Common coral reef fishes of the Bahamas

Biodiversity (main)

Published: June 14, 2014, 7:35 pm

Topics:

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

Introduction The Bahamas, is a country consisting of two thousand cays and seven hundred islands that form an archipelago. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the United States; northeast to east of Cuba (Common coral reef fishes of the Bahamas) and the island of Hispaniola (Dominican RepublicandHaiti) and north to east of the Caribbean Sea; and west to northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Over310 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in the Bahamas.

25 most common species in the Bahamas

The following ranking is based on the results of4644REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of 13,427hours and39minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, 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.

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

Blue chromis—the reef fish with the highest mean adundance in the Bahamas. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994.

Species	% of surveys observed	Mean abundance category
1. Blue tang	86.7	few-many
2. Bluehead	86.1	many
3. Stoplight parrotfish	80.3	few
4. Blue chromis	75.5	many
5. Yellowtail snapper	74.9	few-many
6. Foureye butterflyfish	74.7	few
7. Fairy basslet	74.2	few-many
8. Bicolor damselfish	70.1	few-many
9. Bar jack	69.5	few-many
10. French grunt	68.1	few-many
11. Yellowhead wrasse	65.2	few-many
12. Ocean surgeonfish	63.4	few-many
13. Bluestriped grunt	60.8	few
14. Schoolmaster	58.0	few
15. Redband parrotfish	57.8	few
16. Princess parrotfish	55.4	few
17. Longspine squirrelfish	55.2	few
18. Rock beauty	54.9	single-few
19. Nassau grouper	53.9	single-few
20. Striped parrotfish	51.6	few-many
21. Gray angelfish	51.2	single-few
22. Queen angelfish	50.1	single-few
23. Sharpnose puffer	49.6	few
24. Spotted goatfish	49.1	few
25. Banded butterflyfish	47.7	single-few

Islands of the Bahamas

• Common coral reef fishes of Andros Island
• Common coral reef fishes of Bimini
• Common coral reef fishes of Eleuthera
• Common coral reef fishes of New Providence Island
• Common coral reef fishes of San Salvador

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 the Bahamas. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_the_Bahamas