Common coral reef fishes of Tortola
Stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride), initial-phase (Adona9 at the English language Wikipedia (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), from Wikimedia Commons)
Contents
- 1 Introduction Tortola isone ofthe British Virgin Islands (Common coral reef fishes of Tortola) in the Caribbean Sea (Caribbean Sea large marine ecosystem). Over310 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in Tortola.
- 2 25 most common species in Tortola
- 3 References and Further Reading
Introduction Tortola isone ofthe British Virgin Islands (Common coral reef fishes of Tortola) in the Caribbean Sea (Caribbean Sea large marine ecosystem). Over310 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in Tortola.
25 most common species in Tortola
Brown chromis—tone of the reef fish with the highest mean abundance in Tortola. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of2948REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of2186 hours and49 minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. Tortola (including Buck Island and Frenchmans Cay. 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.
Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in Tortola. 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 |
|
|
|
1. Blue tang |
91.8 |
many |
|
2. Foureye butterflyfish |
90.1 |
few |
|
3. Stoplight parrotfish |
87.6 |
few-many |
|
4. Bluehead |
85.9 |
many |
|
5. French grunt |
84.9 |
few-many |
|
6. Yellowtail snapper |
84.1 |
few-many |
|
7. Bicolor damselfish |
83.7 |
many |
|
8. Queen parrotfish |
79.9 |
many |
|
9. Bicolor damselfish |
79.5 |
many |
|
10. Sergeant major |
79.1 |
many |
|
11. Yellowhead wrasse |
76.8 |
many |
|
12. Bar jack |
76.5 |
few-many |
|
13. Trumpetfish |
75.8 |
few |
|
14. Redband parrotfish |
75.2 |
single-few |
|
15. Yellowtail damselfish |
74.9 |
few-many |
|
16. Fairy basslet |
74.6 |
few-many |
|
17. Yellow goatfish |
73.8 |
few-many |
|
18. Princess parrotfish |
70.6 |
few-many |
|
19. Spotted goatfish |
70.6 |
few |
|
20.Sharpnose puffer |
69.9 |
few |
|
21. Longspine squirrelfish |
68.8 |
few |
|
22. Rock beauty |
68.3 |
few |
|
23. Graysby |
67.7 |
few |
|
24. Brown chromis |
66.8 |
many |
|
25. Bluestriped grunt |
65.2 |
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
