Sexual selection and reproductive success in males of the bicolor damselfish, Eupomacentrus partitus (Pisces: Pomacentridae)

Schmale, Michael C.

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(81)80069-3

Cited by 112 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Stegastes partitus is a common territorial demersal reef fish with a small home range, and identifiable feeding, aggression, courtship, and reproductive behaviors (Myrberg 1972). Peak spawning occurs during summer at sunrise, *1-7 d after the full moon, during which time demersal eggs are guarded by males (Schmale 1981). Stegastes partitus undergo an ontogenetic diet shift from a juvenile diet that includes benthic algae to a planktivorous adult diet (Emery 1973).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

2017

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Environmental clines such as latitude and depth that limit species' distributions may be associated with gradients in habitat suitability that can affect the fitness of an organism. With the global loss of shallow-water photosynthetic coral reefs, mesophotic coral ecosystems (*30-150 m) may be buffered from some environmental stressors, thereby serving as refuges for a range of organisms including mobile obligate reef dwellers. Yet habitat suitability may be diminished at the depth boundary of photosynthetic coral reefs. We assessed the suitability of coral-reef habitats across the majority of the depth distribution of a common demersal reef fish (Stegastes partitus) ranging from shallow shelf (SS, \10 m) and deep shelf (DS, 20-30 m) habitats in the Florida Keys to mesophotic depths (MP, 60-70 m) at Pulley Ridge on the west Florida Shelf. Diet, behavior, and potential energetic trade-offs differed across study sites, but did not always have a monotonic relationship with depth, suggesting that some drivers of habitat suitability are decoupled from depth and may be linked with geographic location or the local environment. Feeding and diet composition differed among depths with the highest consumption of annelids, lowest ingestion of appendicularians, and the lowest gut fullness in DS habitats where predator densities were highest and fish exhibited riskaverse behavior that may restrict foraging. Fish in MP environments had a broader diet niche, higher trophic position, and higher muscle C:N ratios compared to shallower environments. High C:N ratios suggest increased tissue lipid content in fish in MP habitats that coincided with higher investment in reproduction based on gonado-somatic index. These results suggest that peripheral MP reefs are suitable habitats for demersal reef fish and may be important refuges for organisms common on declining shallow coral reefs.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

2017

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“…Bicolors are ideal fish for demographic studies because, although they can live for several years, they have high site fidelity within reefs, are easy to mark and recapture repeatedly, and their demersal eggs can be easily quantified. Bicolors in our study region settle in and near adult habitats at about 1.5 cm total length (TL; Nemeth 2005) after about a 30-day larval duration (Sponaugle andCowen 1996, Nemeth 2005), and mature at about 6 cm TL (Schmale 1981;M.C. Schmale, personal communication), which corresponds to about 1 year of age in our system (M. A. Hixon, personal observation).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Density dependence and population regulation in marine fish: a large‐scale, long‐term field manipulation

