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Home range and habitat utilization of adult California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Labridae), in a temperate no-take marine reserve

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Abstract

The California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher Ayres (Labridae), is a carnivorous, temperate, rocky-reef/kelp-bed species that is highly sought in recreational and commercial fisheries. Fine-scale acoustic telemetry tracking was used to ascertain the home range and habitat utilization of S. pulcher. Sixteen adult S. pulcher (26–38 cm SL) were surgically fitted with small acoustic transmitters and manually tracked for up to 144 h during multiple, 24-h periods between March 2001 and August 2002 within the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Reserve (33°26′N; 118°29′W). A geographic information system was used to calculate home range sizes (95% kernel utilization distributions) and habitat use. Tracking of the first five fish over 24 h confirmed that S. pulcher were strictly diurnal, so the remaining 11 fish were tracked from 1 h before sunrise to 1 h after sunset. Home ranges varied greatly, from 938 to 82,070 m2, with a mean (±SD) of 15,134±26,007 m2. Variability in home range sizes among fish was attributed to differences in habitat shape (embayment vs. contiguous coastline) and to natural habitat boundaries (deep, sandy expanses) in adjacent areas within the reserve. There was a significant relationship between fish length and proportion of time spent in different habitats (sand vs. reef). S. pulcher were found within rocky-reef areas 54% of the time, and, within these areas, a greater percentage of daytime was spent in high-relief areas. Based on the relatively small size and persistence of home ranges of adult S. pulcher, no-take reserves, if they contain appropriate habitat, would provide adequate protection for their stocks.

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Acknowledgements

This labor-intensive study could not have been completed without the invaluable help of D. Cartamil and Y. Papastamatiou. In addition, we thank the people who helped with the many hours of tracking and diving: A. Beck, C. Snellen, C. Jackson, E. Jarvis, G. Hoisington, J. Vaudo, K. Anthony, L. Galima, S. Sharfi, S. Mutz, and S. Neumann. The bulk of support for this work was supplied by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant project no. 2000-0117-000, with additional support from California Sea Grant College Prog. NOAA NA06RG042 2002-03, proj. no. R/F-192. This work was done under California State University Long Beach Animal Care Protocol no. 186, which complies with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were performed. Additional scholarship awards adding to the support of this project included both the S.C.T.C. Marine Biology Educational Foundation award and the California State University Long Beach Loomis Award. We greatly thank the Wrigley Marine Science Center for the use of their facilities, with the working support of K.A. Miller, C. Yonker, N. Murphy, and D. Smith.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA, 90840-3702, USA

    D. T. Topping & C. G. Lowe

  2. Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    J. E. Caselle

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  1. D. T. Topping
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  2. C. G. Lowe
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  3. J. E. Caselle
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Correspondence to D. T. Topping.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Topping, D.T., Lowe, C.G. & Caselle, J.E. Home range and habitat utilization of adult California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Labridae), in a temperate no-take marine reserve. Marine Biology 147, 301–311 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1573-1

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