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Social status determines behaviour and habitat usage in a temperate parrotfish: implications for marine reserve design

2007; Inter-Research; Volume: 359; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps07272

1616-1599

Pedro Afonso, Jorge Fontes, KN Holland, Ricardo S. Santos,

Marine and fisheries research

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 359:215-227 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07272 Social status determines behaviour and habitat usage in a temperate parrotfish: implications for marine reserve design Pedro Afonso1,2,*, Jorge Fontes1, Kim N. Holland2, Ricardo S. Santos1 1Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores, Cais de Santa Cruz, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal 2Department of Zoology, Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 46-007, Lilipuna Road, Kane’ohe, Hawai’i 96744, USA *Email: afonso@uac.pt ABSTRACT: Marine reserves should work most effectively for exploited species that are strongly site attached to small home ranges (HRs) contained within reserve boundaries. However, to benefit local fisheries through spillover, the species in the reserves must also be able to migrate to unprotected areas. We evaluated the optimal design of marine reserves for protecting and promoting spillover of a commercially important parrotfish, Sparisoma cretense (Linnaeus, 1758), by empirically quantifying short- and long-term movements of individuals originally captured inside and outside a small reserve in the Azores Islands (mid-Atlantic). Movements were quantified using active tracking, passive acoustic monitoring and standard tag-recapture. We found that the dual social organization of the species determined the individuals’ movements and habitat use. Haremic fish occupied small HRs associated with permanently established male territories in high energy reef areas. Group (schooling) fish spent most of their time in sheltered reefs but expanded their HRs during the spawning season with daily migrations to the ‘territorial’ areas. S. cretense HR sizes were considerably larger than those previously reported for tropical parrotfishes. Passive acoustic monitoring indicated very high site fidelity and minimal dispersion for up to 30 mo. This study demonstrates that residency of adult parrotfish can last for years. Several individuals emigrated to the reserve from neighbouring areas and some of them relocated thereafter. We suggest that a network of adequately enforced marine reserves of small to medium size (ca. 1 to 5 km2) containing suitable habitat diversity can effectively protect core populations of S. cretense, but benefits to adjacent fisheries through spillover will be limited to the areas adjacent to the reserve boundaries. KEY WORDS: Parrotfish · Acoustic telemetry · Movements · Home range · Residency · Marine reserves · Spillover Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Afonso P, Fontes J, Holland KN, Santos RS (2008) Social status determines behaviour and habitat usage in a temperate parrotfish: implications for marine reserve design. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 359:215-227. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07272 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 359. Online publication date: May 05, 2008 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.