Common coral reef fishes of St. Kitts

Biodiversity (main)

Published: June 14, 2014, 6:16 pm

Topics:

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

Bluehead—the most frequently observed reef fish inSt. Kitts. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. (Image by By Lakshmi Sawitri, via Wikimedia Commons)

Introduction Bluehead—the most frequently observed reef fish in St. Kitts. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. St. Kitts is part of The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (Common coral reef fishes of St. Kitts) (also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis), a federal two-island nation located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign nation in the Americas, in both area and population.The capital city and headquarters of government for the federated state is on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller state of Nevis lies about 2 miles (3km) southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called "The Narrows". Over240 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in St. Kitts.

25 most common species in St. Kitts

Creole wrasse—the reef fish with the highest mean adundance in St. Kitts. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of299REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of319 hours and11 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.

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
4.0	=	abundant

Species	% of surveys observed	Mean abundance category
1. Bluehead	84.6	many
2. Bicolor damselfish	79.3	many
3. Bicolor damselfish	77.6	few-many
4. French grunt	77.3	few-many
5. Spotted goatfish	76.3	few
6. Stoplight parrotfish	75.9	few
7. Blue tang	73.9	few-many
8. Ocean surgeonfish	72.2	few-many
9. Trumpetfish	71.6	single-few
10. Brown chromis	71.6	many
11. Blackbar soldierfish	70.2	few-many
12. Blue chromis	70.2	many
13. Yellow goatfish	69.9	few-many
14. Barred hamlet	67.2	few
15. Yellowtail damselfish	66.9	few
16. Yellowtail snapper	66.2	few-many
17. Princess parrotfish	66.2	few-many
18. Redband parrotfish	62.5	few-many
19. Yellowhead wrasse	62.5	few
20.Bar jack	60.5	few
21. Sharpnose puffer	59.2	few-many
22. Foureye butterflyfish	56.2	few
23. Graysby	55.5	few
24. Smooth trunkfish	49.8	single-few
25. Harlequin bass	49.5	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. Kitts. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_St._Kitts