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Microhabitat utilisation patterns in cryptobenthic coral reef fish communities

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Abstract

The cryptobenthic reef fish communities from four microhabitats at Orpheus Island, central Great Barrier Reef are described. Eighty-four 0.4m2 samples yielded a total of 368 individuals from 42 species in eight families, with a mean density of 11 individuals m−2 (±1.7SE) and 2.9 species 0.4 m−2 (±0.2SE). Caves contained the highest number of both individuals (120) and species (26), followed by sand/rubble, soft coral, and open reefs. Microhabitat associations included cave and soft coral specialists. Site fidelity in 71 tagged individuals of 4 species was high, with a mean recapture rate of 53% (±8.4SE) remaining within the ~0.4 m2 sampling area after a 48-h period. Behavioural observations also reflect this limited movement, with the dominant mode of behaviour in 7 species being a motionless state (67.5% ±11.6SE), followed by feeding (21.8% ±8.7SE), hiding (6.3% ±1.6SE), and swimming (4.4% ±1.5SE). Two distinct behavioural groups are identified: (1) sedentary forms, characterised by long periods of immobility (5 species); and (2) winnowers, characterised by long feeding bouts (2 species). The fine-scale partitioning of microhabitats, restricted home ranges, and sedentary behaviour of many cryptobenthic reef fish species suggest that this reef fish community exhibits similar patterns of habitat utilisation to their larger reef-fish counterparts, but at a much finer scale.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Orpheus Island Research Station along with field assistants R. Eyre, A. Limbourne, J. Salmond, and J. Scott; J. Ackerman, O. Bellwood, D. Ceccarelli, C. Fulton, A. Hoey, M. Marnane, and S. Wilson for their expertise and helpful discussions; J. Ackerman, P. Munday, and H. Larson for help with taxonomic identifications; and M. Marnane, M. Sheaves, and A. Hoey for statistical advice. This study was funded by the Australian Research Council (D.R.B), a Reef CRC Augmentative grant, and James Cook University. JCU Experimentation Ethics Review Committee Approval #A428. Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity publication no. 86.

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  1. Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity, Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University, 4811, Townsville, Australia

    M. Depczynski & D. R. Bellwood

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  1. M. Depczynski
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  2. D. R. Bellwood
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Correspondence to M. Depczynski.

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Communicated by G.F. Humphrey, Sydney

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Depczynski, M., Bellwood, D.R. Microhabitat utilisation patterns in cryptobenthic coral reef fish communities. Marine Biology 145, 455–463 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1342-6

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