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Cross Shelf Patterns in Habitat Selectivity of Hawkfish (Family

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Cross Shelf Patterns in Habitat Selectivity of Hawkfish (Family 1 Cross Shelf Patterns in Habitat Selectivity of Hawkfish (Family: Cirrhitidae) in the Red Sea; with a Special Case of Varying Color Morphs in Paracirrhites forsteri. Thesis by Veronica Chaidez In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Marine Science King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Approval Date: December 2014 2 The thesis of Veronica Chaidez is approved by the examination committee. Committee Chairperson: Dr. Michael Berumen Committee Member: Dr. Xabier Irigoien Committee Member: Dr. Stein Kaartvedt 3 © 2014 Veronica Chaidez All Rights Reserved 4 ABSTRACT Cross Shelf Patterns in Habitat Selectivity of Hawkfish (Family: Cirrhitidae) in the Red Sea; with a Special Case of Varying Color Morphs in Paracirrhites forsteri. Veronica Chaidez Not much is known about hawkfish worldwide including those that occur in the understudied Red Sea reef system. Hawkfishes are small reef predators that perch in ambush-ready positions and shelter within or on various substrates including live and dead coral. The aim of this study was to look at the distribution and abundance patterns of Red Sea hawkfishes across an inshore and offshore gradient and to investigate the use of benthic habitats. This study was conducted on three inshore, four midshore, and two offshore reefs with surveys at 8 meters and along the reef crest. In total, three species were documented: Paracirrhites forsteri, Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus, and Cirrhitus spilotoceps. We found clear distinctions between depth zones and between continental shelf positions. Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus only occurs at the reef slope and Cirrhitus spilotoceps is only found on reef crests. Paracirrhites forsteri was the most abundant species across all reefs and was found in four varying color morphs. Morph 1 showed the most evidence of being a generalist as it utilized the greatest number of substrates. All three species were more abundant on midshore and offshore reefs which have healthier, 5 intact coral communities. Coral cover is a good indicator of hawkfish abundance even when the species in question does not utilize live coral directly. Keywords: coral cover, habitat selectivity, hawkfish, Red Sea 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Drs. Michael Berumen and Darren Coker for their help in experimental design and data analysis. A special thank you to Dr. Darren Coker for joining me in the field and teaching me many tricks of the trade. Thank you also for teaching me the “whys” of the various techniques I used. Your insight and friendship were invaluable. A warm thank you goes to the entire team of CMOR, especially my faithful skippers that took me out every day to any reef that I needed. I could not have completed this project without you. Skukran. Thank you to Tane-Sinclair Taylor for the gorgeous close-ups of these beautiful fish. Thank you Maha Khalil for creating the map for my sampling sites. I’d like to thank the following people for joining me in the field: Alex Kattan, Alison Monroe, Amr Gusti, Darren Coker, Ioannis Georgakakis, Maddie Emms, Manalle Al- Salamah, May Roberts, Nora Kandler, Noura Ibrahim, Pedro De La Torre, Remy Gatins, Rodrigo Villalobos, Royale Hardenstine, Song He, and Tullia Terraneo. You were excellent buddies. Thank you to my roommate Marcela Herrera for being the domestic one and having been the one to brave IKEA. Thank you for being there for me until the very end of this thesis. Thank you Manalle for all the love. Thank you to my labmates for keeping me young with all the laughs. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS • Examination Committee Approvals Form………………….…………...…….p.2 • Copyright Page.…………………….………………….………………………p.3 • Abstract……………………………………....…………………...……..…….p.4 • Acknowledgments…………………………....……………………..…......….p.6 • Table of Contents……………………………..…………………….…....…....p.7 • List of Figures…………………………………………………………………p.8 • List of Tables.………………….....…………………………………………...p.9 • 1. Introduction…………..……………...…………………………..………....p.10 o 1.1 Habitat selectivity…………………………………………….......p.10 o 1.2 Habitat structure……………………………………….….…........p.12 o 1.3 Research questions………………………………………...…...…p.13 • 2. Methods……………………………………………………..…..….…........p.14 o 2.1 Study site………….………..……………………………..………p.14 o 2.2 Study species…...……………………………...……………….....p.14 o 2.3 Surveys of fish and microhabitat………………………….……....p.15 o 2.4 Data Analysis……………………………………………….…..…p.16 o 2.5 Microhabitat selection……………..……………………….……..p.16 • 3. Results………………………..…………………………………….........…p.18 o 3.1 Benthic profiles……………………...……………………............p.18 o 3.2 Abundance……………………. …………………………….……p.19 o 3.3 Habitat selectivity ………...……………….………………….