Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Functional Composition of Chaetodon Butterflyfishes at a Peripheral and Extreme Coral Reef Location, the Persian Gulf

ORCID

0000-0002-6003-9324

ResearcherID

F-8807-2011

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Marine Pollution Bulletin

ISSN

0025-326X

Publication Date

7-30-2013

Keywords

Butterflyfishes, Coral reefs, Disturbance, Dietary specialisation, Habitat preferences, Scleractinian corals

Abstract

The functional composition of reef fish assemblages is highly conserved across large biogeographic areas, but it is unknown whether assembly rules hold at biogeographical and environmental extremes for coral reefs. This study examined the functional composition of butterflyfishes in the Persian Gulf, Musandam Peninsula, and Gulf of Oman. Only five species of butterflyfishes were recorded during this study, and mostly just in the Gulf of Oman. Unlike most locations in the Indo–Pacific where butterflyfish assemblages are dominated by obligate corallivores, the only obligate corallivore recorded, Chaetodon melapterus, was rare or absent at all locations. The most common and widespread species was Chaetodon nigropunctatus, which is shown to be a facultative corallivore. The diversity of butterflyfishes in the Persian Gulf is likely to have been constrained by its’ biogeographical history and isolation, but functional composition appears to be further affected by limited abundance of prey corals and harsh environmental conditions.

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.10.014

Volume

72

Issue

2

First Page

333

Last Page

341

Comments

©2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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