Abstract
Freshwater fishes are an important but relatively little known component of the highly diverse fish fauna of Micronesia. Localities supporting communities of freshwater fishes include large high islands, with considerable habitat complexity, and smaller low islands, such as atolls and raised coral islands, with limited freshwater habitat. Both types of islands may support species with adult life history styles that are (a) amphidromous and catadromous, (b) euryhaline (often estuarine), or (c) marine species which enter freshwater from time to time. We compared patterns of species richness and similarity between Micronesian localities for amphidromous and catadromous, euryhaline and marine species (ACEM) pooled, and for amphidromous and catadromous species (ACFW). Species richness of both ACEM and ACFW fishes was greatest on larger high islands compared to smaller high and all low islands. Cluster analysis of similarity indices for ACEM species between localities revealed two faunal components: high islands and low islands. High islands were further partitioned into a Caroline Islands cluster and a separate Mariana Islands cluster. Cluster analysis of ACFW species was more complex. One cluster consisted of a low island and a small high island, both in the Carolines chain and with limited freshwater habitat. The second cluster was partitioned into high islands and low islands that reflected influences of both size and geographical location.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Angermeier, P.L. & I.J. Schlosser. 1989. Species-area relationships for stream fishes. Ecology 70: 1450–1462.
Briggs, J.C. 1974. Marine zoogeography. McGraw-Hill, New York. 475 pp.
Bright, G.R. & J.A. June. 1981. Freshwater fishes of Palau. Micronesica 17: 107–111.
Devick, W.S., J. M. Fitzsimons & R. T. Nishimoto. 1992. Conservation of Hawaiian freshwater fishes. Hawai'i Division of Aquatic Resources, Department of Land Resources, Honolulu. 26 pp.
Donaldson, T.J. 1995. Comparative analysis of reef fish distribution patterns in the northern and southern Mariana Islands. Nat. Hist. Res. 3: 227–234.
Donaldson, T.J., R.F. Myers, J.T. Moyer & P.J. Schuup. 1994. Zoogeography of fishes of the Mariana, Ogasawara and Izu islands: a preliminary assessment. Nat. Hist. Res. Spec. Issue 1: 201–230.
Fehlmann, H.A. 1960. Ecological distribution of fishes in a stream drainage in the Palau Islands. Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford University, Palo Alto. 172 pp.
Fitzsimons, J.M., J.E. Parham & R.T. Nishimoto. 2002. Similarities in behavioral ecology among amphidromous and catadromous fishes on the oceanic islands of Hawai'i and Guam. Env. Biol. Fish. 65: 123–129 (this issue).
Maciolek, J.A. & J.I. Ford. 1987. Macrofauna and environment of Nanpil-Kiepw River, Ponape, Eastern Caroline Islands. Bull. Mar. Sci. 41: 623–632.
Magurran, A. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 177 pp.
McDowall, R. 1997. A recent marine ancestry for diadromous fishes? Sometimes yes, mostly no. Env. Biol. Fish. 37: 329–335.
Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian reef fishes, 3rd ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada. 330 pp.
Nelson, S.G. & L.G. Eldredge. 1991. Distribution and status of introduced cichlid fishes of the genera Oreochromis and Tilapia in the island of the South Pacific and Micronesia. Asian Fish. Sci. 4: 11–22.
Nelson, S.G., F.A. Camacho, J.E. Parham, R.B. Tibbatts & B.D. Smith. 1997. Distributions and habitats of Micronesian stream fishes. Micronesica 30: 83–91.
Parenti, L.R. & J.A. Maciolek. 1993. New sicydiine gobies from Ponape and Palau. Micronesia, with comments on systematics of the subfamily Sicydiinae (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Bull. Mar. Sci. 55: 943–972.
Parham, J.E. 1995. Habitat use by an assemblage of tropical oceanic island streamfish. M.S. Thesis in Biology, University of Guam, Mangilao. 54 pp.
Ricklefs, R.E. 1973. Ecology. Chiron Press, Portland. 861 pp.
Roughgarden, J. 1996. Theory of population genetics and evolutionary ecology: an introduction. Prentice-Hall, Toronto. 612 pp.
Smith, G.R. 1981. Effects of habitat size on species richness and adult body sizes of desert fishes. pp. 125–171. In: R.J. Naiman & D.L. Soltz (ed.) Fishes in North American Deserts, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Thaman, R.R. 1999. Pacific island biodiversity on the eve of the 21st century: current status and challenges for its conservation and sustainable use. Pac. Sci. Assoc. Info. Bull. 51: 1–37.
Thresher, R.E. 1991.Geographic variability in the ecology of coral reef fishes: evidence, evolution, and possible implications. pp. 406–436. In: P.F. Sale (ed.) The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs, Academic Press, San Diego.
Watson, R.E. 1991. Aprovisional reviewof the genus Stenogobius with descriptions of a new subgenus and thirteen new species (Pisces: Teleostei: Gobiidae). Rec. W. Austral. Mus. 15: 627–710.
Watson, R.E. 1992. A review of the gobiid fish genus Awaous from the insular streams of the Pacific Plate. Ichthyol. Expl. Freshw. 3: 161–176.
Williams, C.B. 1964. Patterns in the balance of nature. Academic Press, New York. 324 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Donaldson, T.J., Myers, R.F. Insular Freshwater Fish Faunas of Micronesia: Patterns of Species Richness and Similarity. Environmental Biology of Fishes 65, 139–149 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020050931158
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020050931158