Spawning dynamics of coral reef fishes

Funding or Partner Organisation: University of Tasmania (Integrated Marine Observing System)

Start year: 2015

Summary: Effective management of fish stocks on coral reefs is vital in providing food security and maintaining key reef ecosystem services (such as grazing or bioerosion). Managing adult stocks requires an understanding of how and from where populations are replenished, including how dependent reproduction is on the availability of particular habitat. Across the tropical Indo-Pacific, species of rabbitfish (Siganidae) are essential providers of multiple ecosystem services, being a key source of dietary protein, an economically important component of fisheries landings, and a critical ecological group in terms of functional role (herbivores that control algal growth on reefs). Despite their importance, we know little of their reproductive ecology in the wild. Only in 6 of the 28 species has reproduction been documented, but it appears that rabbitfish undertake migrations to specific sites and reproduce at mass spawning events, making them highly vulnerable. A better understanding of their spawning behaviour and the dependence that rabbitfish have on particular spawning sites is needed to equip resource managers with data for appropriate fisheries management plans and effective marine protected area planning. This project will use acoustic telemetry to track the reproductive migrations undertaken by two model species of rabbitfish as well as monitoring individuals¿ use of particular sites over a reproductive season to determine spawning site fidelity for these two important foodfish.

FOR Codes: Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Conservation and Biodiversity, Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology, Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences, Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity, Conservation and biodiversity , Fresh, ground and surface water biodiversity