BIO

Hello my name is Sofia Lara, I am an 2nd year undergraduate in Environmental Science from Miami Florida. I hope to minor in Biology and have an academic focus in Marine Biology. I am specifically interested in coral reef biology and ecology and I want a career path related in conservation, restoration and preservation of marine habitats as well as the protection and rehabilitation of marine organisms.

Comparing threespot damselfish behavior on coral types Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella spp

Abstract

Farmer damselfish (family: Pomacentridae) are a functional group of territorial herbivorous coral reef fish. They create algae farms by chasing away other herbivores and biting at live coral tissue to expand their territories. Damselfish can vary in how aggressively they defend their territories based on habitat quality. In the Caribbean, the endangered branching coral Acropora cervicornis is considered the preferred habitat for the threespot damselfish Stegastes planifrons. Our objective was to determine if threespot damselfish exhibit different farming behaviors on A. cervicornis versus a common non-branching coral Orbicella spp. To do this, a group of 2-3 divers placed cameras 1m away from damselfish territories across 9 sites in Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. These cameras recorded 30 minute videos that were then annotated on the behavioral observation software Boris. We found that there was no significant difference between coral types on either their territory maintenance behavior or their aggressive territoriality behavior. We also found that there is a positive correlation between damselfish density and both territory maintenance and chase behaviors. Damselfish are considered, by many restoration groups in the Caribbean, as stressors for the reef. Therefore we care about the relationship between damselfish and the coral because we can try to determine how their presence may affect coral such as Acropora cervicornis, a critically endangered species.

Keywords: coral reef, behavior analysis