Abstract
Microhabitat associations are considered to be important for juvenile survivorship and growth of coral reef fishes. The aim of the study was to quantify microhabitat associations between juvenile and adult white-streaked grouper Epinephelus ongus, which supports important fisheries in coral reef areas. Underwater observations revealed that most juveniles were found in bottlebrush Acropora spp., staghorn Acropora spp. and coral rubble and there was a significant positive use of bottlebrush Acropora spp. and a significant negative use of coral rubble. For adults, most individuals were found in bottlebrush Acropora spp. and staghorn Acropora spp., and there was a significant positive use of staghorn Acropora spp. and significant negative use of coral rubble. A habitat choice experiment by using pre-settlement individuals revealed that both bottlebrush Acropora spp. and staghorn Acropora spp. were used as settlement sites, whereas coral rubble was rarely used as a settlement site. Results of the study suggest that juvenile and adult E. ongus showed significantly positive microhabitat associations with bottlebrush Acropora spp. and staghorn Acropora spp., respectively, in the field. Bottlebrush Acropora spp. has smaller inter-branch spaces than staghorn Acropora spp., which could drive patterns of microhabitat associations. In addition, post-settlement processes such as predation may influence the spatial distribution of juveniles. Because Acropora corals are very susceptible to coral bleaching, we predict that rising temperatures from climate change will negatively impact populations of E. ongus.
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Acknowledgments
We express our grateful thanks to K. Kinjo, M. Ueno, K. Miyajima, M. Sunagawa, K. Sunagawa, G. Suzuki, H. Yamashita and S. Kai for their assistance in the field survey, C. P. Norman and three anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript, and the staff of Research Center of Sub-Tropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, for support during the study. This study was partly supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (No. 23380113). The study complies with the current laws in Japan.
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Communicated by D. Goulet.
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Nanami, A., Sato, T., Takebe, T. et al. Microhabitat association in white-streaked grouper Epinephelus ongus: importance of Acropora spp.. Mar Biol 160, 1511–1517 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2205-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2205-9