Common coral reef fishes of San Salvador
Blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) (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 San Salvador is an island in the Bahamasin the West Indies. Over260 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in San Salvador. (Common coral reef fishes of San Salvador)
25 most common species in San Salvador
Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in San Salvador. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of347REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of367 hours and30 minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. June 4, 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 San Salvador. 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 |
89.6 |
few-many |
|
2. Stoplight parrotfish |
89.0 |
few-many |
|
3. Bluehead |
85.6 |
many |
|
4. Fairy basslet |
82.1 |
many |
|
5. Blue chromis |
79.0 |
many |
|
6. Black durgon |
70.6 |
few-many |
|
7. Bar jack |
69.7 |
few |
|
8. Queen parrotfish |
69.2 |
few |
|
9. Bicolor damselfish |
68.6 |
many |
|
10. Banded butterflyfish |
66.3 |
single-few |
|
11. Coney |
62.5 |
few |
|
12. Schoolmaster |
61.7 |
few |
|
13. Foureye butterflyfish |
61.1 |
single-few |
|
14. Nassau grouper |
60.8 |
single-few |
|
15. Squirrelfish |
56.8 |
few |
|
16. Spanish hogfish |
53.6 |
few |
|
17. Yellowtail snapper |
52.7 |
few |
|
18. Yellow goatfish |
52.2 |
few-many |
|
19. Yellowhead wrasse |
51.6 |
few-many |
|
20.Creole wrasse |
51.3 |
many |
|
21. Princess parrotfish |
50.7 |
few |
|
22. Ocean surgeonfish |
48.1 |
few |
|
23. Great barracuda |
47.8 |
single-few |
|
24. Bluestriped grunt |
46.7 |
few |
|
25. Tiger grouper |
46.4 |
single-few |
References and Further Reading
- Reef Environmental Education Foundation
- Geographic Zone Report- 06-04-2009
- REEF Fish Gallery
- Humann, P. and N. Deloach (Editor), 1994. Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc. Jacksonville, FL. ISBN: 1878348078
