Reef Fish Communities Research Articles

Parental care reduces parasite-induced mortality in a coral reef fish

Settlement patterns of juvenile fish shape coral reef communities. During the recruitment process, predation rates are extremely high. However, the role that parental care plays in reducing mortality, especially by cryptic natural enemies such as parasites, remains largely unstudied. We investigated whether parental care in the spiny chromis damselfish ( Acanthochromis polyacanthus ) protects juveniles from parasite-induced mortality by gnathiid isopods ( Gnathia aureamaculosa ). Using laboratory experiments, we found that survival of recently hatched juveniles when exposed to gnathiids was higher when parents were present (77%) than when parents were absent (25%). Investigation of their faeces in the field and laboratory indicates that adults consume gnathiids. Together, our data suggest that parental care plays a key role in reducing parasite-induced mortality of juvenile spiny chromis via parental consumption of gnathiids. This highlights the overlooked role of parasites as a source of high mortality in juvenile coral reef fishes and the composition of coral reef fish communities.

Community structure and environmental drivers of offshore hard-bottom reef fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract Understanding patterns in community structure in large marine ecosystems is necessary for advancing community- and ecosystem-based approaches to marine fisheries management. We analyzed data from a large-scale, fishery-independent video survey to quantify the structure of reef fish communities on offshore hard-bottom reef habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM). A novel aspect of this work is that all species visualized on videos were identified and enumerated over a 13-year period, which allowed for a comprehensive analysis of fish community structure. We observed a total of 243 fish species from 54 families and 14 orders. Species richness and biodiversity varied considerably across the nGOM and were highest in regions that harbor extensive coral reef habitat (south Florida, Louisiana-Texas shelf). Multivariate analyses identified 12 species assemblages, with important fishery species and species of concern (i.e. IUCN-listed) occurring in the largest identified assemblages. One assemblage composed mostly of large-bodied fishery species accounted for 45% by number and 89% by weight of all fish observed. Species assemblages were most strongly associated with depth, temperature, and substrate composition, with weaker associations with the amount of attached algae and vertical relief, while species richness was positively correlated with bottom water temperature. In general, large-scale bathymetric and hydrographic factors (e.g. depth, temperature) were more important than local topographic structure and biogenic habitat in structuring reef fish communities at the spatial scales (i.e.1000 km) considered here. Our results advance ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management by providing a basis for incorporating multispecies spatial dynamics into the monitoring and assessment of hard-bottom reef fish communities in the nGOM.

Structure of Reef Fish Families (Butterflyfishes and Angelfishes) at Isolated Oceanic Reefs in the Indian Ocean: Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

There has been substantial research on the factors that structure reef fish assemblages, but this has mostly focused on nearshore or continental reefs. This study examines patterns of abundance and species composition for two iconic groups of coral reef fishes, angelfishes (family Pomacanthidae) and butterflyfishes (family Chaetodontidae) at two isolated, oceanic reefs in the Indian Ocean: Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Six explanatory variables were investigated to determine whether large-scale physical factors are more important than fine-scale biotic factors in structuring reef fish communities on oceanic islands. For angelfishes, depth was the factor that most explained patterns in abundance (explaining 46.5% of the variation), species richness (44.8%) and composition (15.3%), with both abundance and species richness being greater at 20 m than at 5 m. Differences in species composition were greater between depths than between islands. For butterflyfishes, variation in abundance and species richness was best explained by the difference in aspect or exposure among sites, though abundance and composition also differed significantly between Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Large-scale variation in the structure of these reef fish assemblages could not be explained based on differences in habitat diversity, or coral and algal cover. This study indicates that large-scale physical factors (island location, exposure, depth) are more important than fine-scale biotic factors in structuring reef fish assemblages on oceanic islands.

