Abstract
Marine species can act as biogenic sources of habitat structures, increasing the web of interactions between reef fishes and the benthic environment. Among these species, sea urchins seem to play an ecological role that goes beyond the dynamics of coral-algal interaction on reef ecosystems. In this paper, we describe the commensal behavior of juveniles of two non-cryptobenthic reef fishes (Haemulon parra and Abudefduf saxatilis) with the sea urchin Diadema antillarum on sandstone reefs in Northeastern Brazil. Behavioral observations in situ raise the assumption that D. antillarum may provide an alternative source of shelter and therefore influence microhabitat complexity, particularly, for juvenile reef fishes.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Instituto do Meio Ambiente de Alagoas for technical support, CLS Sampaio for suggestions and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. We also wish to acknowledge the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the fellowship provided.
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This study was partially supported by CNPq (grant number 133768/2010-4).
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HG contributed to funding, data collection, and manuscript preparation; NFC contributed to manuscript preparation; MR contributed to manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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(Underwater video record of the symbiotic interaction between the sea urchin D. antillarum and juvenile non-cryptobenthic reef fishes Haemulon parra and Abudefduf saxatilis, on sandstone shallow reefs (approximately 3-m deep), in Northeastern Brazil, Southwest Atlantic (MOV 171039 kb)
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Grande, H., Reis, M. & Carvalho, N.F. Use of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum (Echinodermata, Echinoidea) as a shelter for non-cryptobenthic juvenile reef fishes. Mar. Biodivers. 50, 53 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01081-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01081-9