Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T00:02:46.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interspecific differences in foraging behaviour and functional role of Caribbean parrotfish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Sónia C. Cardoso ,
Marta C. Soares ,
Hazel A. Oxenford  and
Isabelle M. Côté
Sónia C. Cardoso*
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149–041, Lisboa, Portugal
Marta C. Soares
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149–041, Lisboa, Portugal Université de Neuchâtel, Institut de Zoologie, Eco-Ethologie, Rue Émile-Argand 11, 2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Hazel A. Oxenford
Affiliation:
Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
Isabelle M. Côté
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S.C. Cardoso, Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Herbivory is one of the most important biological processes influencing coral reefs. In the highly diverse Indo-Pacific reef fish communities, different herbivores can have strikingly different functions. We investigated the extent of functional diversity among herbivorous parrotfish of the more species-depauperate Caribbean Sea. We carried out observations of seven species of parrotfish (Scarus taeniopterus, Sc. vetula, Sc. iserti, Sparisoma viride, Sp. aurofrenatum, Sp. rubripinne and Sp. chrysopterum) on four Barbadian coral reefs to collect information on foraging techniques, rates, and targets, and found marked interspecific variation. Species of the genus Scarus had higher foraging rates than those of the genus Sparisoma. Different species took varying amounts of live coral, turf algae and macroalgae. A functional categorization based first on foraging technique (contact or no contact with the substratum) and secondarily on the more conventional criterion of foraging target (macroalgae, turf algae and live coral) allowed us to classify Sc. taeniopterus and Sc. iserti as ‘scrapers’, Sp. aurofrenatum, Sp. rubripinne and Sp. chrysopterum as ‘grazers’, Sp. viride as a ‘bioeroder’ and Sc. vetula as a ‘bioeroder/scraper’. This functional group affiliation, together with species-specific foraging rates, allows us to predict the role of Caribbean parrotfish on major coral reef processes and their impact on coral reef benthic communities.

Keywords

herbivoryScaridaebite rateforaging targetsfunctional groupsCaribbean parrotfish
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e148
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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

