Territorial damselfishes facilitate survival of corals by providing an associational defense against predators
Territorial damselfishes facilitate survival of corals by providing an associational defense against predators
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DOI：
10.3354/meps08302
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发表时间：
2010-01-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Gochfeld, Deborah J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gochfeld, Deborah J.
草食性豆娘鱼、黑胸鲷和黑胸鲷的领土防御功能。lividus，有利于在其领土内生长的造礁石珊瑚。珊瑚多样性显着较高的2个地点在莫雷阿，法属波利尼西亚，在1个网站在关岛，马里亚纳群岛内雀鲷领土。在关岛，这种模式至少稳定了10年。某些珊瑚物种，包括Pocillopora damicornis，只在这些地点的雀鲷领土内发现。所有鱼类，包括以珊瑚为食的蝴蝶鱼，接近Stegastes属的领土。被人穷追不舍在领地内的P. damicornis殖民地没有被任何潜在的入侵者捕食。当移植到领地之外时，几种蝴蝶鱼迅速捕食了红腹滨对虾的种群。个体蝴蝶鱼对移植的珊瑚虫群体的摄食率最初非常高，并且随着可接近的珊瑚组织被移除而在30分钟内显著下降。相比之下，移植的Porites罗斯，关岛领土以外的珊瑚礁的主要组成部分，没有吸引捕食者。这项研究表明，领土豆娘鱼提供了一个协会的防御某些珊瑚物种，生活在他们的领土内，而这些物种定居在领土外的经验严重的捕食，导致抑制增长和微不足道的生存。这表明了潜在的重要性，这种类型的物种之间的积极的间接相互作用，在构建珊瑚礁群落，保护捕食珊瑚喂养的鱼类是一种机制，通过这种机制，豆娘鱼可以提高珊瑚礁的多样性，这种协会可以保持稳定多年。
Territorial defense by the herbivorous damselfishes, Stegastes nigricans and S. lividus, benefits the hermatypic corals growing inside their territories. Coral diversity was significantly higher inside damselfish territories at 2 sites in Moorea, French Polynesia, and at 1 site in Guam, Mariana Islands. In Guam, this pattern was stable for at least 10 yr. Certain coral species, including Pocillopora damicornis, were found only inside damselfish territories at these sites. All fishes, including coral-feeding butterflyfishes, approaching territories of Stegastes spp. were vigorously chased. Colonies of P. damicornis inside territories were not preyed upon by any potential intruders. When transplanted outside of territories, colonies of P. damicornis were preyed upon rapidly by several species of butterflyfishes. Feeding rates of individual butterflyfishes on transplanted P. damicornis colonies were initially very high and decreased significantly Over 30 min as accessible coral tissue was removed. In contrast, transplanted Porites rus, a major component of the reef outside of territories in Guam, attracted no predators. This study suggests that territorial damselfishes provide an associational defense for certain coral species that live inside their territories, whereas these species settling outside territories experience heavy predation, resulting in suppressed growth and negligible survival. This demonstrates the potential importance of this type of positive indirect interaction between species in structuring coral reef communities, that protection from predation by coral-feeding fishes is a mechanism by which damselfishes can enhance coral diversity on reefs, and that this association can remain stable for many years.