Fish Species Fish Common Name Family Name Chaetodon striatus Banded butterflyfish Chaetodontidae Caranx ruber Bar jack Carangidae Sphyraena barracuda Barracuda, great Sphyraenidae Stegastes leucostictus Beaugregory Pomacentridae Stegastes partitus Bicolor damselfish Pomacentridae Melichthys niger Black durgon Balistidae Mycteroperca bonaci Black grouper Serranidae Caranx lugubris Black jack Carangidae Chromis cyanea Blue chromis Pomacentridae Acanthurus coeruleus Blue tang Acanthuridae Thalassoma bifasciatum Bluehead Labridae Chromis multilineata Brown chromis Pomacentridae Kyphosus sectator/incisor Chub, Bermuda/Yellow Kyphosidae Halichoeres maculipinna Clown wrasse Labridae Stegastes variabilis Cocoa damselfish Pomacentridae Clepticus parrae Creole wrasse Labridae Paranthias furcifer Creole-fish Serranidae Caranx hippos Crevalle jack Carangidae Acanthurus chirurgus Doctorfish Acanthuridae Lutjanus jocu Dog snapper Lutjanidae Stegastes dorsopunicans Dusky damselfish Pomacentridae Pomacanthus paru French angelfish Pomacanthidae Cephalopholis cruentata Graysby Serranidae Lactophrys polygonius Honeycomb cowfish Ostraciidae Caranx latus Horse-eye jack Carangidae Stegastes diencaeus Longfin damselfish Pomacentridae Chaetodon aculeatus Longsnout butterflyfish Chaetodontidae Holocentrus rufus Longspine squirrelfish Holocentridae Dermatolepis inermis Marbled grouper Serranidae Gobiosoma oceanops Neon goby Gobiidae Acanthurus bahianus Ocean surgeonfish Acanthuridae Canthidermis sufflamen Ocean triggerfish Balistidae Cantherhines pullus Orangespotted filefish Monocanthidae Diodon hystrix Porcupinefish Diodontidae Scarus taeniopterus Princess parrotfish Scaridae Halichoeres radiatus Puddingwife Labridae Chromis scotti Purple reeffish Pomacentridae Holacanthus ciliaris Queen angelfish Pomacanthidae Scarus vetula Queen parrotfish Scaridae Epinephelus morio Red grouper Serranidae Epinephelus guttatus Red hind Serranidae Sparisoma aurofrenatum Redband parrotfish Scaridae Sparisoma rubripinne Redfin parrotfish Scaridae Ophioblennius atlanticus Redlip blenny Blenniidae Amblycirrhitus pinos Redspotted hawkfish Cirrhitidae Sparisoma chrysopterum Redtail parrotfish Scaridae Chaetodon sedentarius Reef butterflyfish Chaetodontidae
East and West Flower Garden Banks Fish Species List 2005 Fish Species Fish Common Name Family Name Holacanthus tricolor Rock beauty Pomacanthidae Epinephelus adscensionis Rock hind Serranidae Parablennius marmoreus Seaweed blenny Blenniidae Abudefduf saxatilis Sergeant major Pomacentridae Canthigaster rostrata Sharpnose puffer Tetraodontidae Atherinidae Silversides Atherinidae Lactophrys triqueter Smooth trunkfish Ostraciidae Bodianus rufus Spanish hogfish Labridae Chaetodon ocellatus Spotfin butterflyfish Chaetodontidae Bodianus pulchellus Spotfin hogfish Labridae Equetus punctatus Spotted drum Sciaenidae Gymnothorax moringa Spotted moray Muraenidae Holocentrus adscensionis Squirrelfish Holocentridae Sparisoma viride Stoplight parrotfish Scaridae Scarus iseri Striped parrotfish Scaridae Chromis insolata Sunshinefish Pomacentridae Stegastes planifrons Threespot damselfish Pomacentridae Mycteroperca tigris Tiger grouper Serranidae Cantherhines macrocerus Whitespotted filefish Monocanthidae Liopropoma eukrines Wrasse bass Serranidae Mulloidichthys martinicus Yellow goatfish Mullidae Mycteroperca venenosa Yellowfin grouper Serranidae Halichoeres garnoti Yellowhead wrasse Labridae Mycteroperca interstitialis Yellowmouth grouper Serranidae Microspathodon chrysurus Yellowtail damselfish Pomacentridae
Resource Description: NODC Accession Number 0012632
FISH SURVEYS - Visual reef fish surveys were conducted on both East and West Banks. Size frequency distributions for two trophic guilds, herbivores and carnivores, were calculated as the proportion of the total number of herbivores or carnivores and represented as a percentage of individuals in the guild falling within different size categories (0-5 cm, 6-10 cm, 11-20 cm, 21-30 cm, 31-40 cm, and greater than 40 cm), based on average fish lengths recorded during the surveys. Parrotfishes (Scaridae), surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), and yellowtail damselfish (Microspathodon chrysurus) comprised the herbivore guild, while snappers (Lutjanidae) and select groupers (Serranidae) comprised the demersal carnivore guild. The select groupers of the carnivore guild included yellowmouth grouper (Mycteroperca interstitialis), tiger grouper (M. tigris), graysby (Epinephelus cruentatus), and coney (E. fluvus) (Claro and Cantelar Ramos 2003; Pattengill- Semmens and Gittings 2003).
INVERTEBRATES - The sea urchin Diadema antillarum and the spiny lobster Panulirus argus were identified and surveyed at night, at least 1.5 hours after sundown.
