Common coral reef fishes of St. John

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School of sergeant majors, Jamaica (By Uxbona (Own work) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons)
Coral Reefs (main)


Introduction

St. John isone ofthe U. S. Virgin Islandsin the Caribbean Sea (Common coral reef fishes of St. John) . Over 280 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in St. John.

25 most common species in St. John

Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in St.. John. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994.

The following ranking is based on the results of717REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of780 hours and7 minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. June 9, 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

88.3

few-many

2. Stoplight parrotfish

86.1

few-many

3. Foureye butterflyfish

84.5

few

4. Bluehead

81.2

few-many

5. French grunt

80.3

few-many

6. Sergeant major

80.1

few-many

7. Bar jack

74.3

few-many

8. Yellowtail snapper

73.6

few-many

9. Ocean surgeonfish

71.1

few-many

10. Yellowtail damselfish

70.7

few

11. Yellow goatfish

68.3

few

12. Bicolor damselfish

61.1

few-many

13. Trumpetfish

60.8

single-few

14. Spotted goatfish

60.5

few

15. Redband parrotfish

58.7

few

16. Bluestriped grunt

57.7

few

17. Fairy basslet

57.3

few-many

18. Princess parrotfish

56.2

few

19. Doctorfish

55.0

few

20.Yellowhead wrasse

53.6

few-many

21. Barred hamlet

52.6

few

22. Beaugregory

52.6

few

23. Slippery dick

50.8

few-many

24. Banded butterflyfish

50.2

single-few

25. Longspine squirrelfish

48.5

few

References and Further Reading

Citation

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