Common coral reef fishes of St. Eustatius

Biodiversity (main)

Published: June 14, 2014, 6:22 pm

Topics:

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

Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in St. Eustatius. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. Monterey Bay Aquarium (Image by Tewy (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons)

Introduction Brown chromis—the reef fish with the highest mean adundance in St Eustatius. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. St. Eustatius, a member of the Netherland Antilles, is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea (Common coral reef fishes of St. Eustatius) . Over170 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in St. Eustatius.

25 most common species in St. Eustatius

The following ranking is based on the results of107REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of hours and38 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	93.5	few-many
2. Bluehead	86.9	many
3. Bicolor damselfish	84.1	many
4. Brown chromis	80.4	many-abundant
5. Coney	80.4	few-many
6. Yellow goatfish	78.5	few-many
7. Smooth trunkfish	77.6	few-many
8. Blackbar soldierfish	74.8	few-many
9. Bar jack	73.8	few-many
10. Spotted goatfish	73.8	few
11. Spanish hogfish	72.9	few
12. Blue chromis	72.9	many
13. Reband parrotfish	71.0	few
14. Yellowhead wrasse	70.1	few
15. Sergeant major	69.2	few-many
16. Harlequin bass	68.2	few
17. Trumpetfish	67.3	single-few
18. Rock beauty	65.4	few
19. Stoplight parrotfish	64.5	few
20.Ocean surgeonfish	60.7	few-many
21. Black durgon	60.7	few-many
22. Fairy basslet	58.9	few-many
23. Princess parrotfish	58.9	few
24. Mahogany snapper	57.9	few-many
25. Squirrelfish	57.9	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

Citation

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