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Elevated feeding rates of fishes within octocoral canopies on Caribbean reefs

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Abstract

Increasing abundance of arborescent octocorals (often referred to as gorgonians) on Caribbean reefs raises the question of whether habitat structure provided by octocorals can mediate a transition between coral- and algal- dominated states by increasing fish abundance and herbivory. This study tested the hypotheses that feeding rates and densities of demersal reef fishes are affected by the habitat structure provided by dense octocoral communities. Surveys of fishes on coral reefs in St John, US Virgin Islands, found 1.7-fold higher densities, and 2.4-fold higher feeding rates within versus outside of dense octocoral canopies. This difference, however, was only seen at sites with octocoral densities > 8 colonies m−2. Furthemore, the proximity of octocoral colonies to fish had an effect on the grazing rate of key herbivores (surgeonfishes and parrotfishes), with a 53% higher feeding rate (1.90 ± 0.11 bites min−1 m−2) near octocorals (< 20 or 30 cm, depending on the site) versus farther from them (1.24 ± 0.09 bites min−1 m−2). Finally, within the canopy of dense octocoral communities (17 colonies m−2), reef fishes fed at a rate that was 2.2-fold higher within the community than at the edge of the community that faced an adjacent sand patch. Fish abundance, however, was not uniformly higher within versus at the edge of the octocoral community, as ecotone specialists such as gobiids, blennioids, ostraciids, holocentrids, labrids, and pomacentrids were 1.3—2.3 times more abundant at the edge. In contrast, other taxa of demersal fishes, notably herbivores, were twice as abundant within octocoral communities than at the edges. Together, these results reveal an association between habitat structure created by octocorals on shallow reefs and increased feeding rates of demersal fishes (including those of herbivores). The potential of octocorals to increase herbivory that could mediate stony coral recovery is therefore worthy of further study.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded through the US National Science Foundation through their programs in Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (DEB 08–41441 and DEB 13–50146) and Biological Oceanography (OCE 13–32915), and was completed under a permit issued by the VI National Park (VIIS-2011-SCI-0016). We are grateful to H. Lasker and A. Martinez for octocoral community data at East Tektite. Special thanks to S. Prosterman for local support, and the staff of the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station for making our visits productive and enjoyable. This is contribution number 309 of the Marine Biology Program of California State University, Northridge.

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  1. Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA, 91330-8303, USA

    G. Tsounis, M. A. Steele & P. J. Edmunds

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Tsounis, G., Steele, M.A. & Edmunds, P.J. Elevated feeding rates of fishes within octocoral canopies on Caribbean reefs. Coral Reefs 39, 1299–1311 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01963-1

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