Habitat trumps biogeography in structuring coral reef fishes

AbstractAs one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, coral reefs have been the focus of numerous biogeographic analyses. With strong biodiversity gradients across the Indo-Pacific, coral reefs have shed light on the effects of evolutionary history, isolation, and human exploitation on local assemblages. However, there are also strong environmentally driven local gradients in faunal assemblages. We ask, does reef fish community composition and trait space vary to a greater extent across small scales (i.e. along habitat gradients) or across large scales (i.e. across geographic regions separated by up to 12,000 km)? Using a standardized survey method that explicitly includes habitats (i.e. the slope, crest, and flat), we surveyed a highly diverse family of reef fishes (Labridae) in nine regions across the Indo-Pacific, from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to French Polynesia. We demonstrate that small-scale habitat gradients represent a greater axis of variation, in both the taxonomic and trait composition of fish assemblages, than large-scale biogeographic gradients. Indeed, fish assemblages just 10 m apart, along a habitat gradient, appear to differ more than assemblages in the same habitats separated by over 12,000 km along the world’s largest biodiversity gradient. Essentially, fish assemblages cluster by habitat regardless of their biogeographic region, with habitat associations trumping biogeographic affiliations. This emphasizes the primacy of local environmental factors, such as hydrodynamics, in shaping the ecology of reef fishes. It also raises serious concerns over the use of combined datasets, where data from different habitats are used, without explicit recognition, in global-scale analyses.

Diversity, functional redundancy, and vulnerability of reef fish communities of the Saudi Arabian coast, in the northern Red Sea

In light of the current development of several giga-projects along the Saudi Red Sea coast, understanding the health status of coral reefs is paramount to developing baselines and management strategies to minimize the human impact on these ecosystems. Here, we present an assessment of the diversity, functional redundancy, and vulnerability for coral reef fish communities in the northern Red Sea. The focus area of our study falls within the marine jurisdiction of the NEOM giga-project. We performed fish surveys with three different methods aiming to cover a wide set of habitats and thus capture a comprehensive picture of the regional diversity: i) standardized belt transects, ii) roving diviersity surveys, and iii) collection of cryptobenthic fish. Our results showed a highly variable community composition along the ten surveyed sites highlighting Sindalah as an essential site for piscivore species, Al Muwaileh as an important site for herbivores, and Sanafir-Tiran as the most diverse site. Functional diversity analysis revealed similar levels of redundancy, over-redundancy, and vulnerability among sites. Functional richness, evenness, and divergence did not vary substantially between sites and, in general, indicated that the fish communities in the selected sites present mid to low levels of functional diversity. We further compare regional-scale and site-specific functional assessments. Notably, some of the species groups that are functionally redundant at the regional scale represented vulnerable functions at the site level. These results call to attention the need to create site-specific conservation strategies and not to solely rely on regional diviersity assessments as the basis for management decisions.

Coping with collapse: Functional robustness of coral-reef fish network to simulated cascade extinction.

Human activities and climate change have accelerated species losses and degradation of ecosystems to unprecedented levels. Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggest that extinction cascades contribute substantially to global species loss. The effects of extinction cascades can ripple across levels of ecological organization, causing not only the secondary loss of taxonomic diversity but also functional diversity erosion. Here, we take a step forward in coextinction analysis by estimating the functional robustness of reef fish communities to species loss. We built a tripartite network with nodes and links based on a model output predicting reef fish occupancy (113 species) as a function of coral and turf algae cover in Southwestern Atlantic reefs. This network comprised coral species, coral-associated fish (site occupancy directly related to coral cover), and co-occurring fish (occupancy indirectly related to coral cover). We used attack-tolerance curves and estimated network robustness (R) to quantify the cascading loss of reef fish taxonomic and functional diversity along three scenarios of coral species loss: degree centrality (removing first corals with more coral-associated fish), bleaching vulnerability and post-bleaching mortality (most vulnerable removed first), and random removal. Degree centrality produced the greatest losses (lowest R) in comparison with other scenarios. In this scenario, while functional diversity was robust to the direct loss of coral-associated fish (R = 0.85), the taxonomic diversity was not robust to coral loss (R = 0.54). Both taxonomic and functional diversity showed low robustness to indirect fish extinctions (R = 0.31 and R = 0.57, respectively). Projections of 100% coral species loss caused a reduction of 69% of the regional trait space area. The effects of coral loss in Southwestern Atlantic reefs went beyond the direct coral-fish relationships. Ever-growing human impacts on reef ecosystems can cause extinction cascades with detrimental consequences for fish assemblages that benefit from corals.

