Common coral reef fishes of St. Vincent

Biodiversity (main)

Published: June 16, 2014, 8:01 pm

Topics:

Biodiversity (main) Fisheries (main) Marine Ecology (main) Coral Reefs (main) Oceans and seas (main) Geography (main) Species (main)

Spotted goatfish. Photo by Laurent Charpin. reefguide.org

Introduction St. Vincent isthe largestisland in St. Vincent and the Grenadines locatedin theeastern Caribbean Sea (Common coral reef fishes of St. Vincent) , about half way between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago.Over320 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in St. Vincent.

25 most common species in St. Vincent

Brown Chromis—the most frequently observed and reef fish with the highest mean abundance in St. Vincent. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of1667 REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of2329 hours and35 minutes. (REEF Gopgraphic Zone Report, May 30, 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. Brown chromis	91.3	many-abundant
2. Bicolor damselfish	90.4	many-abundant
3. Banded butterflyfish	89.4	few
4. Spotted goatfish	88.4	few-many
5. Bluehead	87.5	many
6. Ocean surgeonfish	86.3	few-many
7. Yellowhead wrasse	85.9	many
8. Yellow goatfish	84.8	few-many
9. Trumpetfish	84.2	few
10. French grunt	84.2	few-many
11. Blackbar soldierfish	84.0	many
12. Sharpnose puffer	82.9	few
13. Sergeant major	82.2	few-many
14. Smooth trunkfish	81.9	few
15. Harlequin bass	81.6	few
16. Redband parrotfish	81.3	few-many
17. Coney	79.7	few
18. Smallmouth grunt	76.0	few-many
19. Princess parrotfish	75.0	few-many
20. Yellowtail damselfsh	74.6	few-many
21. Mahogany snapper	74.1	few-many
22. Blue tang	71.4	few
23. Graysby	70.1	few
24. Spotted moray	69.9	single-few
25. Rock beauty	67.8	few

References and Further Reading

• Reef Environmental Education Foundation
• Geographic Zone Report- 05-30-2009
• 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 St. Vincent. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_St._Vincent