Abstract
I examined whether patterns of settlement of planktonic juveniles determined the size and composition of adult populations of three Caribbean surgeonfishes (A canthurus bahianus, A. chirurgus and A. coeruleus) on six isolated patch-reefs in Panamá. I monitored settlement monthly on six reefs (0.14 to 0.67 ha) for 8 yr (1978–1986), and censused adults on those reefs annually. Year-to-year fluctuations in the absolute and relative abundances of settlers arriving on each reef were not extreme. Densities of adults in 1986 were not correlated with the densities of settlers that arrived between 1979 and 1984. Survival of settlers, although apparently unrelated to the density of adults, was negatively related to the density of settlers per unit of adult habitat (but not per unit of settlement habitat) for each species. Changes in adult populations of each species between 1978 and 1986 were not correlated with the abundance of settlers relative to the initial number of adults. The relative abundances of adults of each species in 1986 did not reflect the relative abundances of settlers (1979–1984); these abundances were due to both spatial variation and interspecific variation in survival. In some cases, relocation of adults between isolated patch-reefs (as much as 100 m from other reefs) substantially altered the size and composition of surgeonfish populations. Thus, either post-settlement mortality or relocation overrode effects of settlement patterns in determining adult abundances on the six reefs. Relocation is important in organizing reef-fish communities and must be further examined, particularly in large habitat mosaics.
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Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa
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Robertson, D.R. Abundances of surgeonfishes on patch-reefs in Caribbean Panamá: due to settlement, or post-settlement events?. Marine Biology 97, 495–501 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391045
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391045