Study on the relationship between economic input growth in Marine protected areas and environmental governance in the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica: Based on reef fish assemblages

Reef fish communities under fishing pressure often experience reduced biomass, abundance, and altered size structure. The establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) can help mitigate these declines. However, the success of MPAs, especially in developing countries with financial and socioeconomic challenges, largely hinges on effective enforcement. This study utilized underwater visual surveys (UVS) and baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) to evaluate population density, size distribution, and biomass of both economically valuable (e.g., target and ornamental species) and ecologically important (e.g., small/large predators and herbivores) fish groups within and outside a no-take MPA on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.The results indicated that protective measures did not significantly affect the biomass of economically valuable fish species. However, there were notable differences in fish abundance and size distribution between no-take zones (where fishing is prohibited) and open-fishing zones. This suggests that, despite potential illegal fishing activities within the MPA, certain fish community components benefit from the protective measures.Specifically, herbivores and ornamental fish, which are often targeted by artisanal compressor fishing and the aquarium trade, exhibited higher biomass and abundance levels within the MPA. Additionally, significant shark species such as Galeocerdo cuvier, Carcharhinus leucas, and Carcharhinus limbatus were exclusively found within the MPA.The study also highlighted the crucial role of habitat quality, particularly high coral cover, in enhancing the biomass of ornamental fish.This research contributes to the growing body of evidence that MPAs, even with limited enforcement, consistently offer ecological benefits for reef fish communities

Hurricanes temporarily weaken human-ecosystem linkages in estuaries.

Intense disturbances such as hurricanes may drastically affect ecosystems, producing both acute and long-term changes along coastlines. By disrupting human activities (e.g., fishing), hurricanes can provide an opportunity to quantify the effects of these activities on coastal ecosystems. We performed predator-exclusion experiments on oyster reefs in 2016, one-year before a category-4 hurricane ("Harvey") and again in 2018 one-year post-hurricane where the storm made landfall. Additionally, we examined 8 years (2011-2018) of fisheries-independent data to gauge how fishing pressure and fish populations were affected by the storm in three locations that varied in storm impacts. In the month following Hurricane Harvey, fishing effort dropped by 90% in the area with wind and flooding damage, and predatory fish species commonly targeted by anglers were 300% more abundant than the year prior to the hurricane. The locations without damage to fishing infrastructure did not experience declines in fishing pressure or changes in fish abundance, regardless of flooding disturbance. Reef fish and invertebrate communities directly affected by the storm were significantly different after the hurricane and were ~ 30% more diverse. With low fishing pressure, sportfish CPUE were 1.7-6.9 × higher immediately after the hurricane. Intermediate consumers, such as crabs that prey on oysters, were 45% less abundant and 10% smaller. These results indicate that hurricanes can temporarily disrupt human-ecosystem linkages and reconstitute top-down control by sportfish in estuarine food webs. Disturbance events that interrupt or weaken those interactions may yield indirect ecological benefits and provide insights into the effects of human activities on food webs.

Seven decades of transformation: evaluating the dynamics of coral reef fish communities in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Seven decades of transformation: evaluating the dynamics of coral reef fish communities in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Out of shape: Ocean acidification simplifies coral reef architecture and reshuffles fish assemblages.

Climate change stressors are progressively simplifying biogenic habitats in the terrestrial and marine realms, and consequently altering the structure of associated species communities. Here, we used a volcanic CO2 seep in Papua New Guinea to test insitu if altered reef architecture due to ocean acidification reshuffles associated fish assemblages. We observed replacement of branching corals by massive corals at the seep, with simplified coral architectural complexity driving abundance declines between 60% and 86% for an assemblage of damselfishes associated with branching corals. An experimental test of habitat preference for a focal species indicated that acidification does not directly affect habitat selection behaviour, with changes in habitat structural complexity consequently appearing to be the stronger driver of assemblage reshuffling. Habitat health affected anti-predator behaviour, with P. moluccensis becoming less bold on dead branching corals relative to live branching corals, irrespective of ocean acidification. We conclude that coral reef fish assemblages are likely to be more sensitive to changes in habitat structure induced by increasing pCO2 than any direct effects on behaviour, indicating that changes in coral architecture and live cover may act as important mediators of reef fish community structures in a future ocean.