Bellwood, D.R. and Choat, J.H. (1990) A functional analysis of grazing in parrotfishes (family Scaridae): the ecological implications. Environmental Biology of Fishes 28, 189–214.Google Scholar
Bellwood, D.R., Hoey, A.S. and Choat, J.H. (2003) Limited functional redundancy in high diversity systems: resilience and ecosystem function on coral reefs. Ecology Letters 6, 281–285.Google Scholar
Bellwood, D.R., Hughes, T.P., Folke, C. and Nyström, M. (2004) Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature 429, 827–833.Google Scholar
Bonaldo, R.M., Krajewski, J.P., Sazima, C. and Sazima, I. (2006) Foraging activity and resource use by three parrotfish species at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, tropical West Atlantic. Marine Biology 149, 423–433.Google Scholar
Bruckner, A.W. and Bruckner, R.J. (1998) Destruction of coral by Sparisoma viride. Coral Reefs 17, 350.Google Scholar
Bruckner, A.W., Bruckner, R.J. and Sollins, P. (2000) Parrotfish predation on live coral: ‘spot biting’ and ‘focused biting’. Coral Reefs 19, 50.Google Scholar
Bruggemann, J.H., Vanoppen, M.J.H. and Breeman, A.M. (1994) Foraging by the stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride. I. Food selection in different socially determined habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 106, 41–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruggemann, J.H., van Kessel, A.M., van Rooij, J.M. and Breeman, A.M. (1996) Bioerosion and sediment ingestion by the Caribbean parrotfish Scarus vetula and Sparisoma viride: implications of size, feeding mode and habitat use. Marine Ecology Progress Series 134, 59–71.Google Scholar
Clark, K.R. and Warwick, R.M. (1994) Similarity-based testing community pattern—the way 2 layout with no replication. Marine Biology 118, 167–176.Google Scholar
Deloach, N. (1999) Reef fish behavior—Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. Verona, Italy: New World Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Done, T.J. (1992) Phase-shifts in coral reefs communities and their ecological significance. Hydrobiology 247, 121–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Government of Barbados (2001) Barbados state of the environment report 2000—GEO Barbados. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Google Scholar
Government of Barbados (2002) The national biodiversity strategy and action plan for Barbados. Barbados: Ministry of Physical Development and the Environment.Google Scholar
Halpern, B.S. and Floeter, S.R. (2008) Functional diversity responses to changing species richness in reef fish communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 364, 147–156.Google Scholar
Harrington, L., Fabricius, K., De’Ath, G. and Negri, A. (2004) Recognition and selection of settlement substrata determine post-settlement survival corals. Ecology 85, 3428–3437.Google Scholar
Hixon, M.A. (1983) Fish grazing and community structure of coral reefs and algae: a synthesis of recent studies. In Reaka, M.L. (ed.) The ecology of deep and shallow coral reefs. Washington DC: Symposia Series for Undersea Research. NOAA/NURP, pp. 79–87.Google Scholar
Hoey, A.S. and Bellwood, D.R. (2008) Cross-shelf variation in the role of parrotfishes on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 27, 37–47.Google Scholar
Hughes, T.P. (1994) Catastrophes, phase shifts, and large-scale degradation of Caribbean coral reefs. Science 265, 1547–1551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunte, W. and Wittenberg, M. (1992) Effects of eutrophication and sedimentation on juvenile corals. Marine Biology 114, 625–631.Google Scholar
John, D.M., Price, J.M. and Lawson, G.W. (1992) Tropical East Atlantic and islands: plant–animal interactions on shores free of biotic reefs. In John, D.M., Hawkins, S.J. and Price, J.H. (eds) Plant–animal interactions in the marine benthos. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 87–99. [Systematics Association, Special volume 46]Google Scholar
Kuffner, I.B., Walters, L.J., Becerro, M.A., Paul, V.J., Ritson-Williams, R. and Beach, K.S. (2006) Inhibition of coral recruitment by macroalgae and cyanobacteria. Marine Ecology Progress Series 323, 107–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapointe, B.E. (1989) Macroalgal production and nutrient relations in oligotrophic areas of Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science 44, 312–323.Google Scholar
Lessios, H.A., Cubit, J.D., Robertson, D.R., Shulman, M.J., Parker, M.R., Garrity, S.D. and Levings, S.C. (1984) Mass mortality of Diadema antillarum on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Coral Reefs 3, 173–182.Google Scholar
Littler, M.M. and Littler, D.S. (1984) Relationships between macroalgal functional form groups and substrata stability in a subtropical rocky intertidal system. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 74, 13–34.Google Scholar
Maciá, S. and Robinson, M.P. (2005) Effects of habitat heterogeneity in seagrass beds on grazing patterns of parrotfishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 303, 113–121.Google Scholar
McAfee, S.T. and Morgan, S.G. (1996) Resource use by five sympatric parrotfishes in the San Blas Archipelago, Panama. Marine Biology 125, 427–437.Google Scholar
McCook, L.J. (1999) Macroalgae, nutrients and phase shifts on coral reefs: scientific issues and management consequences for the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 18, 357–367.Google Scholar
McCook, L.J., Jompa, J. and Diaz-Pulido, G. (2001) Competition between corals and algae on coral reefs: a review of evidence and mechanisms. Coral Reefs 19, 400–417.Google Scholar
Miller, M.W. and Hay, M.E. (1998) Effects of fish predation and seaweed competition on the survival and grow of corals. Oecologia 113, 231–238.Google Scholar
Mumby, P.J. and Wabnitz, C.C. (2002) Spatial patterns of aggression, territory size, and harem size in five sympatric Caribbean parrotfish species. Environmental Biology of Fishes 63, 265–279.Google Scholar
Mumby, P.J., Dahlgren, C.P., Harborne, A.R., Happel, C.V., Micheli, F., Brumbaugh, D.R., Holmes, K.E., Mendes, J.M., Broad, K., Sanchirico, J.N., Buch, K., Box, S., Stoffle, R.W. and Gill, A.B. (2006) Fishing, trophic, cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs. Science 311, 98–101.Google Scholar
Nyström, M. (2006) Redundancy and response diversity of functional groups: implications for the resilience of coral reefs. Ambio 35, 30–35.Google Scholar
Reyes-Nivia, M.C., Garzón-Ferreira, J. and Rodrigues-Ramíres, A. (2004) Depredacíon de coral vivo por peces en el Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, Caribe columbiano. Revista de Biología Tropical 52, 883–895.Google Scholar
Rotjan, R.D. and Lewis, S.M. (2006) Parrotfish abundance and selective corallivory on Belizean coral reef. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 335, 292–301.Google Scholar
Smith, J.E., Shaw, M., Edwards, R.A., Obura, D., Pantos, O., Sala, E., Sandin, S.A., Smriga, S., Hatay, M. and Rohwer, F.L. (2006) Indirect effects of algae on coral: algae-mediated, microbe-induced coral mortality. Ecology Letters 9, 835–845.Google Scholar
Steneck, R.S. and Dethier, M.N. (1994) A functional-group approach to the structure of algal-dominated communities. Oikos 69, 476–498.Google Scholar