Common coral reef fishes of Grand Turk

Published: June 17, 2014, 6:51 pm

Topics:

Fisheries (main) Marine Ecology (main) Coral Reefs (main) Biodiversity (main) Geography (main) Species (main)

Four-Eye Butterflyfish (Chaetodon capistratus), Saba, Netherlands Antilles. Image taken by Clark Anderson/Aquaimages, via Wikimedia Commons

Introduction Grand Turk is one of the Turks and Caicos Islands (Common coral reef fishes of Grand Turk) in the West Indies. Over310 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

25 most common species in Grand Turk

Blue tang- the most frequently observed reef fish in Grand Turk. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of1083REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of1423 hours and16 minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. June 3, 2009). The species are ranked by the percentage of surveys in which a species was observed. Abundance of fishes in REEF Fish Surveys are estimated using the following categories: 1- single =1 individual, 2-few = 2- 10 individuals, 3-many = 11-100 individuals, and 4-abundant > 100 individuals.

Blue chromis- the reef fish with the highest mean abundance in Grand Turk. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The mean numeric abundance (ranging from 1 - 4) was calculated for each species.. The mean abundance category is determined as follows: mean abundance category 0 - 1.49 = single, 1.50 - 1.99 = single-few, 2.0 - 2.49 = few, 2.5 - 2.99 = few-many, 3.0 - 3.49 = many, 3.5 -3.99 = many-abundant, and 4.0 = abundant.

Species	% of surveys observed	Mean abundance category
1. Blue tang	91.4	few-many
2. Foureye butterflyfish	89.4	few
3. Blue chromis	87.7	many-abundant
4. Bluehead	86.9	many
5. Stoplight parrotfish	86.5	few-many
6. Fairy basslet	85.9	many
7. Bicolor damselfish	81.5	few-many
8. Yellowtail snapper	78.9	few-many
9. Bar jack	75.5	few
10. Trumpetfish	75.3	single-few
11. Princess parrotfish	72.1	few-many
12. French grunt	71.7	few
13. Rock beauty	69.8	single-few
14. Bluestrip grunt	69.0	few
15. Queen parrotfish	68.1	few
16. Coney	67.4	few
17. Nassau grouper	66.6	single-few
18. Black durgon	65.6	few-many
19. Yellowhead wrasse	64.9	few-many
20.Banded butterflyfish	62.6	few
21. Sharpnose puffer	62.2	few
22. Yellow goatfish	62.1	few-many
23. Schoolmaster	60.4	few
24. Redband parrotfish	59.8	few
25. Creole wrasse	57.8	many

References and Further Reading

• Reef Environmental Education Foundation
• Geographic Zone Report- 06-03-2009
• REEF Fish Gallery
• Humann, P. and N. Deloach (Editor), 1994. Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc. Jacksonville, FL. ISBN: 1878348078

Citation

McGinley, M. (2014). Common coral reef fishes of Grand Turk. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_Grand_Turk