How do tropical seagrass beds function as habitats for fishies?

为了确定热带海草床的鱼类组合结构及其结构与邻近珊瑚和沙区的结构有何不同，于2002年8月和11月在日本西表岛Amitori湾进行了目视普查。在每个生境建立5条1 m × 20 m样带结果表明，在样带内，珊瑚区鱼类的种类数和个体数均高于海草床和沙区，海草叶密度和高度的变化对五线红唇鱼（Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus）补充量的影响主要表现在：海草叶密度和高度的变化对五线红唇鱼（Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus）补充量的影响不明显，海草叶密度和高度的变化对五线红唇鱼补充量的影响不明显，珊瑚叶密度和高度的变化对五线红唇鱼补充量的影响不明显。利用人工海草单元，（ASU，包括（1）长而密的叶子（2）稀疏至LD-单位密度的约40%的长叶，（3）缩短至LD-单位高度的40%的密集叶，和（4）无叶（对照），每个ASU的新兵连续14天每天都被清点。C. Quinquelineatus新兵每重复的LD单位显着大于其他单位类型，表明较长的密集海草叶有一个显着的影响，该物种的招聘。

To determine fish assemblage structure in tropical seagrass beds and how its structure differs from those in adjacent coral and sand areas, visual censuses were conducted at Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan, in August and November 2002. five 1m×20m transects were established at each habitat (seagrass bed, coral area, and sand area), and all fishes within the transect area were counted.the numbers of species and individuals of fishes were higher in the coral area than in the seagrass bed and sand area.To clarify the effects of changes in seagrass leaf density and height on recruitment of the cardinalfish Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus, which is a common species in troical seagrass beds, a field experiment using artificial seagrass units (ASUs, including (1)long dense leaves (LD-units), (2)long leaves thinned to about 40% of LD-unit density, (3)dense leaves shortened to 40% of LD-unit height, and (4)no leaves (control), were used, recruits on each ASU being counted daily over 14 consecutive days. The mean number of C. Quinquelineatus recruits per replicate on LD-units was significantly greater than on the other unit types, indicating that longer denser seagrass leaves had a significant impact on recruitment of the species.