Abstract
Behaviours of Clark's anemonefish Amphiprion clarkii and the dusky anemonefish Amphiprion melanopus were studied in Vanuatu. Six anemones and their resident fish were observed for typical behaviours (hiding, watching, roaming, inter-, and intraspecific behaviour) with and without the presence of a snorkelling observer. Observer presence had significant but contrasting effects on hiding behaviour in A. clarkii and A. melanopus. Bolder anemonefish species may be able to outcompete other species in areas with high human presence.
Highlights
Observer presence has long been acknowledged as a bias-factor in reef fish behavioural studies (Pereira et al, 2016; Ross, 1978)
60 behaviour events were recorded for each anemonefish in both observer presence and absence
In examining the relationships among behaviours, Principal component analysis (PCA) during observer absence revealed that PC1 and PC2 explained 68.6% of the total variance, with strong component loadings for Roaming and Watching
Summary
Observer presence has long been acknowledged as a bias-factor in reef fish behavioural studies (Pereira et al, 2016; Ross, 1978). For each anemone we recorded depth (m), resident anemonefish species, the number of individuals in the anemone and fish size (cm total length) estimated by visual approximation by the same observer to obtain relative fish size. Presence and absence were recorded for a total of 21 fishes from six anemones (Appendix Table A1).
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