Remote marine protected area reveals unusual social behaviour in Chaetodon trifascialis
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Author(s)
Cavin, J.
Payet, S.
Coker, D. J.
Berumen, M. L.
Braun, Camrin Donald
Date Issued
June 2016
Journal
Marine Biodiversity
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Citation
Coker, D. J., et al. “Remote Marine Protected Area Reveals Unusual Social Behaviour in Chaetodon Trifascialis.” Marine Biodiversity, vol. 48, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 155–56.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in the Republic of Kiribati is one of the largest marine protected areas in the world (408,250 km[superscript 2]). These reefs are extremely remote (Fig. 1a) and, therefore, escape many anthropogenic impacts. While snorkelling in the shallow lagoon at Kanton Island (2°47′25″S 171°42′48″W) in September 2015, we came upon unusually high cover (∼100 %) of tabular Acropora (A. hyacinthus and/or A. cytherea) (Fig. 1b) and strikingly high numbers of Chaetodon trifascialis. Up to 25 individuals were observed coexisting within a relatively small area of ∼4 m[superscript 2] (Fig. 1c). Moreover, there were additional individuals present under the coral colonies out of view. Based on size, all individuals within the group were adults or sub-adult and clearly displayed overlapping ranges with minimal conspecific aggression.
MIT Department
Joint Program in Oceanography
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0531-0
