1,237 research outputs found
Short- and long-term movement patterns of six temperate reef fishes (families Labridae and Monacanthidae)
Abstract. Movement patterns were studied on a 1-ha isolated reef surrounding Arch Rock in
southern Tasmania. Short-term movements were identified from diver observations, and
interpretation of long-term movements involved multiple recaptures of tagged individuals.
Visual observations indicated that the sex-changing labrids Notolabrus tetricus, Pictilabrus
laticlavius and Pseudolabrus psittaculus were all site-attached, with females having
overlapping home ranges and males being territorial. In the non-sex-changing labrid
Notolabrus fucicola and in the monacanthids Penicipelta vittiger and Meuschenia australis,
there was no evidence of territorial behaviour and I-h movements were in excess of the scale
of the study. The long-term results indicated that all species were permanent reef residents,
with most individuals of all species except M. australis always being recaptured within a
home range of 100 m X 25 m or less. Only 15% of individuals of M. australis were always
recaptured within this range category. The natural habitat boundary of open sand between the
Arch Rock reef and adjacent reefs appeared to be an effective deterrent to emigration. The use
of natural boundaries should be an important consideration in the design of marine reserves
where the aim is to minimize the loss of protected species to adjacent fished areas
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