Synopsis
The terminal phase/initial phase ratios of four common Bahamian parrotfishes were determined by visual censuring in a variety of coral reef habitats. In general, greater environmental differences among habitats were associated with more variable phase ratios. The phase ratios of the four species remained stable over a 12 months period in the single habitat in which this was tested, These results suggest that environmental factors strongly affect the phase (and therefore sex) ratios maintained by breeding groups of parrotfishes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Antonius, A. 1974. Final report of the Coral Reef Group. Florida Keys Project, Year of 1973. Unpublished Report. Harbor Branch Foundation, Ft. Pierce.
Buckman, N.S. & J.C. Ogden. 1973. Territorial behavior of the striped parrotfish Scarus croicensis (Scaridae). Ecology 54: 1377–1382.
Burley, N. 1982. Facultative sex-ratio manipulation. Amer. Nat. 120: 81–107.
Colin, P.L. 1974. Observation and collection of deep-reef fishes off the coasts of Jamaica and British Honduras (Belize). Marine Biology 24: 29–38.
Colton, D.E. & W.S. Alevizon. 1981. Diurnal variability in a fish assemblage of a Bahamian coral reef. Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 341–345.
Ebersole, J.P. 1980. Food density and territory size: an alternative model and test with a reef fish. Amer. Nat. 115: 492–509.
Fisher, R. 1930. The genetical theory of natural selection. Clarendon, Oxford. 272 pp.
Gadgil, M. & W. Bossert. 1970. Life history consequences of natural selection. Amer. Nat. 104: 1–24.
Goreau, T.F. 1959. The ecology of Jamaican coral reefs. Ecology 40: 67–90.
Hixon, M.A. 1980. Food production and competitor density as the determinants of feeding territory size. Amer. Nat. 115: 510–530.
Luckhurst, B.F. & K. Luckhurst. 1978. Diurnal space utilization in coral reef fish communities. Marine Biology 49: 325–332.
Milliman, J.D. 1973. Caribbean coral reefs. pp. 25–151. In: P.A. Jones & K. Endeam (ed.) Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Academic Press, New York.
Neuman, A.C. 1970. The composition, structure, and erodability of subtidal mats, Abaco, Bahamas. J. Sediment Petrol. 40: 274–297.
Reinboth, R. 1968. Protogynie bei Papageifischen (Scaridae). Z. Naturforsch. 23: 852–855.
Reinboth, R. 1970. Intersexuality in fishes. In: Hormones and the Environment. Mem. Soc. Endocrinol. 18: 516–543.
Robertson, D.R. & R. Warner. 1978. Sexual patterns in the labroid fishes of the western Caribbean. II: The Parrotfishes (Scaridae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 255: 1–26.
Sokal, R.R. & F.J. Rohlf. 1969. Biometry. W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco. 776 pp.
Stark, W.A. 1968. A list of fishes of Alligator Reef, Florida with comments on the nature of the Florida reef fish fauna. Undersea. Biol. 1: 4–40.
Taylor, P.D. & H. Sauer. 1980. The selective advantage of sex-ratio homeostasis. Amer. Nat. 116: 305–310.
Warner, R. & S.G. Hoffman. 1980a. Population density and economics of territorial defense. Ecol. 61: 772–780.
Warner, R. & S.G. Hoffman. 1980b. Local population size and mating systems in Thallasoma spp. Evol. 34: 508–518.
Warner, R. & D. Robertson. 1979. Sexual patterns in the labroid fishes of the Western Caribbean. 1: The Wrasses (Labridae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 254: 1–27.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alevizon, W., Landmeier, D. Variability in the population structures of four western Atlantic parrotfishes. Environ Biol Fish 10, 149–158 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001122
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001122