Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs (eBook)

Front Cover 1
The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs 4
Copyright Page 5
Table of Contents 6
Contributors 14
Foreword 16
Preface 18
PART I: BASICS 20
CHAPTER 1. Introduction 22
I. Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes 22
II. A Crash Course for the Nonspecialist 27
III. Structure of This Book 30
CHAPTER 2. The Visual World of Coral Reef Fishes 35
I. Introduction 35
II. Light in Tropical Seas: Attenuation and Hue 35
III. The Vision of Fishes 37
IV. Correlations of Scotopic Vision and Light 39
V. Correlations of Photopic Vision and Light 50
VI. Topics for Further Study 55
CHAPTER 3. Reef Fishes: Their History and Evolution 58
I. Introduction 58
II. What Are Reef Fishes? 60
III. Reefs as Habitats 62
IV. Key Features of the Reef Fish-Habitat Relationship 66
V. The Origin of Reef Fishes 73
VI. Morphology, Phylogeny, and History: Reef Fishes Revisited 80
PART II: TROPHIC ECOLOGY 86
CHAPTER 4. Trophic Relationships of Fishes Specialized to Feed on Zooplankters above Coral Reefs 88
I. Introduction 88
II. Diurnal Planktivores 89
III. Crepuscular Changeover 100
IV. Nocturnal Planktivores 104
V. Vulnerability of Zooplankters above Reefs 111
VI. Topics for Further Study 112
CHAPTER 5. Fish-Seaweed Interactions on Coral Reefs: Effects of Herbivorous Fishes and Adaptations of Their Prey 115
I. Introduction 115
II. Refuges in Space or Time 117
III. Seaweed Characteristics That Deter Feeding by Reef Fishes 122
IV. Tolerance of Herbivory 136
V. Summary 137
CHAPTER 6. The Biology of Herbivorous Fishes on Coral Reefs 139
I. Introduction 139
II. Significance of Previous Studies 141
III. General Features of Herbivorous Fishes and Their Resources 143
IV. Summary 151
V. Review Topics 152
VI. Discussion 172
CHAPTER 7. Fish Predation and Its Impact on the Invertebrates of Coral Reefs and Adjacent Sediments 175
I. Introduction 175
II. Patterns in Carnivore Diets and Feeding Selectivity 178
III. Patterns in Carnivore Abundance and Foraging 182
IV. Impact on Coral Reef Invertebrate Assemblages 187
V. Impact on Soft-Sediment Assemblages 191
VI. Critique of Methodologies Employed to Assess Impacts 195
VII. Fish Predation as Functional Explanation of Prey Characteristics 196
VIII. Conclusions 197
PART III: LARVAL AND JUVENILE ECOLOGY 200
CHAPTER 8. The Pelagic Stage of Reef Fishes: The Larval Biology of Coral Reef Fishes 202
I. Introduction 202
II. Larval Fish Morphology and Identification 205
III. Where Are the Pelagic Stages of Reef Fishes? 208
IV. What Are Reef Fishes Doing while Pelagic? 229
V. The End of the Pelagic Stage 236
VI. Why a Pelagic Stage? 242
VII. Use of Larvae in Zoogeographie Analyses 243
VIII. Conclusions 246
CHAPTER 9. Settlement Strategies and Biogeography of Reef Fishes 250
I. Introduction 250
II. Settlement Strategies of Reef Fishes 251
III. Planktonic Larval Duration and Biogeography 266
IV. Daily Otolith Increments and Early Life History Studies 271
CHAPTER 10. Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Recruitment 280
I. Introduction to Nonequilibrial Systems 280
II. Why Study Recruitment? 285
III. Methods 286
IV. Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Recruitment 290
V. Synthesis 307
VI. Future Directions 310
Addendum 311
CHAPTER 11. Postrecruitment Processes in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fish Populations: A Multifactorial Perspective 313
I. Introduction 313
II. Patterns in the Postrecruitment Phase 317
III. Evidence for Recruitment Modification 319
IV. Demographic Parameters 322
V. Ecological Processes 327
VI. Multiple Causality and Ecological Importance 343
VII. Looking to the Future 346
PART IV: REPRODUCTIVE AND LIFE HISTORY PATTERNS 348
CHAPTER 12. Intraspecific Variability in Social Systems of Coral Reef Fishes 350
I. Introduction 350
II. Types of Variation within Social Systems 352
III. Settlement Models for Individual and Group Spacing and Their Application to Social System Variation 363
IV. Conclusions 372
CHAPTER 13. The Role of Adult Biology in the Timing of Spawning of Tropical Reef Fishes 375
I. Introduction 375
II. Diel Spawning Patterns 376
III. Lunar Spawning Patterns 383
IV. Seasonal Spawning Patterns 389
CHAPTER 14. The Use of Phenotypic Plasticity in Coral Reef Fishes as Tests of Theory in Evolutionary Ecology 406
I. Introduction 406
II. Examples of Intraspecific Variability 408
III. Discussion 415
PART V: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION 418
CHAPTER 15. Geographic Variability in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes: Evidence, Evolution, and Possible Implications 420
I. Introduction 420
II. Previous Geographic Comparisons of Reef Fish Assemblages 421
III. An Analysis of Interoceanic and Regional Variation in Assemblage Structure 424
IV. Life History Features and the Evolution of Geographic Variation in Indo-Pacific Reef Fish Communities 436
V. Ecological Consequences of Regional Variation in Assemblage Structure 445
VI. Summary, Conclusions, and Even More Unsubstantiated Speculations 452
CHAPTER 16. Patterns and Processes in the Distribution of Coral Reef Fishes 456
I. Introduction 456
II. Patterns 458
III. Processes 482
IV. Conclusions 492
CHAPTER 17. Predation as a Process Structuring Coral Reef Fish Communities 494
I. Introduction 494
II. Circumstantial Evidence 496
III. Correlative Evidence 504
IV. Experimental Evidence 512
V. Synthesis 519
CHAPTER 18. Tropical and Temperate Reef Fishes: Comparison of Community Structures 528
I. Introduction 528
II. Comparison of Environments 529
III. Environment-Induced Sampling Constraints and Bias 541
IV. Description of Community Structure 545
V. Regulation of Community Structure 556
VI. Future Research 580
CHAPTER 19. Reef Fish Communities: Open Nonequilibrial Systems 583
I. Introduction 583
II. Difficulty in Evaluating Current Data 586
III. Survey of the Data: Patterns 593
IV. Survey of the Data: Processes 604
V. Conclusions 615
PART VI: FISHERIES AND MANAGEMENT 618
CHAPTER 20. Coral Reef Fisheries: Effects and Yields 620
I. Introduction 620
II. Basic Concepts of Stock Assessment and Effects of Fishing on Stocks 621
III. Effects of Fishing on Coral Reef Fishes 624
IV. Some Comments on Yields of Fishes from Coral Reefs 650
V. Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research 653
References 656
Index 744