Seasonal and ontogenetic patterns of habitat use in coral reef fish juveniles

Seasonal and ontogenetic patterns of habitat use in coral reef fish juveniles Mellin Camille auteur aut IRD Kulbicki Michel auteur aut IRD Ponton Dominique auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access We investigated the diversity of patterns of habitat use by juveniles of coral reef fishes according to seasons and at two spatial scales (10-100 m and 1-10 km). We conducted underwater visual censuses in New Caledonia's Lagoon between 1986 and 2001. Co-inertia analyses highlighted the importance of mid-shelf habitats at large spatial scale (1-10 km) and of sandy and vegetated habitats at small spatial scale (10-100 m) for most juveniles. Among all juvenile species, 53% used different habitats across seasons (e.g. Lutjanus fulviflamma and Siganus argenteus) and 39% used different habitats as they grow (e.g. Lethrinus atkinsoni and Scarus ghobban). During their ontogeny, at large and small scales, respectively, 21% and 33% of the species studied showed an increase in the number of habitats used (e.g. L. fulviflamma, L. atkinsoni), 10% and 3% showed a decrease in. the number of habitats used (e.g. Amphiprion melanopus, Siganus fuscescens), 23% and 3% showed a drastic change of habitat used (e.g. S. ghobban, Scarus sp.) whereas 46% and 61% showed no change of habitat used (e.g. Lethrinus genivittatus, Ctenochaetus striatus). Changes in habitat use at both small and large spatial scales occurred during the ontogeny of several species (e.g. S. ghobban, Scarus sp.). Results pointed out the different spatial and temporal scales of juvenile habitat use to account for in conservation decisions regarding both assemblage and species-specific levels. specialized coral reef fish habitat assemblage season ontogeny spatial scale 036 126 Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 75 4 481-491 2007 0272-7714 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010040886 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.05.026 0272-7714 [F B010040886] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010040886 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2008/01/010040886.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2008-02-22 2017-08-23 fdi:010040886 fre