Rocky reef fish community structure in two Azorean islands (Portugal) central North Atlantic

The community structure of shallow rocky reef fish fauna of the Azores Archipelago is described from underwater visual censuses carried out at eight areas (Terceira and Corvo Islands). A total of 52 fish species from 26 different families was observed, and the ten most abundant fish corresponded to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Main Authors: Bertoncini, Áthila Andrade, Machado, Leonardo Francisco, Barreiros, João Pedro, Hostim-Silva, Maurício, Verani, José Roberto
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410000135
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315410000135
Description
Summary:The community structure of shallow rocky reef fish fauna of the Azores Archipelago is described from underwater visual censuses carried out at eight areas (Terceira and Corvo Islands). A total of 52 fish species from 26 different families was observed, and the ten most abundant fish corresponded to 82.7% of all fish. Trophic categories are given for observed species with comments on distribution and densities along sampled depth strata. Mean densities along sampled strata were tested for significant differences. Sparidae, Labridae and Carangidae were the most speciose families being Diplodus sargus, Pagellus acarne, Coris julis, Thalassoma pavo and Tripterygion delaisi the most abundant species that consequently also accounted for the highest densities.