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Proximity Effects of Larger Resident Fishes on Recruitment of Age‐0 Red Snapper in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Author(s) -
Mudrak Peter A.,
Szedlmayer Stephen T.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1080/00028487.2012.667045
Subject(s) - reef , fishery , coral reef fish , habitat , geography , juvenile , artificial reef , fish <actinopterygii> , fringing reef , bass (fish) , coral reef , oceanography , ecology , biology , geology
Small artificial reefs (1.2 × 1.02 × 1.1 m) were placed near to (15 m; n = 20) and distant from (500 m; n = 20) larger artificial reefs (1.2 × 2.4 × 2.4 m; n = 20) in July 2008 and 2009, and each set of reefs (two small and one large) was placed 1.7 km apart at a site 28 km south of Dauphin Island, Alabama, in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Divers used visual surveys to identify and count all fish present on the small reefs and estimated fish lengths in 25‐mm categories during August 2008, August 2009, and September 2009. Significantly higher numbers of age‐0 red snapper Lutjanus campechanus were detected on the small distant reefs (500 m) than on the small nearby (15 m) reefs in all surveys. In addition, significantly higher densities of rock sea bass Centropristis philadelphica and pygmy filefish Stephanolepis setifer were observed on the small distant reefs compared with the small nearby reefs in both August and September 2009. Mean species richness was significantly higher on the small distant reefs than on the small nearby reefs in August 2009. Differences in reef fish community structure were detected in all three surveys by using nonmetric multidimensional scaling based on Czekanowski's similarity coefficient. This study indicates that if artificial reefs are built to provide habitat for juvenile red snapper, they should not be placed in areas immediately adjacent to existing adult habitat; conversely, habitats intended for adult fish should not be placed near important red snapper nursery areas.