Labridae (wrasses) showcases a wide range of morphological variations, including diverse shapes, as well as a spectrum of ecological and behavioural characteristics. This study compared intra- and ...interspecific variation in three congeneric Symphodus species based on 19 morphometric characters associated with external morphology. Morphometric characters were commonly summed as the percentage of total length (TL%). The principal component analysis showed a clear separation of S. roissali from the other two Labridae species. The morphological distinction between species was statistically significant for all variables. While post-orbital length, anal fin length, caudal fin length and soft dorsal fin length are the hallmarks for Labridae species examined in this study, care should be taken when using other characters. Especially S. cinereus and S. ocellatus show similarities in many characters. S. roissali is distinguished from the other two species by its larger head and fin lengths (dorsal, anal, and pectoral). Intraspecific sexual dimorphism was significant for eight variables in the S. cinereus. No significant intraspecies morphological differences by sexes were observed for S. roissali and S. ocellatus species. Sex determination for these two species should be based on macroscopic examination of their gonads rather than external morphology.
Parrotfishes (Labridae, Scarinae) comprise a large marine fish group of difficult identification, particularly during juvenile phase when the typical morphology and coloration of adults are absent. ...Therefore, the goal of this study was to test cytogenetic markers and DNA barcoding in the identification of bucktooth parrtotfish Sparisoma radians from the northeastern coast of Brazil. Sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) confirmed all studied samples as S. radians, and all showed high similarity (99-100%) with Caribbean populations. The karyotype of this species was divergent from most marine Perciformes, being composed of 2n = 46 chromosomes. These consisted of a large number of metacentric and submetacentric pairs with small amounts of heterochromatin and GC-rich single nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) not syntenic to 5S rDNA clusters. These are the first data about DNA barcoding in parrotfish from the Brazilian province and the first refined chromosomal analysis in Scarinae, providing useful data to a reliable genetic identification of S. radians.
The Mexican hogfish (Osteichthyes: Labridae, Bodianus diplotaenia Gill, 1862) is widely distributed throughout the tropical eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to northern Peru, including all ...oceanic islands. Artisanal fishers occasionally capture it today and its remains are recovered at pre‐Columbian dwelling sites along the Pacific Coast of America. This paper addresses the advantages of using allometry to estimate size ranges of Mexican hogfish in pre‐Hispanic archeological samples from two ancient settlements in the Pearl Island archipelago of Panama: (1) Playa Don Bernardo (PdB), a preceramic site (6.2–5.6 kya), and (2) Bayoneta Island (BY‐10), a ceramic site (~1 kya). For creating the allometric model, a modern collection composed of 39 individuals covering a wide range of sizes and weights was used. All individuals have complete information about their total length (TL) and standard length (SL), which were recorded in millimeters (mm), and their total fresh weight (W) in grams (g). The TL of the sample ranged between 265 and 750 mm, and the SL between 210 and 487 mm. The W ranged between 273 and 3450 g. The most frequent bones (11) and otoliths were selected and 29 measurements were taken. The total length–weight relationship was W = 2E−05 TL3.0857 with R2 = 0.984. In general, it was observed that the relationships between the TL and the bone measurements had a strong correlation (R2 > 0.95). At PdB, the mean reconstructed length was 289.6 mm (TL), and at BY‐10, it was 283.6 mm (TL). The study of the archeological samples of B. diplotaenia could be used as a point of reference in modern ecological studies and fisheries management particularly in the Pearl Island archipelago.
Context
In heterogeneous landscapes, local patterns of community structure are a product of the habitat size and condition within a patch interacting with adjacent habitat patches of varying ...composition and quantity. While evidence for local versus landscape factors have been found in terrestrial biomes, support for such multi-scale effects shaping marine ecological communities is equivocal.
Objectives
We investigated whether within-patch habitat condition can override seascape context to explain the community structure of macroalgae-associated reef fishes across a tropical seascape.
Methods
We mapped the distribution and abundance of a diverse family of reef fishes (Labridae) occupying macroalgae meadows within a tropical reef ecosystem, and using best-subsets model selection, investigated the potential for habitat structural connectivity and/or local habitat quality for predicting variations in fish community structure across the seascape.
Results
Local habitat quality (canopy structure, hard habitat complexity) and area of coral-dominated habitat within 500 m of a macroalgal meadow provided the best predictors of fish community structure. However, the specific importance of a given predictor varied with fish life history stage and functional trophic group. Interestingly, macroalgae meadow area was among the least important predictors.
Conclusions
Given the complex interplay between local habitat quality and spatial context effects on fish biodiversity, our study reveals the multi-scale predictors that should be used in spatial conservation and management approaches for tropical fish diversity. Moreover, our findings question the ubiquity of habitat area effects in patchy landscapes, and cautions against a sole reliance on habitat quantity in spatial management.