….p.20 o 3.4 Paracirrhites forsteri: four color morphs ……………………..….p.21 • 4. Discussion………………………..………………………………………...p.23 • 5. Conclusions………………………………………………………………...p.28 • References………………………………..………………………………..….p.30 • Appendices………………………………………………………………..…..p.33 8 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Figure 1. Sampling sites near Thuwal of the Central Red Sea. Green circles indicate inshore reefs, red circles indicate midshore reefs, and white circles indicate offshore reefs. Six sites were sampled at each of the three shelf positions………………………………………………………………………..p.33 2. Figure 2. Various color morphs of the Red Sea freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri). a) Morph 1, b) Morph 2, c) Morph 3, d) Morph 4……………...……p.34 3. Figure 3. Substrate composition at three shelf positions: inshore, midshore, and offshore; and at two zones: crest and slope. a) inshore crest, b) inshore slope, c) midshore crest, d) midshore slope, e) offshore crest, f) offshore slope….…….p.35 4. Figure 4. Mean abundances of three species of hawkfish across two shelf positions and two zones. a) midshore crest, b) midshore slope, c) offshore crest, d) offshore slope Asterisks signify a significant difference between the two columns. …………………………………………………..………………………..…….p.36 5. Figure 5. Averages of the four P. forsteri color morphotypes at two shelf positions and two reef zones. a) midshore crest, b) midshore slope, c) offshore crest, d) offshore slope. Asteriks denote significant differences in abundances. In panel a), double asterisks mean morph 2 and 3 are not different from each other but both are different from morph 1……………………………………………………..p.36 9 LIST OF TABLES 1. Table 1. Percentage of live hard coral cover across shelf positions: inshore, midshore, and offshore and across reef zones: crest and slope…………….….p.37 2. Table 2. Selectivity index of three species of hawkfish across an inshore to offshore gradient for 14 categories of substrate. “=” denotes a category that was used in proportion to its availability, “+” means the category was used in greater proportion to its availability, “-“ means the category was used at a lower proportion than its availability, and “U” means the category went unused. “NA” means the substrate was not present. Subscripts represent Manly’s standardized selection ratio (B)……………………………………………………….…......p.38 3. Table 3. Selectivity index of the four color morphs of P. forsteri across an inshore to offshore gradient for 14 categories of substrate. “=” denotes a category that was used in proportion to its availability, “+” means the category was used in greater proportion to its availability, “-“ means the category was used at a lower proportion than its availability, and “U” means the category went unused. “NA” means the substrate was not present. Subscripts represent Manly’s standardized selection ratio (B)……………………………………………………..……….p.39 10 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Habitat Selectivity Organisms use their environment in a variety of ways and become adapted to their environment to different degrees. The degree of specialization for any organism lies on a continuum with generalists using a variety of habitats or resources, specialists using a narrower range of resources, and highly specialized organisms that optimize the use of one or two resources. This type of partitioning, allows for a host of diverse organisms and life strategies to co-exist and flourish in the same area (Morris 1996). The levels of biodiversity and speciation that we find in an ecosystem are functions of habitat selection strategies employed by members of the ecological community. Habitat selection expressed by species and populations gives us basic ecological knowledge of a system. The manner in which resources are partitioned among organisms has direct effects on population densities, species interactions, and the assemblage of ecological communities (Fretwell and Lucas 1970, Fretwell 1972, Rosenzweig 1974, Morris 2003). The various habitat selection strategies employed by organisms may also give us insight into their evolutionary trajectories (Morris 2003). Knowing the distribution patterns of a particular resource or habitat, allows us to better estimate abundance patterns of species that rely on them. For example, data on resource selection, informed management’s decision in Southcentral Wyoming to remove excess feral horses from the environment (Crane et al. 1997). Quantifying habitat and resource use has been a common practice in terrestrial management, especially for large mammals such as moose (Rounds 1981, Cederlund and Okarma 1988, Van Beest et al. 2010). In order to manage both moose populations and young pine seedlings which 11 moose like to eat, Van Beest et al. (2010) conducted a habitat use study to determine if artificial feeding sites made a difference in foraging behavior. There are many habitat selectivity studies that also look at seasonality
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