003; Marriott et al , 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for spatial limitation of the bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira in French Polynesia from parasite and otolith shape analysis

Vignon¹,

Morat²,

Galzin³

et al. 2008

Journal of Fish Biology

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The study focused on small-scale location and movement patterns of the bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira on the north coast of Moorea (Society Archipelago, French Polynesia, southcentral Pacific). Juveniles of this species occur in the estuary, and adults occur widely in the lagoon, the outer slope and in the intermediate channel, where fish aggregate in large schools during daytime. While fish were all sampled within a few hundred metres, they exhibited significantly different parasite fauna and otolith shapes according to their locality: estuary, lagoon, channel and outer slope. While juveniles did not exhibit any parasites in the estuary parasitological and otolith-shape data suggest that adults rarely move between their three adjoining habitats, and more interestingly that large aggregations in the channel are formed predominantly by resident individuals with limited local movement, including at night. Besides giving some information on the host biology, such findings may have application in local fisheries management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for spatial limitation of the bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira in French Polynesia from parasite and otolith shape analysis

Vignon¹,

Morat²,

Galzin³

et al. 2008

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…It is of interest to note that we have also successfully applied this technique during fish collections using hook and line, by placing a diver using conventional SCUBA techniques 8-10 m under the boat on which fishing takes place to conduct the piercing. To conclude, recently there has been a increasing interest in understanding the ecological importance of large fishes on ecosystem stability (e.g., Pérez-España 2003;Mumby et al 2006;Heithaus et al 2008), modeling of predator effects (Pauly and Christensen 2002;Baum and Worm 2009), and a related increase in prey consumption estimates (e.g., Olson and Galván-Magaña 2002;Overholtz 2006). Due to their slow-growing and late maturing, such large fishes are vulnerable to rapid overfishing or anthropogenic factors and their stock may subsequently collapse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…subtropics and tropics (Heemstra and Randall 1993;Coleman et al 2000; Morris et al 2000), and play a prominent role in marine ecosystems (Hiatt and Strasburg 1960;Hobson 1974; Thompson and Munro 1978;Shpigel and Fishelson 1991;Pérez-España 2003). The study of grouper and snapper dietary ecology can be confounded by the common tendency of these fishes to regurgitate prey during capture (Parrish 1987) both by spearfishing (Kingsford 1992) and by hook-and-line (Beukers-Stewart and Jones 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey regurgitation and stomach vacuity among groupers and snappers

Vignon

Dierking

2011

Environ Biol Fish

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International audiencePrey regurgitation during capture is a potential important confounding effect in fish dietary ecology studies as it may lead to overestimation of stomach vacuity and underestimation of prey consumption. This study investigates patterns of prey regurgitation and stomach vacuity among five grouper and three snapper species in shallow water off French Polynesia and tests the effectiveness of piercing swim-bladders after capture as a method to prevent regurgitation. Groupers exhibited a moderate overall regurgitation rate of 15.6% of full stomachs and a high true (i.e., after accounting for regurgitation) stomach vacuity rate of 40.5%. In contrast, snappers showed high regurgitation (mean 31.7%) and low true stomach vacuity (14.6%). Not accounting for regurgitation would have resulted in a moderate overestimation of stomach vacuity in groupers, but an almost 3-fold overestimation in snappers. Swim-bladder decompression by piercing after capture prove a highly effective method to reduce regurgitation (more than 2-fold for groupers and near 8-fold for snappers). This study enables a more general understanding of prey regurgitation in two commercially valuable fish families, thus improving understanding of the dietary ecology of these fishes. This information is particularly important in the context of prey consumption estimates and subsequent estimations of the impact of fish predators on ecosystems

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“…From an ecological viewpoint, the Pacific red snapper and its congeners partake in the community bioenergetic dynamics as important carnivores that regulate the density of a wide spectrum of fishes and crustaceans in the demersal environment (Allen 1985, Parrish 1987, Zárate-Becerra et al 2014. They therefore represent the link between the low and high levels of the food chain (Acero and Garzon 1985, Arreguín-Sánchez and Manickchand-Heileman 1998, Pérez-España 2003. Identifying prey with high taxonomic resolution helps define trophic relationships, trophic levels, feeding strategies, and ontogenetic trophic changes in diet composition (Musseau et al 2015, Morales andGarcía-Alzate 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding habits of the snapper Lutjanus peru in the central Gulf of California

et al. 2022

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A biological basis for survival and development, the diet of fish represents a baseline for research on ecological aspects related to the structure and function of marine communities. This study focused on the feeding habits of the Pacific red snapper, Lutjanus peru, in Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur (Mexico), during August 2016 through October 2017. A total of 403 specimens were analyzed and categorized by sex, sexual maturity, and season. The size interval ranged from 21 to 60 cm total length, and the weight ranged from 195 to 1,920 g. A total of 29 prey items were identified, including fish (13 items), crustaceans (11 items), mollusks (4 items), and tunicates (1 item). According to the index of relative importance, the main prey were Sardinops sagax (47.65%), Nycthiphanes simplex (38.50%), Harengula thrissina (11.21%), Myctophidae (0.68%), and Benthosema panamense (0.52%). Prey were consumed in different proportions according to sex (F = 2.01, P < 0.049), sexual maturity (F = 4.99, P < 0.001), and season (F = 45.52, P < 0.001). The trophic width was narrow (Bi = 0.16); this was consistent with the Costello graph, which showed the consumption of mainly pelagic-coastal and mesopelagic gregarious prey. The Pacific red snapper in Santa Rosalía functioned as a tertiary consumer. Its opportunistic diet included few highly abundant prey items, and the diet composition differed from that of L. peru in other areas of the Gulf of California and the Pacific coast of Mexico.

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Ecological importance of snappers in the stability of modeled coastal ecosystems

Cited by 12 publications

References 12 publications

Evidence for spatial limitation of the bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira in French Polynesia from parasite and otolith shape analysis

Evidence for spatial limitation of the bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira in French Polynesia from parasite and otolith shape analysis

Prey regurgitation and stomach vacuity among groupers and snappers

Feeding habits of the snapper Lutjanus peru in the central Gulf of California

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