Common coral reef fishes of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Biodiversity (main)

Published: June 15, 2014, 11:04 pm

Topics:

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

Introduction Blue chromis—the reef fish with the highest mean adundance in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The Turks and Caicos Islands (Common coral reef fishes of the Turks and Caicos Islands) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the West Indies, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, located southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas. Over370 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

25 most common species in Turks and Caicos Islands

Blue tang—the most frequently observed reef fish in the Turks and Caicos Islands Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of3486REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of3915 hours and3 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	88.4	few-many
2. Foureye butterflyfish	87.5	few
3. Blue chromis	86.6	many-abundant
4. Bluehead	86.3	many
5. Stoplight parrotfish	85.4	few-many
6. Fairy basslet	85.2	many
7. Bicolor damselfish	81.4	few-many
8. Yellowtail snapper	80.7	many
9. Black durgon	74.1	few-many
10. Bar jack	73.5	few-many
11. Rock bauty	72.7	few
12. French grunt	71.6	few
13. Nassau grouper	69.6	single-few
14. Princess parrotfish	68.4	few-many
15. Coney	67.7	few
16. Bluestriped grung	66.7	few
17. Yellowhead wrasse	66.5	few-many
18. Trumpetfish	63.1	single-few
19. Banded butterflyfish	63.8	few
20.Schoolmaster	61.4	few
21. Great barracuda	60.4	single-few
22. Yellow goatfish	60.4	few-many
23. Longspine squirrelfish	59.1	few
24. Reband parrotfish	58.9	few
25. Ocean surgeonfish	58.2	few

Islands of Turks and Caicos Islands

• Common coral reef fishes of French Cay
• Common coral reef fishes of Grand Turk
• Common coral reef fishes of Providenciales
• Common coral reef fishes of Salt Cay
• Common coral reef fishes of West Caicos

References and Further Reading

• Reef Environmental Education Foundation
• 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 Turks and Caicos Islands. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Common_coral_reef_fishes_of_the_Turks_and_Caicos_Islands