This study examines the shape of scales from eleven fish species belonging to four fish families to infer whether the family, species and the geographic origin of fishes could be determined using ...scale shape. Site differentiation was analyzed only for the Cyprinidae since from the five species of this family three occurred in New Zealand and two in Turkey. Morphometric analysis was used because it allows standard multivariate analyses while preserving information about scale shape. Generalized Procrustes Analysis was used to analyse the data on scale shape. Principal components scores were submitted to canonical discriminant analysis to determine the efficacy of discrimination by families, species and geographic variants. The significance of classifications was assessed by MANOVA. MANOVA showed differences in the scale shape for the geographic location as well as by families and species. Families, species and geographic variants explained 91.7%, 82.4% and 95.8%, of the variation respectively. Each geographic location was correctly classified in 92.9% for Turkish and 98.4% New Zealand specimens. Fish scale shape was less effective in discriminating species from distantly related members, but better when the discrimination was among fish families, and best between fish scales for the same family but different body shapes.
Asriyana A, Irawati N, Halili H. 2020. Length-weight relationships and ponderal index of three reef fish (Teleostei: Labridae) off the Tanjung Tiram coast, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. ...Biodiversitas 21: 1279-1286. Parameters of length-weight relationship and ponderal index were estimated for first time for three reef fish (Labridae), Cheilinus trilobatus, Cheilinus chlorourus, and Choerodon anchorago, off the Tanjung Tiram coast, Indonesia. A total of 292 specimens (C. trilobatus 146 specimens; C. chlorourus 100 specimens; C. anchorago 46 specimens) were collected monthly in experimental gillnets in coral reefs and seagrass beds from January to June 2018. The length-weight relationship and ponderal index were calculated for each species. C. trilobatus showed total length and weight of 9.0-17.2 cm and 12.33-78.79 g, respectively, while C. chlorourus was 8.5-17.5 cm and 10.41-100.21 g, and C. anchorago 9.0-27.0 cm and 18.51-414.00 g. C. trilobatus showed negative allometric growth, while C. chlorourus and C. anchorago had isometric growth. The length-weight relationship of C. trilobatus followed the linear equation of W=0.10TL2.35, while C. chlorourus and C. anchorago fit to W=0.03TL2.83; W=0.03TL2.91 respectively. The highest ponderal index occurred in May for C. trilobatus and in June for C. chlorourus and C. anchorago indicating a peak of the spawning season. The study results could be used as baseline information for future fisheries management of the area.
We describe how the graphic tuskfish Choerodon graphicus in New Caledonia uses rocks and coral heads as anvils to break open bivalves to obtain food. Video revealed that C. graphicus can make as many ...as 28 strikes on two anvils over 6 min in a single event. This example of tool use in fishes extends the behaviour taxonomically and geographically and supports the hypothesis that tool use may be widespread in wrasses, particularly those in the Choerodon genus.
Abstract
Inshore fisheries are an important source of employment and income across Europe. However, their sustainability and management efficacy are relatively understudied, particularly in a ...multispecies context. Management of these data-limited fisheries can be informed by assessments of standardized catch and landings per unit effort (CPUE and LPUE) data from fishery-dependent surveys. We demonstrate the utility of this approach in the first robust assessment of the sustainability and management of a multispecies inshore fishery for live wrasse (Labridae) in southern England. Our findings have wider ramifications for assessment and management of inshore fisheries, including international live wrasse fisheries, many of which are intensely exploited but have less stringent management than the fishery studied here. Using generalized linear models, we identified ecologically relevant drivers of variation in CPUE and LPUE, alongside interspecific variation in responses to fishing pressure during 2017–2019. We also highlight robust evidence of declines in the primary target species, a protogynous hermaphrodite, that are suggestive of fishery impacts driven by management-enabled selective removal of mature females. We demonstrate the need to consider ecologically similar species separately for management purposes, and account for ecogeographical variables in assessments; a failure to do so risks erroneous conclusions regarding inshore fisheries’ sustainability.
Cleaning organisms play a fundamental ecological role by removing ectoparasites and infected tissue from client surfaces. We used the well-studied cleaning mutualisms involving the cleaner wrasse, ...Labroides dimidiatus, to test how client cognition is affected by ectoparasites and whether these effects are mitigated by cleaners. Ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis) collected from experimental reef patches without cleaner wrasse performed worse in a visual discrimination test than conspecifics from patches with cleaners. Endoparasite abundance also negatively influenced success in this test. Visual discrimination performance was also impaired in damselfish experimentally infected with gnathiid (Crustacea: Isopoda) ectoparasites. Neither cleaner absence nor gnathiid infection affected performance in spatial recognition or reversal learning tests. Injection with immune-stimulating lipopolysaccharide did not affect visual discrimination performance relative to saline-injected controls, suggesting that cognitive impairments are not due to an innate immune response. Our results highlight the complex, indirect role of cleaning organisms in promoting the health of their clients via ectoparasite removal and emphasize the negative impact of parasites on host's cognitive abilities.
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