1. Tropical rhodolith beds are a major and belittled reef fish habitat
- Author
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Matheus O. Freitas, Otto Bismarck Fazzano Gadig, Alex Cardoso Bastos, Lélis A. Carlos-Júnior, Felipe V. Ribeiro, Rodrigo L. Moura, Fernanda A. Rolim, Maria Luiza Abieri, Guilherme H. Pereira-Filho, Carolina D. Teixeira, Pamela M. Chiroque-Solano, Guilherme M. Castro, Paulo S. Salomon, Fabio S. Motta, Juliana T. Gonçalves, Leonardo Mitrano Neves, Fabiana Cézar Félix-Hackradt, Nicole C. Fernandes, Carlos Werner Hackradt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Univ Fed Rural Rio de Janeiro, Univ Fed Sul Bahia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), and Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Coral reef fish ,Science ,Biodiversity ,Rhodolith ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,Animals ,Community ecology ,Biomass ,Herbivory ,Atlantic Ocean ,Reef ,Ecosystem ,Tropical Climate ,Multidisciplinary ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Conservation biology ,Coral Reefs ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Fishes ,biology.organism_classification ,Biooceanography ,Scuba diving ,Ocean sciences ,Geography ,Habitat ,Benthic zone ,Rhodophyta ,Medicine ,Species richness ,Brazil - Abstract
Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T12:38:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-12 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundacao RENOVA Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) FAPES Instituto Linha D'Agua Understanding habitat-level variation in community structure provides an informed basis for natural resources' management. Reef fishes are a major component of tropical marine biodiversity, but their abundance and distribution are poorly assessed beyond conventional SCUBA diving depths. Based on a baited-video survey of fish assemblages in Southwestern Atlantic's most biodiverse region we show that species composition responded mainly to the two major hard-bottom megahabitats (reefs and rhodolith beds) and to the amount of light reaching the bottom. Both megahabitats encompassed typical reef fish assemblages but, unexpectedly, richness in rhodolith beds and reefs was equivalent. The dissimilar fish biomass and trophic structure in reefs and rhodolith beds indicates that these systems function based on contrasting energy pathways, such as the much lower herbivory recorded in the latter. Rhodolith beds, the dominant benthic megahabitat in the tropical Southwestern Atlantic shelf, play an underrated role as fish habitats, and it is critical that they are considered in conservation planning. Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Biol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, SAGE COPPE, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Univ Fed Rural Rio de Janeiro, Lab Ecol Aquat & Educ Ambiental, Tres Rios, RJ, Brazil Univ Fed Sul Bahia, Lab Ecol & Conservacao Marinha, Porto Seguro, BA, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Lab Pesquisa Elasmobranquios, Sao Vicente, SP, Brazil Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Mar, Lab Ecol & Conservacao Marinha, Santos, SP, Brazil Univ Fed Espirito Santo, Vitoria, ES, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Lab Pesquisa Elasmobranquios, Sao Vicente, SP, Brazil
- Published
- 2021