Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:17:09.480Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fish assemblages composition and structure in three shallow habitats in north Australian tropical bay, Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2008

Victor E. Gomelyuk
Victor E. Gomelyuk*
Affiliation:
Marine Biodiversity Group, Biodiversity Conservation, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and Arts, ATRF, PO Box 41775, Casuarina NT 0811Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Victor E. Gomelyuk, Marine Biodiversity Group, Biodiversity Conservation, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and Arts, ATRF, PO Box 41775, Casuarina NT 0811Australia email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The baited remote underwater video technique (BRUVS) was used to compare fish assemblages at three sites with different habitat characteristics: sandy bank (SB), rock reef (RR) and degraded coral reef (DCR) in Port Essington, Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. The Carangidae family dominated, representing 35% of all recorded fish. The highest species number was recorded at RR followed by DCR and SB. The highest total fish number was recorded at DCR followed by SB and RR. Fish assemblages from all three sites are clearly different at high confidence level, but still overlapping and higher overlapping was found between SB and RR. Fish assemblages at all three studied sites contained some coral-associated species, fish fauna was less rich compared to coral reefs in the mouth of the bay and fish assemblages were noticeably different from typical coral fish communities. None of the fish assemblages at studied sites were presented by the ‘pure’, single habitat-associated association of species—at all three sites fish communities were a mixture of fish with various habitat preferences. Reef-associated species have a larger proportion at DCR and at RR their habitat complexity was higher; still soft-bottom habitat fish make substantial fractions in fish assemblages at both DCR and RR. Similarly, fish usually identified as ‘reef associated’ were found in notable proportions on SB. Fish with wide distribution and low selectivity in habitat preferences comprised a significant part in fish assemblages at all studied sites. In this study the BRUVS technique worked well in the area where diving visual surveys were impossible to implement because of high water turbidity. Another advantage of this method is the non-impact nature of visual survey; they can be used in long-term monitoring of fish assemblages at reference sites.

Keywords

baited underwater video surveystropical fish assemblagesfish biodiversity and richnessfish habitatsmicro-spatial scale
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 449 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arburto-Oropeza, O. and Balart, E. (2001) Community structure of reef fish in several habitats of a rocky reef in the Gulf of California. Marine Ecology 22, 283–305.Google Scholar
Allen, G.R. and Swainston, R. (1988) The marine fishes of north-western Australia: a field guide for anglers and divers. Perth: Western Australian Museum.Google Scholar
Allen, G.R. (1997) Marine fishes of tropical Australia and south-east Asia. Perth: Western Australian Museum.Google Scholar
Ault, T.R. and Johnson, C.R. (1998) Spatially and temporally predictable fish communities on coral reefs. Ecological Monographs 68, 25–50.Google Scholar
Bell, J.D. and Galzin, R. (1984) Influence of live coral cover on coral reef fish communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 15, 265–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M. (1986) Feeding selectivity of a guild of piscivorous fish in mangrove areas of north-west Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37, 329–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T. and Salini, J.P. (1989) Species composition and biomasses of fishes in different habitats of a tropical northern Australian estuary: their occurrence in the adjoining sea and estuarine dependence. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 29, 509–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T., Salini, J.P. and Kerr, J. (1990) Biomasses, catch rates and abundances of demersal fishes. Particularly predators of prawns, in tropical bay in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Marine Biology 107, 397–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M, Brewer, D.T., Salini, J.P., Kerr, J. and Conacher, C. (1992) Species composition and biomasses of fishes in tropical seagrasses at Groote Eylandt, Northern Australia. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 35, 605–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T. and Harris, A.N. (1994) Distribution, biomass and community structure of demersal fishes of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Australian Journal Marine and Freshwater Research 45, 375–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, D.T., Blaber, S.J.M., Salini, J.P. and Farmer, M.J. (1995) Feeding ecology of predatory fishes from Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, with special references to predation on Penaeid prawns. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 40, 577–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caley, M.J. (1995) Community dynamics of tropical reef fishes: local patterns between latitudes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 129, 7–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caley, M.J. and St John, J. (1996) Refuge availability structures assemblages of tropical reef fishes. Journal of Animal Ecology 65, 414–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cappo, M. and Brown, I. (1996) Evaluation of sampling methods for reef fish populations of commercial and recreational interest. Technical Report, Townsville, CRC Reef Research Centre, No. 6, 72 pp.Google Scholar