Implications of fisher perceptions on coral restoration in Tondol, northwestern Philippines

Increasing coral restoration efforts globally have been aimed at improving reef status and the ecosystem functions and services they provide, including enhancing reef fish communities and fisheries production on nearby reefs. However, empirical evidence showing the influence of coral restoration on fish stocks is limited. In Barangay Tondol, a small-scale fishing village in the northwestern Philippines, fisher knowledge and perception studies were completed through individual interviews to provide insights into the perceived impacts of local restoration efforts on coral reef conditions and fishery outputs. The influence of fishers' social demographics and fishery information to their held perceptions were also explored. Fishers’ responses showed a perceived decline in fish stocks over the last 5–10 years mainly attributed to overharvesting, and a slight improvement in coral reef condition due to a reduction in destructive fishing. Out of 53 fisher respondents, 72% were aware of coral restoration efforts in their area and held positive perceptions that theoretically, conducting coral restoration can improve their fish stocks and local reef conditions through the provision of habitat functions. Perceived actual effectiveness of the local efforts was also positive, but with a lower number of responses. Multiple hierarchical regression tests showed that, among social demographics, fishery information, and perceptions on fish stocks, perceived improvement in coral condition was associated with stronger support for coral restoration activities. These findings indicate that fishers perceive positive effects of coral restoration to local coral status and fisheries, and highlight the need for restoration practitioners to engage early on with key stakeholders to assess local fisheries status and local priorities to inform restoration strategies.

Thermal tolerance as a driver of reef fish community structure at the isolated tropical Mid-Atlantic Ridge Islands

Reef fish communities are shaped by historical and ecological factors, including abiotic and biotic mechanisms at different spatial scales, determining species composition, abundance and biomass. The oceanic islands in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (St. Peter and St. Paul's Archipelago - SPSPA, Ascension, and St. Helena), exhibiting differences in community structure along a 14-degree latitudinal and a 10 °C thermal gradient. We investigate the influence of sea surface temperature, area, age, isolation and phosphate on reef fish community structures. Reef fish trophic structure varies significantly across the islands, with planktivores and herbivore-detritivores showing the highest abundances in SPSPA and Ascension, while less abundant in St. Helena, aligning with the thermal gradient. Variations in reef fish community structures were predominantly influenced by thermal regimes, corroborating the expansion of species' thermal niche breadth at higher latitudes and lower temperatures. This study highlights that in addition to biogeographic factors, temperature is pivotal on shaping oceanic island reef fish community structure.

Recovery potential of fish and coral populations following ecological disturbance

AbstractThe health of coral reef benthic and fish communities is implicitly connected, yet typically studied and managed separately. By developing a coupled reef population model that connects coral populations and reef fish biomass through the habitat complexity that corals build and fish live among, we aim to address this gap by holistically quantifying ecological feedbacks and responses to ecological stressors. We explored the impacts of fishing effort in conjunction with three types of ecological disturbances as they propagated through a coral reef ecosystem: (1) a disturbance that disproportionately affected small, bio‐energetically vulnerable colonies, (2) a disturbance that predominantly affected large, mechanically vulnerable colonies, and (3) a disturbance that affected colonies of all sizes randomly. We found that joint coral and fish population recovery was fastest and most complete under events affecting small colonies, followed by recovery from disturbances affecting random sizes, and lastly large‐colony disturbances. These results suggest that the retention versus loss of large coral colonies with high reproductive potential critically influenced population recovery. Low fishing levels maintained fish and coral populations and allowed for recovery after disturbances, whereas high fishing levels prevented recovery due to greater fish‐dependent coral mortality. Finally, we tested various formulations of the relationship between coral size and habitat complexity (i.e., exponential, linear, logarithmic) that constrain fish carrying capacity. All formulations led to similar population projections in most disturbance scenarios, but there were exceptions where the timing and trajectory of recovery differed, such as faster and greater recovery potential when complexity is logarithmic with respect to coral size. These findings suggest that fishing and habitat complexity mediate the recovery of coral reef populations, emphasizing the importance of describing linkages between coral size distribution and reef habitat structure. Furthermore, our results highlight the utility of the coupled‐model framework for understanding and managing the impact of disturbances at ecosystem scales.

