Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Coexistence of coral reef fishes — a lottery for living space

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Synopsis

Data are summarised from studies of two reef fish communities — pomacentrids territorial on rubble patches, and fishes resident in small isolated colonies of coral. In each case there is evidence that availability of living sites limits numbers of fishes, and that similar species of fish use the same kinds of spaces. Priority of arrival as recruits, rather than subtle differences in requirements or competitive abilities of adults, appears to determine which species holds each site. Faced with a limited and patchy supply of living space, most reef fishes are sedentary as adults, and produce frequent clutches of pelagic larvae over extended breeding seasons In this way they maximise their chances of getting offspring into suitable living sites as such sites appear. It is argued that by adopting this strategy, reef fishes are preadapted for forming inter-specific lotteries for living space if several species with similar requirements occur together. Such lotteries among similar species may be a feature common to many reef fish communities, and may explain the typically high within-site diversity found in them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References cited

  • Allen, G. R. 1972. The Anemonefishes. Their classification and biology. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey, 288 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, G. R. 1975. Damselfishes of the south seas. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey, U.S.A. 240 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choat, J. H. 1969. Studies on labroid fishes. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Queensland, Australia. 433 pp.

  • Colwell, R. K. & D. J. Futuyma. 1971. On the measurement of niche breadth and overlap. Ecology 52: 567–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cushing, D. H. 1973. Dependence of recruitment on parent stock. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 1965–1976.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P. R. 1975. The population biology of coral reef fishes. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 6: 211–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiedler, K. 1964. Verhaltensstudien an Lippfischen der Gattung Crenilabrus (Labridae; Perciformes). Z. Tierpsych. 21: 521–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishelson, L. 1970. Behaviour and ecology of a population of Abudefduf saxatilis (Pomacentridae, Teleostei) at Eilat (Red Sea). Anim. Behav. 18: 225–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, D. F. & R. J. Miller. 1972. The establishment of dominance relationships in the blue gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus (Pallas). Behaviour 42: 8–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goeden, G. B. 1974. Aspects of the biology and ecology of the coral trout. Plectropomus leopardus (Lacépède) (Serranidae) at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef. Ph. D dissertation. University of Queensland, Australia. 352 pp.

  • Goldman, B. & F. H. Talbot. 1976. Aspects of the ecology of coral reef fishes. pp. 125–154. In: O. A. Jones & R. Endean (eds.), Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs. Vol. 3, Biology 2. Academic Press, New York.

  • Keenleyside, M. H. A. 1972. The behaviour of Abudefduf zonatus (Pisces: Pomacentridae) at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef. Anim. Behav. 20: 763–775.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leis, J. M. & J. M. Miller. 1976. Offshore distributional patterns of Hawaiian fish larvae. Mar. Biol. 36: 359–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, S. A. 1974. Dispersion and population interactions. Amer. Natur. 108: 207–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, S. A. & R. T. Paine. 1974. Disturbance, patch formation, and community structure. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71: 2744–2747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Low, R. M. 1971. Interspecific territoriality in a pomacentrid reef fish, Pomacentrus flavicauda Whitley. Ecology 52: 648–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckhurst, B. E. & K. Luckhurst. 1977. Recruitment patterns of coral reef fishes on the fringing reef of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Can. J. Zool. 55: 681–703.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, R. H. 1972. Geographical Ecology. Patterns in the distribution of species. Harper & Row, New York. 269 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNab, B. K. 1963. Bioenergetics and the determination of home range size. Amer. Natur. 97: 133–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munro, J. L., V. C. Grant, R. Thompson & P. H. Reeson. 1973. The spawning seasons of Caribbean reef fishes. J. Fish. Biol. 5: 69–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrberg, A. A. 1972. Ethology of the bicolor damselfish, Eupomacentrus partitus (Pisces: Pomacentridae), a comparative analysis of laboratory and field behaviour. Anim. Behav. Monogr. 5: 189–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nursall, J. R. 1974. Some territorial behavioural attributes of the surgeonfish Acanthurus lineatus at Heron Island, Queensland, Australia. Copeia 1974: 950–959.

