Susceptibility of macroalgae to herbivorous fishes at Rocas Atoll, Brazil
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Leonardo Vidal Marques
Abstract
Although herbivory by fishes is recognized as a fundamental process structuring coral reef communities, the susceptibility of macroalgae and potential effects of this process at Rocas Atoll are unknown. Macroalgal consumption was evaluated through field transplant assays onto reef sites to investigate the differential susceptibility of species to herbivory by fishes. Of 13 species examined, the red macroalga Digenea simplex was highly preferred and probably constitutes the most important food resource to herbivorous fishes in almost all parts of the atoll. The green macroalga Bryopsis plumosa and the brown algae Dictyopteris jamaicensis, Dictyota crispata, D. ciliolata, D. cervicornis, D. menstrualis, D. mertensii, D. pfaffii and D. pinnatifida were less preferred, probably due to chemical defenses, since all are known to produce secondary metabolites, many of which are broad spectrum feeding deterrents against herbivores including reef fishes. Finally, the algae Sargassum polyceratium and Gelidiella acerosa were less preferred, probably because of both morphological features and chemical defenses. This differential susceptibility of the seaweeds to herbivory associated with different spatial herbivory pressure may be responsible for the variable distribution and abundance of seaweeds around the Rocas Atoll reef.
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©2006 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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- Morphological variation in the tropical seagrasses, Cymodocea serrulata and C. rotundata, in response to sediment conditions and light attenuation
- Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on the development and differentiation of vegetative cells of Porphyra yezoensis on solid agar medium
- Susceptibility of macroalgae to herbivorous fishes at Rocas Atoll, Brazil
- Distribution of three submersed macrophytes in coastal lagoons of the German Baltic Sea: comparison of laboratory and field data
- Mesoscale dispersal of the introduced kelp Undaria pinnatifida attached to unstable substrata
- Vegetative and reproductive phenology of Zonaria tournefortii (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) in sublittoral populations off the Canary Islands
- Autogamic reproductive behavior and sex cell structure in Thalassiosira angulata (Bacillariophyta)
- Peyssonnelia imbricata sp. nov. (Peyssonneliaceae, Rhodophyta) from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
- Cocconeis distans Gregory and Amphicocconeis debesi (Hustedt) De Stefano comb. nov. (Bacillariophyta), an intricate taxonomical history
- Decomposition of dead twigs of Avicennia officinalis and Rhizophora mucronata in a mangrove in southwestern India
- World seaweed resources. An authoritative reference system
- Global coastal change
- Meetings
- Acknowledgement volume 49 (2006)
- Contents volume 49 (2006)
- Author index volume 49 (2006)
- Genus/Species index volume 49 (2006)