Hixon

Anderson

Buch

et al. 2012

Ecological Monographs

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Abstract. Do small-scale experiments showing spatial density dependence in marine fishes scale-up to temporal density dependence and regulation of relatively large local populations?If so, what are the causative mechanisms and their implications? We conducted an eight-year multigeneration study of population dynamics of bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus) inhabiting four large coral reefs in the Bahamas. After a four-year baseline period, it was clear that two populations naturally received very few settlement-stage larvae, so recruitment of recently settled fish was artificially enhanced at one low-settlement reef and reduced at one high-settlement reef to ensure a broad range of population sizes over which to test for regulation. Over all eight years, populations on the two naturally high-settlement reefs experienced temporal density dependence in multiple per capita demographic rates: mortality, survival to adulthood, and fecundity. These local populations also displayed components of regulation: persistence, boundedness, and return tendency. Reefs supporting regulated populations were structurally complex, providing sufficient prey refuges that ensured high survival at low densities. In contrast, populations at low-settlement reefs experienced either density-independent or slightly inversely density-dependent demographic rates, even though recruitment was artificially augmented to high levels at one reef. There was no evidence of regulation at these reefs, and indeed, one local population suffered temporary extirpation. Here, habitat complexity was relatively low, increasing the risk of predation, especially at low population densities when fish would have to travel longer distances when finding mates or home sites inhabited by conspecifics. Among all demographic parameters, density dependence in individual growth (an indicator of within-species competition for food) was least correlated with the presence or absence of local population regulation. We conclude that, for systems like these, the environmental context of a local population, especially predation risk and the distribution and abundance of spatial refuges, is more important than the magnitude of larval supply alone in determining the existence of regulating density dependence. At the broader metapopulation scale, density dependence in both survival and fecundity exogenously caused by predation may provide regulation for the entire stock, even when endogenous withinspecies competition (assumed to be important in most fisheries models) is weak.

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“…Stegastes partitus is a small (< 75 mm standard length) sexually monomorphic pomacentrid fish, ubiquitous throughout the Caribbean. Both males and females defend permanent territories in habitats of high rugosity (Myrberg 1972, Schmale 1981) and demonstrate high site fidelity (McGehee 1995). Reproduction follows the lunar cycle, with spawning beginning a few days before the full moon and ending a few days after the new moon (Robertson et al 1988, Knapp & Warner 1991.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eggs are demersal and each clutch is laid in a discrete monolayer. Males guard eggs until they hatch as planktonic larvae, 3.5 d later (Schmale 1981, Robertson et al 1988. Larvae settle around 5 wk later during the new moon, and recruit mainly to coral rubble.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex habitats may not always benefit prey: linking visual field with reef fish behavior and distribution

Rilov¹,

Figueira²,

Lyman³

et al. 2007

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Habitat structural complexity is often considered beneficial for prey species because it reduces the foraging efficiency of predators. However, for site-attached, territorial prey, such as many damselfishes, structural complexity at specific scales may be detrimental. Since the location of territorial prey could be highly predictable to predators, the ability of such prey to detect approaching predators may be limited by high-relief structural complexity. The bicolor damselfish Stegastes partitus is abundant and randomly dispersed on coral heads in fore reef habitats in the Florida Keys but is less abundant on back reef habitats, where it aggregates in open patches within fields of gorgonian soft corals. We hypothesized that the complex gorgonian habitat limits the visual field for S. partitus, increasing the uncertainty about predation risk, and is therefore a low quality habitat. We found that males occupy territories with visual fields larger than the fields around randomly selected points. Experimentally reducing the visual field around males decreased both their courting rates and the distance they ventured away from the nest. Males in the back reef spent more time away from their nests -potentially taking greater risks -towards the peak of the spawning cycle than males in the fore reef, which may be related to their lower reproductive success on the back reef. Experiments exposing male S. partitus to a fish predator suggest that a limited visual field (an uncertain situation) presents a more risky situation than a clearly visible but 'contained' predator. Our results demonstrate that a limited visual field around territorial, site-attached prey fish alters their behavior such that mating and feeding may be compromised. Fish abundance was negatively correlated with soft coral density but not with the number of potential territories or surface rugosity, suggesting that the visual seascape may be important for the fish distribution patterns. We suggest that habitat complexity at the appropriate scale mediates the distribution and possibly also the abundance of territorial prey fishes through the effects of the size of the visual field on fish behavior.

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Sexual selection and reproductive success in males of the bicolor damselfish, Eupomacentrus partitus (Pisces: Pomacentridae)

Cited by 112 publications

References 37 publications

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

Fitness consequences of habitat variability, trophic position, and energy allocation across the depth distribution of a coral-reef fish

Density dependence and population regulation in marine fish: a large‐scale, long‐term field manipulation

Complex habitats may not always benefit prey: linking visual field with reef fish behavior and distribution

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