  • Ogden, J. C. & N. S. Buckman. 1973. Movements, foraging groups, and diumal migrations of the striped parrotfish Scarus croicensis Bloch (Scaridae). Ecology 54: 589–596.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, R. H. 1976. Tautology in evolution and ecology. Amer. Natur. 110: 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pianka, E. R. 1974. Evolutionary Ecology. Harper & Row, New York. 356 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall, J. E. 1961. A contribution to the biology of the convict surgeonfish of the Hawaiian Islands, Acanthurus triostegus sandvicensis. Pacif. Sci. 15: 215–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall, J. E. 1965. Grazing effect on sea grasses by herbivorous reef fishes in the West Indies. Ecology 46: 255–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall, J. E. & H.A. Randall. 1963. The spawning and early development of the Atlantic parrotfish Sparisoma rubripinne, with notes on other scarid and labrid fishes. Zoologica (N.Y.) 48: 49–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese, E. S. 1973. Duration of residence by coral reef fishes on ‘home’ reefs. Copeia 1973: 145–149.

  • Ricklefs, R. E. 1973. Ecology Nelson, London. 861 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, D. R. 1973. Field observations on the reproductive behaviour of a pomacentrid fish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus. Z. Tierpsych. 32: 319–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, D. R. 1974. The ethology and reproductive biology of Labroides dimidiatus. Ph. D. dissertation, Univ. of Queensland, Australia. 295 pp.

  • Robertson, D. R. & J. H. Choat. 1974. Protogynous hermaphroditism and social systems in labrid fish. pp. 217–225. In: Proc. Second Intern. Symp. Coral Reefs, Vol. 1. Great Barrier Reef Comm. Brisbane.

  • Root, R. B. 1967. The niche exploitation pattern of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. Ecol. Monogr. 37: 317–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, B. C., F. H. Talbot & S. Domm. 1974. Patterns of colonisation of artificial reefs by coral reef fishes. pp. 207–215. In: Proc. Second Intern. Symp. Coral Reefs, Vol. 1. Great Barrier Reef Committee. Brisbane.

  • Russell, B. C., G. V. Anderson & F. H. Talbot. Seasonality and recruitment of coral reef fishes. Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. Res. (in press)

  • Sale, P. F. 1971. The reproductive behaviour of the pomacentrid fish, Chromis caeruleus. Z. Tierpsych. 29: 156–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P. F. 1972. Influence of corals in the dispersion of the pomacentrid fish, Dascyllus aruanus. Ecology 53: 741–744.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P. F. 1974a. Mechanisms of co-existence in a guild of territorial fishes at Heron Island. pp. 193–206. In: Proc. Second Intern. Symp. Coral Reefs, Vol. 1, Great Barrieŕ Reef Committee. Brisbane.

  • Sale, P. F. 1974b. Overlap in resource use and interspecific competition. Oecologia 17: 245–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P. F. 1975. Patterns of use of space in a guild of territorial reef fishes. Mar. Biol. 29: 89–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P. F. 1976. The effect of territorial adult pomacentrid fishes on the recruitment and survival of juveniles on patches of coral rubble. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 24: 297–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, P. F. & R. Dybdahl. 1975. Determinants of community structure for coral reef fishes in an experimental habitat. Ecology 56: 1343–1355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T. W. 1968. Sizes of feeding territories among birds. Ecology 49: 123–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slatkin, M. 1974. Competition and regional coexistence. Ecology 55: 128–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. L. & J.C. Tyler. 1972. Space resource sharing in a coral reef fish community. Natural Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Cty. Sci. Bull. 14: 125–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. L. & J.C. Tyler. 1975. Succession and stability in fish communities of dome shaped patch reefs in the West Indies. Amer. Mus. Novitates 2572: 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, J. P. 1974. Multiple stable points in natural communities. Am. Nat. 108: 859–875.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, F. B., R. I. Jennrich & J. D. Weintraub. 1969. Home ranges and body size of lizards. Ecology 50: 1076–1081.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valenti, R. J. 1972. The embryology of the neon goby, Gobiosoma oceanops. Copeia 1972: 477–482.

  • Warner, R. R., D. R. Robertson & E. G. Leigh Jr. 1975. Sex change and sexual selection. Science 190: 633–638.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, W. & J. M. Leis. 1974. Ichthyoplankton of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii: a one-year study of the fish eggs and larvae. Univ. Hawaii Sea Grant Program, Honolulu, Tech. Rep. 75. 1. 178 pp.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, N.S.W., Australia

    Peter F. Sale

Authors
  1. Peter F. Sale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This paper forms part of the proceedings of a mini-symposium convened at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 18–19 May 1976, entitled ‘Patterns of Community Structure in Fishes’ (G. S. Helfman, ed.).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sale, P.F. Coexistence of coral reef fishes — a lottery for living space. Environ Biol Fish 3, 85–102 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006310

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006310

Keywords

Search

Navigation