The costs and benefits of territory sharing for the Caribbean coral reef fish, Scarus iserti

Clifton, Kenneth E.

doi:10.1007/bf00171583

Cited by 44 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(48 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Short-duration observations such as these provide good estimates of daily feeding rate (Clifton 1990) and were made at roughly the same time each day (14:OO to 16:OO h) to control for diel feeding rhythms. Data were recorded on an event-recording computer (NEC model 8201A) housed within a bag of heavy-gauge PVC (Ewa-Marine) .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous food availability on neighboring Caribbean coral reefs determines seasonal patterns of growth and reproduction for the herbivorous parrotfish Scarus iserti

Clifton¹

1995

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Little is currently known about the temporal linkage between naturally occurring food levels and patterns of growth, reproduction, and feeding behavior by fishes on coral reefs. This study examines seasonal changes in these variables for populations of the herbivorous striped parrotfish Scams iserti on 2 reefs in the San Bias region of Panama. Although less than 3 km apart, these populations experience notably different environmental conditions during Panama's annual cycle of rainfall and drought. In response to lower rainfall and higher dry-season winds and wave action, the renewal rate and standing crop of the striped parrotfish's algal food fell on a semi-exposed reef while rising on a more protected reef. Opposite trends occurred when wmd and waves abated with the return of the wet season. In response, parrotfish on the 2 reefs showed opposite patterns of seasonal growth and reproduction, indicating that reef-associated environmental conditions determine seasonal peaks of reproduction for these fish. This result challenges the notion that planktonic conditions encountered during early life-history stages generally drive seasonal reproduction by coral reef fishes.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous food availability on neighboring Caribbean coral reefs determines seasonal patterns of growth and reproduction for the herbivorous parrotfish Scarus iserti

Clifton¹

1995

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Microhabitat characteristics may also influence the quality of nesting sites, but this should not affect local population size since local reproduction is exported (Sale 1991a, b). Parrotfishes, however, are more mobile, have a more streamlined body form, and move about the reef on larger scales of 10s to 100s of meters (Buckman & Ogden 1973, Ogden & Buckman 1973, Clifton 1989, 1990, Koltes 1993, Bruggen~an et al 1994a. Substratum use appears to be related to feeding preferences (Bellwood & C i~v d i i990j not shelter requirements (Buckman & Ogden 1973, Ogden & Buckman 1973, and since parrotfishes are pelagic spawners, the substratum is not important for nesting sites (Thresher 1984).…”

Section: Distributions and Abundance Among Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adult parrotfishes tend to be much more mobile and to move about over areas closer to 10 to 100 m2 in size (author's pers. obs., Clifton 1989, 1990, Tolimieri 1998. One might expect, therefore, that microhabitat use would be less important to the larger, more mobile parrotfishes because they may be less dependent upon the substratum for shelter from predators and nesting sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of microhabitat use on large-scale adult abundance in two families of Caribbean reef fishes

Tolimieri¹

1998

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An important question for ecologists is whether the processes that influence the distribution of organisms at small spatial scales also influence the variation in abundance at larger scales. I examined the relationship between microhabitat use by individual fishes and variation in abundance among sites for the adults of 11 species of Caribbean reef fishes (6 pomacentrids and 5 scarids). At the level of individual microhabitat use, all species associated with certain substrata(um) more than would be expected at random, but not all species associated with the same substrata. The abundance of these 11 species varied greatly among 13 sites located along the northern shore of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Microhabitat use explained 32 to 49% of the variation in abundance among these 13 sites for 3 of the damselfish species (Stegastes planifrons, S. partltus, and A4icrospathodon cl~rysurus) and -85 "/D for a fourth darnselfish, S. dorsopunicans,. Only one parrotfish (Scarr~s iserti) showed 2n;r re!8ticrrship between microhabitat use and the distribution of adult fishes among sites with approximately 50% of the variation in its abundance explained by a combination of microhabitat and distance from the eastern tip of the island. This difference between damselfishes and parrotfishes is probably related to the degree to which these families rely upon the reef substratum for shelter. These results indicate that small-scale processes can predict large-scale distributions of organisms. However, in the case of microhabitat, these results also indicate that the relationship between the species and the reef substratum must be considered.

show abstract

“…From the male perspective, sharing of the high-yield food patches with female conspecifics is easily understood, since the latter pay with the most profitable currency : eggs . Furthermore, as in S carus iserti (Clifton 1990(Clifton ,1991, dominant T IP females may benefit from the presence of subordinates due to their help with territory defence and food detection .…”

Section: R Esource Sharingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social and mating system of the herbivorous reef fishSparisoma viride: one-male versus multi-male groups

1996

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SynopsisWe present a detailed description of the social and mating system of the protogynous reef herbivore Sparisoma viride at the fringing reef of Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). Initial phase (IP) fish and terminal phase (TP) males occur either in one-or in multi-male groups, which are compared quantitatively with respect to the use of space, size composition, social interactions and sexual activity. One-male groups consist of one TP male plus 1-14 IP females, whereas in multi-male groups up to 14 TP males and about twice as many IP fish share a common home range. The two social units further show marked differences in vertical distribution (one-male groups are restricted to depths between 3 and 22 m, multi-male groups mainly residing < 3 m), size composition (a larger proportion of small adults live in multi-male groups), size and stability of the range (larger in one-male groups) and sexual activity (daily spawning of one-male group members inside their normal home range; no activity in multi-male groups on the shallow reef). Sexual activity occurred daily, throughout the year, with no evidence for tidal tracking or major seasonal or lunar patterns. The one-male groups constitute less than 20% of the adult stock but control up to 77% of the inhabited reef. As a result they have access to higher-yield food patches and to suitable spawning sites inside their home range. Although members of both units appear to defend their common home range against intruding conspecifics, the degree of territoriality is clearly higher in one-male groups. We discuss the relative importance of food, shelter, mates and mating sites as defended resources and some life history implications. The complex social and mating system of S viride shows much resemblance to that of another Caribbean scarid, Scarus iserti. This complexity seems to reflect the capacity of individuals to flexibly adapt their feeding, mating and life history styles to an unpredictable environment. We propose that S. viride is a good study animal to test adaptive explanations for its territorial organization and complex life history patterns.

show abstract

The costs and benefits of territory sharing for the Caribbean coral reef fish, Scarus iserti

Cited by 44 publications

References 48 publications

Asynchronous food availability on neighboring Caribbean coral reefs determines seasonal patterns of growth and reproduction for the herbivorous parrotfish Scarus iserti

Asynchronous food availability on neighboring Caribbean coral reefs determines seasonal patterns of growth and reproduction for the herbivorous parrotfish Scarus iserti

Contrasting effects of microhabitat use on large-scale adult abundance in two families of Caribbean reef fishes

The social and mating system of the herbivorous reef fishSparisoma viride: one-male versus multi-male groups

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About