Impacts of stony coral tissue loss disease on the persistence of Caribbean cleaner gobies

Because they serve as the main architects of coral reefs, the distribution and abundance of stony coral species have major impacts on other associated community members. Thus, coral diseases can have significant cascading effects throughout the ecosystem. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is the most recent of many diseases documented to impact Caribbean stony corals. SCTLD is known to impact over 20 species of reef-building corals and can cause complete colony mortality of large corals in only one month. Among the coral species impacted are those occupied as cleaning stations by Caribbean cleaner gobies. This study examined the persistence of these gobies on living coral cleaning stations where SCTLD was most recently or not yet affected (emergent), recently established (epidemic), and well-established (endemic),. Timed surveys were conducted at nine reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands between October 2019 and March 2021. Study sites were surveyed both before and after the outbreak/establishment of SCTLD where possible. Monitoring sites were established at six reefs by tagging 25 live coral cleaning stations at each of two endemic and two epidemic sites and 50 cleaning stations at each of two emergent sites. Goby abundance at each site was monitored at least five times from March 2020 to April 2021. Timed surveys found cleaner goby abundance was 50% lower in the endemic zone compared to epidemic and emergent zones. Overall, goby abundance declined on tagged cleaning stations throughout the course of this study at all sites. However, overall goby density within monitored areas remained stable across most sites from the beginning to the end of the study. One emergent site experienced a two-fold increase in goby density and one epidemic site experienced a decline in goby density. This suggests that gobies are remaining at the site but may be abandoning live coral cleaning stations as the individual colonies are affected by SCTLD. Given the benefit cleaner gobies have on local coral reef fishes, changes in cleaning activity associated with coral disease have the potential to negatively impact Caribbean reef fish communities.

A quantitative assessment of the status of reef fish communities from a large-scale probability survey in southern Florida

Numerous reef fish monitoring programs worldwide produce the data necessary to describe the status and trends of coral reefs; however, quantitative description of status at ecosystem scales has been challenging. Our goal was to use southern Florida's coral reefs as the template to complete a holistic, ecosystem-scale evaluation of reef fish community status using large-scale diver surveys that sampled across a spatial gradient of human urbanization, exploitation, and fishery protection. Key aspects of the analysis were: (1) identification of a low human impact reference area as the basis for quantifying resource condition; (2) selection of indicator variables that helped discriminate two classes of impacts: habitat quality and fishing; (3) application of estimation methods that facilitated distinguishing anthropogenic impacts from inherent productivity of different habitats; and (4) use of a sustainability benchmark to gauge the resource condition of the reference area. The reference-centering analysis approach reduced reliance on qualitative judgements by an expert panel and produced results on a scale that was informative and could be easily interpreted by a variety of audiences. Our findings identified habitat quality issues in the most urbanized region, southeast Florida, and pervasive fishing issues throughout the ecosystem, including the remote Dry Tortugas region.

Interplay of management and environmental drivers shifts size structure of reef fish communities.

Countries are expanding marine protected area (MPA) networks to mitigate fisheries declines and support marine biodiversity. However, MPA impact evaluations typically assess total fish biomass. Here, we examine how fish biomass disaggregated by adult and juvenile life stages responds to environmental drivers, including sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and human footprint, and multiple management types at 139 reef sites in the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) region. We found that total fish biomass generally appears stable across the region from 2006 to 2018, with limited rebuilding of fish stocks in MPAs. However, the metric of total fish biomass masked changes in fish community structure, with lower adult than juvenile fish biomass at northern sites, and adult:juvenile ratios closer to 1:1 at southern sites. These shifts were associated with different responses of juvenile and adult fish to environmental drivers and management. Juvenile fish biomass increased at sites with high larval connectivity and coral cover, whereas adult fish biomass decreased at sites with greater human footprint and SST anomalies. Adult fish biomass decreased primarily in Honduran general use zones, which suggests insufficient protection for adult fish in the southern MAR. There was a north-south gradient in management and environmental drivers, with lower coverage of fully protected areas and higher SST anomalies and coastal development in the south that together may undermine the maintenance of adult fish biomass in the southern MAR. Accounting for the interplay between environmental drivers and management in the design of MPAs is critical for increasing fish biomass across life history stages.