Cappo, M., Harvey, E., Malcolm, H. and Speare, P. (2003) Potential of video techniques to monitor diversity, abundance and size of fish in studies of marine protected areas. In Beumer, J.P., Grant, A. and Smith, D.C. (eds) Aquatic protected areas: what works best and how do we know? World Congress on Aquatic Protected Areas Cairns, Australia. Sydney: Australian Society for Fish Biology, pp. 455–464.Google Scholar
Cappo, M., Speare, P. and De'Ath, G. (2004) Comparison of baited remote underwater video stations BRUVS and prawn shrimp trawls for assessments of fish biodiversity in inter-reefal areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 302, 123–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cappo, M., Harvey, E. and Shortis, E.M. (2007) Counting and measuring fish with baited video techniques—an overview. In Lyle, J.M., Furlani, D.M. and Buxton, C.D. (eds) Proceedings of the 2006 Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference and Workshop Cutting-edge technologies in fish and fisheries science, Hobart, August 2006. Hobart: ASFB, pp. 101–114.Google Scholar
Choat, J.H. and Bellwood, D.R. (1991) Reef fishes: their history and evolution. In Sale, P.F. (ed.) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 46–53.Google Scholar
Christensen, J.D., Jeffrey, C.F.G. and Caldow, C. (2003) Cross-shelf habitat utilization patterns of reef fishes in south western Puerto Rico. Gulf and Caribbean Research 14, 9–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, K.R. and Warwick, R.M. (2001) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretations. Plymouth: Plymouth Marine Laboratory and Natural Environment Research Council.Google Scholar
Dominici-Arosemena, A. and Wolff, M. (2006) Reef fish community structure in the Tropical Eastern Pacific Panama: living on a relatively stable rocky reef environment. Helgoland Marine Research 60, 287–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorenbosch, M., van Riel, M.C., Nagelkerken, I. and van der Velde, G. (2004) The relationship of reef fish densities to the proximity of mangrove and seagrass nurseries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 60, 37–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falcón, J.M., Bortone, S.A., Brito, A. and Bundrick, C.M. (1996) Structure of and relationships within and between the littoral, rock-substrate fish communities off four islands in the Canarian Archipelago. Marine Biology 125, 215–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, C.E.L., Gonçalves, J.E.A. and Coutinho, R. (2001) Community structure of fishes and habitat complexity in a tropical rocky shore. Environmental Biology of Fishes 61, 353–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forrester, G.E., Vance, R.R. and Steele, M.A. (2002) Simulating large scale population dynamics using small-scale data. In Sale, P.F. (ed.) Coral reef fishes: dynamics and diversity in a complex ecosystem. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 275–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedlander, A.M. and Parrish, J.D. (1998) Habitat characteristics affecting fish assemblages on a Hawaiian coral reef. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 224, 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (2002) FishBase world wide web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org. [Accessed 9 December 2002.]Google Scholar
Gladfelter, W.B., Ogden, J.B. and Gladfelter, E.H. (1980) Similarity and diversity among coral reef fish communities: a comparison between tropical western Atlantic Virgin Islands and tropical central Pacific Marshall Islands patch reefs. Ecology 61, 1156–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomelyuk, V.E. (2003) Checklist of coral and rock reef fish species at Garig Gunak Barlu National Park. Reports of the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia. ISSBN 192077216 2, 12 pp.Google Scholar
Gratwicke, B. and Speight, M.R. (2005) The relationship between fish species richness, abundance and habitat complexity in a range of shallow tropical marine habitats. Journal of Fish Biology 66, 650–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grober-Dunsmore, R., Frazer, T.K., Beets, J.P., Lindberg, W.J., Zwick, P. and Funicelli, N.A. (2008) Influence of landscape structure on reef fish assemblages. Landscape Ecology 35, 37–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, E., Fletcher, D. and Shortis, M. (2001) Improving the statistical power of length estimates of reef fish: a comparison of estimates determined visually by divers with estimates produced by a stereo-video system. Fisheries Bulletin 99, 72–80.Google Scholar
Harvey, E.S., Cappo, M., Butler, J.J., Hall, N. and Kendrick, G.A. (2007) Bait attraction affects the performance of remote underwater video stations in assessment of demersal fish community structure. Marine Ecology Progress Series 350, 245–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hixon, M.A. and Beets, J.P. (1993) Predation, prey refuges, and the structure of coral-reef fish assemblages. Ecological Monographs 63, 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, H. (1999) Report to Parks Australia North, on the estuarine fish inventory of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory Australia. Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory MAGNT research report no.5. ISSN 1444-8939, 50 pp.Google Scholar
