Proximate response of fish, conch, and sea turtles to the presence of the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea in Bonaire

Abstract

In this report we examined the proximate response of fish assemblages, queen conch, and sea turtles on H. stipulacea meadows in Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. Here we primarily focused on the differences between the invasive species H. stipulacea and the principal species of native sea grass in Lac Bay, namely turtle grass Thalassia testudinum