Recruitment of fishes on coral reefs: a biogeographic comparison

Project Member(s): Booth, D.

Start year: 2002

Summary: Settlement (arrival by larvae in adult habitat) may largely determine subsequent recruitment and population size in marine fishes, but little is known of events at settlement, and how these vary over large scales. We will investigate the interaction of settler physiological condition with post-settlement predation and resident aggression in affecting early survival and growth of coral reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Atlantic/Caribbean. This will be the first inter-regional study of recruitment processes in coral reef fishes and outcomes will include improved prediction of reef fish population dynamics and insights into coral reef management and conservation.

Keywords: Fish condition; Larval settlement; Coral-reef fish; Predation; Growth; Migration

FOR Codes: Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Ecosystem Studies and Stock Assessment, Biological sciences, Fish not elsewhere classified, Aquatic Ecosystem Studies and Stock Assessment, Aquaculture and fisheries stock assessment

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.