Fish Recruitment to Reefs

This discussion topic submitted by Jacob Massoud ( jakemassoud@yahoo.com) at 7:40 pm on 4/17/00. Additions were last made on Sunday, August 18, 2002.

I would like to focus on fish recruitment to reefs. In this paper I will explore recruitment to both natural and artificial reefs. Because recruitment has an important role in fish survival and mortality I have chosen papers that address patterns of recruitment and the effects of predation. Fish densities often vary based on substrate, so recruitment can differ between artificial and natural reefs. Patterns of recruitment also vary both spatially and temporally. I will teach the class about these aspects of fish recruitment. I think this topic is important, because it plays an important role in the community dynamics of reef systems.

I. What Is Recruitment and Why Is It Important?
A Role in population structure
B Settlement and mortality
II. Temporal and Spatial Aspects of Recruitment to Reefs
A Variability in recruitment
B Habitat preferences
III. Differences in Recruitment for Artificial and Natural Reefs
A Coral reef fish
B Artificial enhancement of man-made reefs
C The effects of predation on recruitment
IV. Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beets J. (1989) Experimental evaluation of fish recruitment to combinations of fish aggregating devices and benthic artificial reefs. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 44: 973-983.

Connell, SD (1997) The relationship between large predatory fish and recruitment and mortality of juvenile coral reef-fish on artificial reefs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 209: 261-278.

Danner, EM, TC Wilson, and RE Schlotterbeck. (1994) Comparison of Rockfish recruitment of nearshore artificial and natural reefs off the coast of central California. Bulletin of Marine Science 55: 333-343.

Planes S, A Levefre, P Legendre, and R Galzin. (1993) Spatiotemporal variability in fish recruitment to a coral-reef (Moorea, French-Polynesia) Coral Reefs 12: 105-113.

Shima JS. (1999) Variability in relative importance of determinants of reef fish recruitment. Ecology Letters 2: 304-310.

Spanier E, M Tom, and S Pisanty. (1985) Enhancement of fish recruitment by artificial enrichment of man-made reefs in the southeastern Mediterranean. Bulletin of Marine Science 37: 356-363.

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It is 12:41:53 PM on Friday, May 16, 2008. Last Update: Sunday, August 18, 2002