Diel differences in the seagrass fish assemblages of a Caribbean island in relation to adjacent habitat types

Abstract

The fish fauna of Thalassia testudinum (König) seagrass beds was studied at two sites in the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Bay (Guadeloupe, French West Indies). The first seagrass bed was located near a coral reef and the second was near coastal mangroves. Both habitats were sampled during day and night, using a purse-seine and a trap net. A total of 98 species belonging to 36 families were observed. Distance-based redundancy analyses revealed two site-specific assemblages of fishes. Diel assemblage shifts were more pronounced in the seagrass beds near coral reefs than in those near mangroves, due to the existence of nocturnal trophic incursions of coral reef fishes into seagrass beds. First-order carnivores dominated the trophic structure of the fish assemblages during both day and night. At night, Haemulidae, Holocentridae and Apogonidae took the place of Labridae, Chaetodontidae and Mullidae present by day near the reef. This switch did not occur near the coast where the exchanges between seagrass beds and mangrove appear to be less important than with the reef ecosystem. Thus, it appears that the adjacent seascape habitat setting affects the intensity in diel variability of the seagrass bed fish community.