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Structure and resilience of a tidepool fish assemblage at Barbados

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Part of the book series: Developments in environmental biology of fishes 15 ((DEBF,volume 15))

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Fish collections from 19 tidepools on a rock plateau at Martins Bay, on the east coast of Barbados, taken on three occasions (1981, 1983 and 1987) contained 2078 individuals of 63 species. The number of species, individuals and total biomass increased with pool size. Partial residents, primarily juveniles of reef species, comprised 44% of species, 36% of numbers, and 26% of biomass. True and partial residents were of similar sizes. Most of the latter grow to larger sizes than those observed in the pools, indicating that the use of tidepools by fishes is size-dependent. Species richness, numbers of individuals and biomass in individual pools was positively associated with pool size. These relationships did not vary among sampling occasions. Species composition and relative abundance was also found to be similar among sampling occasions, leading to the conclusion that the tidepool assemblages are resilient and stable.

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Eugene K. Balon Michael N. Bruton David L. G. Noakes

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Mahon, R., Mahon, S.D. (1994). Structure and resilience of a tidepool fish assemblage at Barbados. In: Balon, E.K., Bruton, M.N., Noakes, D.L.G. (eds) Women in ichthyology: an anthology in honour of ET, Ro and Genie. Developments in environmental biology of fishes 15, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0199-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0199-8_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4090-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0199-8

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