Common coral reef fishes of Saba
Blue Tang, Monterey Bay Aquarium (By Tewy (Own work) (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5), via Wikimedia Commons)
Contents
Introduction Sabais an island located in the eastern Caribbean Sea (Common coral reef fishes of Saba) that is part of the Netherlands Antilles. Over230 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in Saba.
25 most common species in Saba
Brown chromis—the reef fish with the highest mean abundance in Saba. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of443REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of401 hours and51 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. 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 |
92.8 |
many |
|
2. Brown chromis |
90.7 |
many-abundant |
|
3. Blue chromis |
90.1 |
many |
|
4. Bicolor damselfish |
89.8 |
many-abundant |
|
5. Black durgon |
89.6 |
many |
|
6. Fairy basslet |
88.5 |
many |
|
7. Bluehead |
88.0 |
many |
|
8. Coney |
82.8 |
few-many |
|
9. Bar jack |
79.7 |
few-many |
|
10. Foureye butterflyfish |
79.5 |
few |
|
11. Rock beauty |
79.0 |
few |
|
12. Stoplight parrotfish |
78.1 |
few |
|
13. Spanish hogfish |
78.1 |
few |
|
14. Blackbar soldierfish |
77.2 |
few-many |
|
15. Banded butterflyfish |
74.9 |
few |
|
16. Ocean surgeonfish |
73.8 |
few-many |
|
17. Yellow goatfish |
72.9 |
few |
|
18. Yellowhead wrasse |
72.2 |
few-many |
|
19. Smooth trunkfish |
71.6 |
single-few |
|
20.Sergeant major |
70.4 |
many |
|
21. Princess parrotfish |
66.1 |
few |
|
22. Yellowtail damselfish |
64.1 |
few |
|
23. Schoolmaster |
63.7 |
single-few |
|
24. Mahogany snapper |
63.7 |
few |
|
25. Redband parrotfish |
63.0 |
few |
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