TRANSECT ANALYSES: Each transect was treated as a replicate at the scale of the study site, yielding an estimate of coral cover and the cover of other benthic categories. Percent covers were calculated for each transect from the resulting set of 500 points. Data were collected on the point-counts of each coral species; sponges as a group; macroalgae to species; turf (greater than 3 mm), fine turf, crustose coralline algae and bare rock as a single category, CTB; and sand and other inanimate categories of substrate. Graphs were produced to allow the comparison of each reef in the average percent cover of major substrate types, coral species, coral functional types and algal functional types. Previous examination of means and variances, using different numbers of random dots, suggested that 500 dots per transect provide accurate and precise estimates of the coverage of benthic components, regardless of the length of the transects (Aronson et al. 1994; Carleton and Done 1995). Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) were performed to test the null hypothesis that the two reefs did not differ in each type of univariate substratum cover. After tests for normality and homogeneity ANOVAs were calculated for each substratum variable with the statistical software Systat 5.0., only the data on macroalgae had to be transformed, using the arcsine transformation. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to compare how the two banks differed in coral species composition using the software package PRIMER 5.0.
To place the data on coral cover in a regional context, we analyzed the species-specific coral cover data using multidimensional scaling (MDS). We pooled the species-specific point-count data for hard corals from the 14 transects from each survey at a site in one
Monitoring cruises were conducted aboard the M.V. Fling in October 2002, and April and August 2003. The general locations of the study sites are marked by permanent mooring buoys: FGBNMS permanent mooring number 2 at the East Bank and mooring number 5 at the West Bank. Subsurface buoys were installed at the corners of the 100m x 100m study sites at each bank to facilitate underwater relocation. Establishment of the perimeter and crosshairs subdivided each study site into four quadrants. To estimate the areal coverage of benthic components, fourteen, 10-m long transect tapes were randomly positioned at each study site. Coverage was estimated from these transects in three ways: still photography, videography, and visual assessment in the field. The linear-point intercept (LPI) method was used as well, to ascertain whether data recorded directly on the reef was different than data derived from either of the photographic methods. Four coral cores were extracted from Montastraea faveolata colonies at each bank in order to determine annual growth rates and any possible indicators of past coral bleaching events or other stressors. Diploria strigosa is the second largest contributor to coral cover at the FGB. For this reason D. strigosa lateral growth margins were monitored and photographed to detect changes, either as retreat or growth of margins, from year to year. Repetitive 8m2 quadrats were photographed and analyzed using random dot analysis (percent cover of species and coral condition) and planimetry (measure growth or loss of tissue over time) in order to monitor changes in coral reef community structure. Perimeter lines were videotaped each year to document change at known locations along the perimeter and within the study site. A general sense of coral condition and fish populations were obtained and compared from year to year. Physical and chemical characteristics of the seawater overlying the reef caps at the FGB were assessed by monitoring temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and content in chlorophyll a, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, dissolved organic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, and trace metals. These water quality parameters were selected to characterize the environmental background in which the FGB coral reef resources exist. Surveys of fish assemblages were conducted at each bank in order to determine relative abundance and diversity of species. Surveys of sea urchins and lobsters were performed at night to determine abundance and distribution of populations.
As repetitive quadrat and lateral growth (Diploria strigosa) stations were missing markers, displaced, or otherwise degraded in 2002, a site rehabilitation cruise was completed in April 2003. The goal of this cruise was to reestablish the initial sample size of forty repetitive quadrat stations and sixty lateral growth stations on the East and West Banks. A new numbering system was established and old stations were refurbished with new pins and tags, while a small number of new stations were established at each bank. Since the majority of stations were refurbished, the long-term dataset should not be affected for either the repetitive quadrat or lateral growth stations.
The video frames covered a 40-cm wide swath along each of the 10-m transects, for a total area of 4 m2 per transect, or 56 m2 videotaped per site per year. Each video frame was 40 x 27 cm, or 1080 cm2. These dimensions were smaller than those of the still photographs. The reason for the difference is that the videographic technique is designed to enable investigators to identify corals and many other sessile invertebrates to species down to a colony size of approximately 3 cm. This level of precision is not currently possible using video frames that record larger areas of the substratum. Data from the digital videotapes were collected and analyzed according to the Murdoch Automated Video Analysis method, as follows. A set of 42 video frames was captured from each video transect using a Macintosh PowerBook G4 with the software Adobe Photoshop version 6.02 and the PhotoDV image capture plug-in software produced by Radius. The time taken to film each transect was measured and divided into 42 equal time divisions and rounded down to the nearest 1/60th second time interval. Once the software captured each set of frames for each transect, a series of digital filters was applied to each image to enhance image quality. Substrate cover was assessed from the 20 evenly numbered, non-overlapping frames from the set of 42 images. Odd-numbered frames were intentionally captured so as to overlap even-numbered frames. Odd frames were only used to allow the researcher to obtain an alternate view of the area around objects in the analyzed frames when objects were obstructed or unclear in the even frames. Otherwise, oddnumbered frames were not used in the analysis. Unused odd frames were deleted from the digital image set after analysis.
After image capture and enhancement, the image frames from each site had an image of a randomly placed set of 25 dots added as a separate layer. In the 2002 analysis the dot images added to the captured video frames were selected at random from a previously produced batch of 100 random-dot images. A program developed by Murdoch automatically carried out the process of randomly selecting each image of random dots and placing it on each frame of the entire data-set for each reef site. In 2003, unique random-dot images were generated and pasted automatically to each video frame after capture using a new program. After random-dot placement the image files from each transect were visually assessed and the data entered into project-specific Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.