High response diversity and conspecific density-dependence, not species interactions, drive dynamics of coral reef fish communities.

Species-to-species and species-to-environment interactions are key drivers of community dynamics. Disentangling these drivers in species-rich assemblages is challenging due to the high number of potentially interacting species (the 'curse of dimensionality'). We develop a process-based model that quantifies how intraspecific and interspecific interactions, and species' covarying responses to environmental fluctuations, jointly drive community dynamics. We fit the model to reef fish abundance time series from 41 reefs of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. We found that fluctuating relative abundances are driven by species' heterogenous responses to environmental fluctuations, whereas interspecific interactions are negligible. Species differences in long-term average abundances are driven by interspecific variation in the magnitudes of both conspecific density-dependence and density-independent growth rates. This study introduces a novel approach to overcoming the curse of dimensionality, which reveals highly individualistic dynamics in coral reef fish communities that imply a high level of niche structure.

Quantifying hurricane impacts on United States Virgin Islands reef fishes using a catchability invariant approach to compare uncalibrated survey indices

The United States Virgin Island's (USVI) coral reefs support many economically and ecologically important fish species. Located in the Caribbean Sea, they are subject to frequent severe weather disturbances, including two category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, in 2017. The overarching goal of this study was to identify reef fish community impacts following these extreme events using discontinuous survey indices. Long-term (2001–2021), in situ, fishery-independent survey data using two methods were standardized to the extent possible in two regions of the USVI, St. Thomas/St. John (STT/STJ) and St. Croix (STX). Comparable data were assessed, 73 species collected on hard- bottom habitat, to identify the number of these species with significant changes in density and/or mean length between 2-yr survey intervals over the historic baseline (2001–2015), disturbance (2017–2019), and postdisturbance (2019–2021) periods. The results varied by region: STT/STJ had no disturbance impact and STX had a significant disturbance impact. In STX, 20 species had significant changes in density in the disturbance period compared to an average of 9.7 (SD 3.8) species for the baseline period. The proportion of species with significant density increases and decreases were similar suggesting that overall disturbance impacts are nuanced. Mean length observations were less informative, likely due to survey method and sample size changes. However, in combination with density they provided useful insights into the possible causes of population change. The successful use of discontinuous survey indices to obtain meaningful biological insights has broader applications to ecosystem and fishery datasets with similar limitations.

Integrating the US Caribbean Reef Fish Visual Census into fishery stock assessments

The United States Caribbean Reef Fish Visual Census (RVC) is a fishery-independent survey of the coral reef fish community, comprised of hundreds of species, designed to provide quantitative information for data-poor fisheries to support regional stock assessments. The Caribbean RVC, implemented in 2014 as part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), uses a probabilistic stratified random sampling design capitalizing on the strong mean-variance relationship of population abundance dependent on hardbottom habitats and depths. Here we highlight RVC data for queen triggerfish in Puerto Rico, where survey precision improved from CVs of 20.6% in 2014 to 12.6% in 2021, which produced accurate and cost-effective estimates of key assessment metrics like size- structured relative population abundance and biomass. We estimated a relatively stable exploited-phase average population abundance for 2014–2021 at 2.3 million queen triggerfish with a biomass of 1246 metric tons. To support stock assessments using "statistical catch at age" models, we generated a 2001–2021 time series of several population metrics by a statistical conversion of spatially-restricted, pre- NCRMP data to the RVC frame. To cross-check assessment modeling, we combined 2014–2021 RVC results with life history demographics in an alternative length-based risk analysis (LBRA) model to evaluate stock sustainability consequences using two lifetime growth scenarios. LBRA models indicated low overfishing risks. We concluded that only a few quality fishery-independent surveys are needed to obtain understanding of stock sustainability status, and that RVC not only provides reliable data for single-species stock assessments, but also for design evaluation of marine protected areas and ecosystem-based fishery management.

Parasitism in reef fish communities: evaluating the roles of host traits, habitat use, and phylogeny on infection by Scaphanocephalus (Trematoda)

Parasitism in reef fish communities: evaluating the roles of host traits, habitat use, and phylogeny on infection by Scaphanocephalus (Trematoda)