26 - Geomorphology of Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations in Belize and the Cayman Islands (Caribbean)

Abstract

Caye Glory and Gladden Spit in Belize, and Grand Cayman East (GCE) and Little Cayman West (LCW) in the Cayman Islands, have a common geomorphologic signature and all harbor important breeding grounds for commercially important reef fishes. Most commercially important reef fishes, including many species of grouper and snapper, travel relatively long distances over the course of days or weeks to aggregate and spawn at very specific times and in very specific places. Locations of known sites were compiled using published literature and new field surveys and indicate commonality in the underlying geomorphology and species seasonality of reef fish spawning aggregation (FSA) sites throughout the wider Caribbean. Commercially important reef fish such as grouper and snapper use specific geomorphologic locations as spawning grounds throughout the wider Caribbean. In the Cayman Islands and Belize, fish choose shelf-edge reef promontories for spawning, and share these areas with other species. These multispecies spawning aggregation sites are generally located near the inflection points of convex-shaped reefs, in 20–40 m water depth, adjacent to sharp shelf edges where water depth drops to several hundred meters. Reef geomorphology may be the key determinant for the selection of reef fish breeding habitat. This chapter presents the three-dimensional structure of four representative spawning aggregation sites in the Cayman Islands and Belize.