Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Size and spatial arrangement of home range of checkered snapper Lutjanus decussatus (Lutjanidae) in an Okinawan coral reef determined using a portable GPS receiver

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although snappers (Lutjanidae) are commercially important fishery resources in tropical and subtropical waters, their home range size and its spatial arrangement have not been sufficiently clarified. In the present study, the size and spatial arrangement of the home range of the reef-associated checkered snapper Lutjanus decussatus (Lutjanidae) were investigated by use of a portable GPS receiver. In a 120 m × 120 m quadrat established on a section of the fringing reef of Ishigaki Island, 29 individuals of the species were identified by their color pattern and individuals were divided into five arbitrary size classes (class 1 <10 cm TL ≤ class 2 <15 cm TL ≤ class 3 <20 cm TL ≤ class 4 <25 cm TL ≤ class 5). Fish tracking by snorkeling was conducted with the portable GPS receiver. Site fidelity of this species was high. Home range size ranged from 93.0 to 3638.4 m2, and there was a significant positive correlation between the home range size and fish total length. Home ranges of the same-sized individuals abutted each other (8.8% area overlap), whereas those of different-sized individuals overlapped (44.0% area overlap). Agonistic behavior (attack and agonistic display) was more frequently found among same-sized individuals (times of agonistic behavior/times of all encounters × 100 = 71.3%), whereas such agonistic behavior was rarely found among different-sized individuals (times of agonistic behavior/times of all encounters × 100 = 6.9%). These results suggest that home ranges of Lutjanus decussatus can be regarded as territories against same-sized individuals, but not different-sized individuals. The usefulness of the fish tracking by snorkeling using a portable GPS receiver for home range size estimation and the function of the overlapping territory of the species are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen GR (1985) FAO species catalogue, vol 6. Snappers of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date. FAO, Rome

  • Barrett NS (1995) Short- and long-term movement patterns of six temperate reef fishes (Families Labridae and Monacanthidae). Mar Freshwater Res 46:853–860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denit K, Sponaugle S (2004) Growth variation, settlement, and spawning of gray snapper across a latitudinal gradient. Trans Am Fish Soc 133:1339–1355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eristhee N, Oxenford HA (2001) Home range size and use of space by Bermuda chub Kyphosus sectatrix (L.) in two marine reserves in the Soufriére Marine Management area, St Lucia, West Indies. J Fish Biol 59:129–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Grémillet D, Dell’Omo G, Ryan PG, Peters G, Ropert-Coudert Y, Weeks SJ (2004) Offshore diplomacy, or how seabirds mitigate intra-specific competition: a case study based on GPS tracking of Cape gannets from neighbouring breeding sites. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 268:265–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heyman WD, Kjerfve BK, Graham RT, Rhodes KL, Garbutt L (2005) Spawning aggregations of Lutjanus cyanopterus (Cuvier) on the Belize Barrier Reef over a 6 year period. J Fish Biol 67:83–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland KN, Lowe CG, Peterson JD, Gill A (1992) Tracking coastal sharks with small boats: hammerhead shark pups as a case study. Aust J Mar Freshwater Ecol 43:61–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland KN, Peterson JD, Lowe CG, Wetherbee BM (1993a) Movements, distribution and growth rates of the white goatfish Mulloides flavolineatus in a fisheries conservation zone. Bull Mar Sci 52:982–992