Larson, H.K. and Williams, R.S. (1997) Darwin harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. In Hanley, J.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. and Larson, H.K. (eds) Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biological Workshop. The Marine flora and fauna of Darwin harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Darwin, 1997. Darwin: Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory and the Australian Marine Sciences Association, pp. 339–380.Google Scholar
Luckhurst, B.E. and Luckhurst, K. (1978) Analysis of the influence of substrate variables on coral reef fish communities. Marine Biology 49, 317–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ludwig, J.A. and Reynolds, J.F. (1988) Statistical ecology. A primer on methods and computing. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Manteifel, B.P. (1970) Biologicheskie osobennosti upravlenija povedeniem ryb. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Myers, R.F. (1999) Mirconesian reef fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam: Coral Graphics.Google Scholar
Núñez-Lara, E. and González, E.A. (1998) The relationship between reef fish community structure and environmental variables in the southern Mexican Caribbean. Journal of Fish Biology 53, 209–221.Google Scholar
Priede, I.G., Bagley, P.M., Smith, A., Creasy, S. and Merret, N.R. (1994) Scavenging deep demersal fishes of the Porcupine Seabight, north-east Atlantic: observation by baited camera, trap and trawl. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 74, 481–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priede, I.G. and Merret, N.R. (1996) Estimation of abundance of abyssal demersal fishes; a comparison of data from trawl and baited cameras. Journal of Fish Biology 49, 207–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priede, I.G. and Merret, N.R. (1998) The relationship between numbers of fish attracted to baited cameras and population density; studies on demersal grenadiers Coryphenoides nematonurus armatus in the abyssal NE Atlantic Ocean. Fisheries Research 36, 153–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. and Steene, R.C. (1997) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst: Crawford House Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, A.I. and Duke, N.C. (1987) Mangroves as nursery sites: comparisons of the abundance and species composition of fish and crustaceans in mangroves and other nearshore habitats in tropical Australia. Marine Biology 96, 93–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A.I. and Duke, N.C. (1990) Mangroves fish-communities in tropical Queensland, Australia: spatial and temporal patterns in densities, biomass and community structure. Marine Biology 104, 9–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Routledge, R.D. (1979) Diversity indices: which ones are admissible? Journal of Theoretical Biology 76, 503–515..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, B.C. (1990) Nemipterid fishes of the world. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Volume 12. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Russell, B.C. and Houston, W. (1989) Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6, 69–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sale, P.F. (2006) Coral reef fishes: dynamics and diversity in a complex ecosystem. San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Sale, P.F., Guy, J.A. and Steel, W.J. (1994) Ecological structure of assemblages of coral reef fishes on isolated patch reefs. Oecologia 98, 83–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sano, M., Shimizu, M. and Nose, Y. (1984) Changes in structure of coral reef fish communities by destruction of hermatypic corals—observational and experimental views. Pacific Science 38, 51–79.Google Scholar
Sheaves, M. (1995) Large lutjanid and serranid fishes in tropical estuaries: are they adult or juveniles? Marine Ecology Progress Series 129, 31–40..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommer, C., Schneider, W. and Poutiers, J.-M. (1996) FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of Somalia. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Stobart, B., García-Charton, J.A., Espejo, C., Rochel, E., Goñi, R., Reñones, O., Herrero, A., Crec'hriou, R., Polti, S., Marcos, C., Planes, S. and Pérez-Ruzafa, A. (2007) A baited underwater video technique to assess shallow-water Mediterranean fish assemblages: methodological evaluation. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 345, 58–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D.L., Harvey, E.S., Anderson, M.J. and Kendrick, G.A. (2005) A comparison of temperate reef fish assemblages recorded by three underwater stereo-video techniques. Marine Biology 148, 415–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, T.J. and Babcock, R.C. (2000) A baited underwater video system for the determination of relative density of carnivorous reef fish. Marine Freshwater Research 51, 755–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, T.J., Millar, R.B. and Babcock, R.C. (2000) Detection of spatial variability in relative density of fishes: comparison of visual census, angling, and baited underwater video. Marine Ecology Progress Series 198, 249–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar