Common coral reef fishes of St. Thomas

Published: June 16, 2014, 1:39 pm

Topics:

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

Introduction St. Thomas isoneofthe U. S. Virgin Islandsin the Caribbean Sea (Common coral reef fishes of St. Thomas) . Over320 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in St. Thomas.

25 most common species in St. Thomas

Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in St. Thomas. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of975REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of977 hours and7 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.

Bluehead—the reef fish with the highest mean abundance in St. Thomas. 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	96.9	few-many
2. Bluehead	94.6	many-abundant
3. Bicolor damselfish	91.7	many
4. Foureye butterflyfish	91.1	few
5. Yellowtail snapper	90.4	few-many
6. Stooplight parrotfish	90.3	few-many
7. Ocean surgeonfish	88.8	few-many
8. Redband parrotfish	87.7	few-many
9. French grunt	87.4	few-many
10. Sergeant major	84.7	many
11. Yellowhead wrasse	84.6	few-many
12. Brown chromis	83.9	many
13. Bar jack	83.3	few-many
14. Graysby	82.5	few
15. Longspine squirrelfish	81.3	few
16. Spotted goatfish	80.9	few
17. Yellowtail damselfish	80.9	few
18. Yellow goatfish	79.9	few-many
19. Sharpnose puffer	79.3	few
20.Blue chromis	78.9	few-many
21. Fairy basslet	78.2	few-many
22. Beaugregory	74.1	few
23. Spanish hogfish	73.3	few
24. Doctorfish	73.2	few
25. Princess parrotfish	72.8	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

Citation

McGinley, M. (2014). Common coral reef fishes of St. Thomas. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_St._Thomas