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland KN, Wetherbee BM, Peterson JD, Lowe CG (1993b) Movements and distribution of hammerhead shark pups on their natal grounds. Copeia 1993:495–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland KN, Lowe LG, Wetherbee BM (1996) Movements and dispersal patterns of blue trevally (Caranx melampygus) in a fisheries conservation zone. Fish Res 25:279–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1984) The influence of habitat and behavioural interactions on the local distribution of the wrasse, Pseudolabrus celidotus. Environ Biol Fish 10:43–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones KMM (2005) Home range areas and activity centres in six species of Caribbean wrasses (Labridae). J Fish Biol 66:150–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohda M, Tanida K (1996) Overlapping territory of the benthophagous cichlid fish, Lobochilotes labiatus, in Lake Tanganyika. Environ Biol Fish 45:13–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kritzer JP (2004) Sex-specific growth and mortality, spawning season, and female maturation of the stripey bass (Lutjanus carponotatus) on the Great Barrier Reef. Fish Bull 102:94–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Letourneur Y (2000) Spatial and temporal variability in territoriality of a tropical benthic damselfish on a coral reef (Reunion Island). Environ Biol Fish 57:377–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leum LL, Choat JH (1980) Density and distribution patterns of the temperate marine fish Cheilodactylus spectabilis (Cheilodactylidae) in a reef environment. Mar Biol 57:327–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low RM (1971) Interspecific territoriality in a pomacentrid reef fish, Pomacentrus flavicauda Whitley. Ecology 52:648–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masuda H, Amaoka K, Araga C, Uyeno T, Yoshino T (1984) The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago (text). Tokai University Press, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto K (2001) Overlapping territories of a benthophagous fish, Goniistius zonatus (Teleostei: Cheilodactylidae). Ecol Res 16:715–726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer CG, Holland KN (2005) Movement patterns, home range size and habitat utilization of the bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis (Acanthuridae) in a Hawaiian marine reserve. Environ Biol Fish 73:201–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer CG, Holland KN, Wetherbee BM, Lowe CG (2000) Movement patterns, habitat utilization, home range size and site fidelity of whitesaddle goatfish, Parupeneus porphyreus, in a marine reserve. Environ Biol Fish 59:235–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller KW, Dennis GD, Eggleston DB, Wicklund RI (1994) Size-specific social interactions and foraging styles in a shallow water population of mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis (Pisces: Lutjanidae), in the central Bahamas. Environ Biol Fish 40:175–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nanami A (2000) Effect of habitat structure on dynamics of coral reef fish assemblages. Doctoral thesis, Tohoku University, Japan

  • Nanami A, Nishihira M (2002) The structures and dynamics of fish communities in an Okinawan coral reef: effects of coral-based habitat structures at sites with rocky and sandy sea bottoms. Environ Biol Fish 63:353–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons DM, Babcock RC, Hankin RKS, Wills TJ, Aitken JP, O’Dor RK, Jackson GD (2003) Snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) home range dynamics: acoustic tagging studies in a marine reserve. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 262:253–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall JE, Allen GR, Steene RC (1997) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Bathurst

    Google Scholar 

  • Rooker JR (1995) Foraging ecology of the schoolmaster snapper, Lutjanus apodus (Walbaum), from southwestern Puerto Rico. Bull Mar Sci 56:881–894

    Google Scholar 

  • Schofield G, Bishop CM, MacLean G, Brown P, Maker M, Katselidis KA, Dimopoulos P, Pantis JD, Hays GC (2007) Novel GPS tracking of sea turtles as a tool for conservation management. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 347:58–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard JK, Preen AR, Marsh H, Lawler I, Whiting SD, Jones RE (2006) Movement heterogeneity of dugongs, Dugong dugon (Müller), over large spatial scales. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 334:64–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimose T, Tachihara K (2005) Age, growth and maturation of the blackspot snapper Lutjanus fulviflammus around Okinawa Island, Japan. Fish Sci 71:48–55

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor MW, Laffan SD, Fielder S, Suthers IM (2006) Key habitat and home range of mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus in a south-east Australian estuary: finding the estuarine niche to optimise stocking. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 328:237–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thresher RE (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. TFH Publications, Neptune City

    Google Scholar 

  • Topping DT, Lowe CG, Caselle JE (2005) Home range and habitat utilization of adult California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Labridae), in a temperate no-take marine reserve. Mar Biol 147:301–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent ACJ, Evans KL, Marsden AD (2005) Home range behaviour of the monogamous Australian seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. Environ Biol Fish 72:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasuda T, Arai N (2005) Fine-scale tracking of marine turtles using GPS-Argos PTTs. Zool Sci 22:547–553

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeller DC (1997) Home range and activity patterns of the coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 154:65–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeller DC (1999) Ultrasonic telemetry: its application to coral reef fisheries research. Fish Bull 97:1058–1065

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the staff of Ishigaki Tropical Station, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute. Constructive comments on the manuscript from C.P. Norman and two anonymous reviewers were much appreciated. The present study complies with the current laws in Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ishigaki Tropical Station, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, Fukai-Ota 148-446, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Atsushi Nanami & Hideaki Yamada

Authors
  1. Atsushi Nanami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hideaki Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atsushi Nanami.

Additional information

Communicated by M.I. Taylor.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nanami, A., Yamada, H. Size and spatial arrangement of home range of checkered snapper Lutjanus decussatus (Lutjanidae) in an Okinawan coral reef determined using a portable GPS receiver. Mar Biol 153, 1103–1111 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0882-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0882-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation