Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: the Philippine Islands

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

Synopsis

Multiple datasets show global maxima of marine biodiversity in the Indo–Malay–Philippines archipelago (IMPA). Analysis of distribution data for 2983 species reveals a pattern of richness on a finer scale and identifies a peak of marine biodiversity in the central Philippine Islands and a secondary peak between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. This pattern is repeated in diverse habitat and higher taxa classes, most rigorously for marine shore fishes, supporting geohistorical hypotheses as the most general unifying explanations. Specific predictions based on area of overlap, area of accumulation, and area of refuge hypotheses suggest that present day eastern Indonesia, or Wallacea, should be the center of marine biodiversity. Processes suggested by these three hypotheses contribute to the diversity in this region and are also a likely explanation for the secondary center of diversity. Our study indicates, however, that there is a higher concentration of species per unit area in the Philippines than anywhere in Indonesia, including Wallacea. The Philippine center of diversity is consistent with hypotheses that this area experienced numerous vicariant and island integration events and these hypotheses warrant further testing. Special attention to marine conservation efforts in the Philippines is justified because of the identification of it as an epicenter of biodiversity and evolution.

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

  • G.R. Allen M. Adrim (2003) ArticleTitleCoral reef fishes of Indonesia Zool. Stud. 42 1–72

    Google Scholar 

  • B.S. Arbogast G.J. Kenagy (2001) ArticleTitleComparative phylogeography as an integrative approach to historical biogeography J. Biogeog. 28 819–825 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00594.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.C. Avise (2000) Phylogeography The History and Formation of Species Harvard College Massachusetts 447

    Google Scholar 

  • A.H. Baird D.R. Bellwood J.H. Connell H.V. Cornell T.P. Hughes R.H. Karlson B.R. Rosen (2002) ArticleTitleCoral reef biodiversity and conservation Science 296 1026–1027 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.296.5570.1026 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38Xjslahs7g%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • P.H. Barber S.R. Palumbi M.V. Erdmann M. Kasim Moosa (2000) ArticleTitleA marine Wallace’s line? Nature 406 692–693 Occurrence Handle10.1038/35021135 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXmt1Cht7Y%3D Occurrence Handle10963585

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • D.R. Bellwood T.P. Hughes (2001) ArticleTitleRegional-scale assembly rules and biodiversity of coral reefs Science 292 1532–1534 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.1058635 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXktVyqsro%3D Occurrence Handle11375488

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • D.R. Bellwood P.C. Wainwright (2002) The history and biogeography of fishes on coral reefs P.F. Sale (Eds) Coral Reef Fishes Academic Press New York 5–32

    Google Scholar 

  • J.A.H. Benzie S.T. Williams (1997) ArticleTitleGenetic structure of giant clam (Tridacna maxima) populations in the West Pacific is not consistent with dispersal by present-day currents Evolution 51 768–783

    Google Scholar 

  • S.J.M. Blaber (2002) ArticleTitle‘Fish in hot water’: the challenges facing fish and fisheries research in tropical estuaries J. Fish Biol. 61A 1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • J.C. Briggs (1999a) ArticleTitleCoincident biogeographic patterns: Indo-West Pacific Ocean Evolution 53 326–335

    Google Scholar 

  • J.C. Briggs (1999b) ArticleTitleExtinction and replacement in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean J. Biogeogr. 26 777–783 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2699.1999.00322.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, D., L. Burke, J. McManus & M. Spalding. 1998. Reefs at Risk: A Map-based Indicator of Potential Threats to the World’s Coral Reef, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. 000 pp.

  • Carpenter, K.E. 1998. An introduction to the oceanography, geology, biogeography, and fisheries of the tropical and subtropical western and central Pacific. pp. 117. In: K.E. Carpenter & V.H. Niem (eds), FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific, FAO, Rome.

  • Carpenter, K.E. & V.H. Niem (eds), 1998–2001. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific, FAO, Rome. 6 volumes. 4218 pp.

  • Carpenter, K.E. & J.R. Paxton. 1999. The future of systematic ichthyological research in the tropical Indo-Pacific. pp. 683–693. In: B. Seret & J.-Y. Sire (eds), Proceedings of the Fifth Indo-Pacific Fish Conference.

  • S.R. Connolly D.R. Bellwood T.P. Hughes (2003) ArticleTitleIndo-Pacific biodiversity of coral reefs: deviations from a mid-domain model Ecology 84 2178–2190

    Google Scholar 

  • F.P.D. Cotterill (1995) ArticleTitleSystematics, biological knowledge and environmental conservation Biodiv. Conserv. 4 183–205 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00137784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, T.J. 1986. Distribution and species richness patterns of the Indo-West Pacific Cirrhitidae: support for Woodland’s hypothesis. pp. 623–628. In: T. Uyeno, R. Arai, T. Taniuchi & K. Matsuura (eds), Indo-Pacific Fish Biology. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Indo-Pacific Fishes.

  • R.A. Fine R. Lukas F.M. Bingham W.J. Warner R.H. Gammon (1994) ArticleTitleThe western equatorial Pacific: a water mass crossroads J. Geophys. Res. 99 25063–25080 Occurrence Handle10.1029/94JC02277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flemminger, A. 1986. The Pleistocene equatorial barrier between the Indian and Pacific oceans and a likely cause for Wallace’s line. pp. 84–97. In: Pelagic Biogeography, UNESCO technical papers in marine science.

  • K.J. Gaston (2000) ArticleTitleGlobal patterns in biodiversity Nature 405 220–227 Occurrence Handle10.1038/35012228 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXjsFyjs7o%3D Occurrence Handle10821282

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • T. Gloerfelt-Tarp P.J. Kailola (1984) Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwestern Australia Tien Wah Press Singapore 406

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Hall (1998) The plate tectonics of Cenozoic SE Asia and the distribution of land and sea R. Hall J.D. Holloway (Eds) Biogeography and Geological Evolution of SE Asia Backhuys Publishers Leiden 99–131

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Hall (2002) ArticleTitleCenozoic geological and plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific: computer-based reconstructions, model and animations J. Asian Earth Sci. 20 353–431 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S1367-9120(01)00069-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.W. Herre (1953) Check List of Philippine Fishes, U.S Government Printing Office Washington, DC 977

    Google Scholar 

  • C.-Y. Huang P.-M. Liew M. Zhao T.-C. Chang C.M. Kuo M.-T. Chen C.-H. Wang L.-F. Zheng (1997) ArticleTitleDeep sea and lake records of the Southeast Asian paleomonsoons for the last 25 thousand years Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 146 59–72 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0012-821X(96)00203-8 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXlslyrsQ%3D%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • T.P. Hughes D.R. Bellwood S.R Connolly (2002) ArticleTitleBiodiversity hotspots, centres of endemicity, and the conservation of coral reefs Ecol. Lett. 5 775–784 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00383.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Jokiel F.J. Martinelli (1992) ArticleTitleThe vortex model of coral reef biogeography J. Biogeogr. 19 449–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennett, J.P., G. Keller & M.S. Srinivasan. 1985. Miocene planktonic foraminiferal biogeography and apleogeographic development of the Indo-Pacific region. In: J.P. Kennett (ed.), The Miocene Ocean: Paleogeography and Biogeography. Geological Society of America Memoir 163: 197–236.

  • H.S. Ladd (1960) ArticleTitleOrigin of the Pacific Island molluscan fauna Am. J. Sci. 258A 137–150

    Google Scholar 

  • D.W. Lea D.K. Pak H.J. Spero (2000) ArticleTitleClimate impact of late quaternary equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature variations Science 289 1719–1724 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.289.5485.1719 Occurrence Handle10976060

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • J.W. McManus (1985) ArticleTitleMarine speciation, tectonics, and sea-level changes in south-east Asia Proc. Fifth Int. Coral Reef Symp. 1984 4 133–138

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Mora P.M. Chittaro P.F. Sale J.P. Kritzer S.A. Ludsin (2003) ArticleTitlePatterns and processes in reef fish diversity Nature 421 933–936 Occurrence Handle10.1038/nature01393 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXhsVKgtL0%3D Occurrence Handle12606998

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, J.R. & M.J. Valencia (eds). 1983. Atlas for Marine Policy in Southeast Asian Seas, University of California Press, Berkeley. 144 pp.

  • R.F. Myers (1989) Micronesian Reef Fishes Coral Graphics Guam 298

    Google Scholar 

  • S.R. Palumbi (1996) ArticleTitleWhat can molecular genetics contribute to marine biogeography An urchin’s tale? J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 203 75–92 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0022-0981(96)02571-3 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XmvFOgsbk%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • J.M. Pandolfi (1992) ArticleTitleSuccessive isolation rather than evolutionary centres for the origination of Indo-Pacific reef corals J. Biogeogr. 19 593–609

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Perrin P. Borsa (2001) ArticleTitleMitochondrial DNA analysis of the geographic structure of Indian scad mackerel in the Indo–Malay archipelago J. Fish Biol. 59 1421–1426 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXovVOlu7c%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • J.E. Randall (1998) ArticleTitleZoogeography of shore fishes of the Indo-Pacific region Zool. Stud. 37 227–268

    Google Scholar 

  • C.M. Roberts C.J. McClean J.E.N. Veron J.P. Hawkins G.R. Allen D.E. McAllister C.G. Mittermeier F.W. Schueler M. Spalding F. Wells C. Vynne T.B. Werner (2002) ArticleTitleMarine biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities for tropical reefs Science 295 1280–1284 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.1067728 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XhsVGhsr8%3D Occurrence Handle11847338

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • B.R. Rosen (1988) ArticleTitleProgress, problems and patterns in the biogeography of reef corals and other tropical marine organisms Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen. 42 269–301

    Google Scholar 

  • G.M. Rotondo V.G. Springer G.A.J. Scott S.O. Schlanger (1981) ArticleTitlePlate movement and island integration–a possible mechanism in the formation of endemic biotas, with special reference to the Hawaiian Islands System. Zool. 30 12–21

    Google Scholar 

  • F. Santini R. Winterbottom (2002) ArticleTitleHistorical biogeography of Indo-western Pacific coral reef biota: is the Indonesian region a center of origin? J. Biogeogr. 29 189–205 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00669.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • G.G. Simpson (1977) ArticleTitleToo many lines; the limits of the Oriental and Australian zoogeographic regions Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 121 107–120

    Google Scholar 

  • D.G. Smith J.T. Williams (1999) ArticleTitleThe great Albatross Philippine expedition and its fishes Mar. Fish. Rev. 61 31–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Spalding, M.D., C. Ravilious & E.P. Green. 2001. World Atlas of Coral Reefs, University California Press, Berkeley. 424 pp.

  • V.G. Springer (1982) ArticleTitlePacific plate biogeography, with special reference to shorefishes Smithsonian Contribut. Zool. 367 1–182

    Google Scholar 

  • V.G. Springer J.T. Williams (1990) ArticleTitleWidely distributed Pacific plate endemics and lowered sea-level Bull. Mar. Sci. 47 631–640

    Google Scholar 

  • H.K. Voris (2000) ArticleTitleMaps of Pleistocene sea levels in Southeast Asia: shorelines, river systems and time durations J. Biogeogr. 27 1153–1167 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00489.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.R. Wallace (1860) ArticleTitleOn the zoological geography of the Malay Archipelago J. Linn. Soc. Lond. 4 172–184 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1096-3642.1860.tb00090.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, C.C. 1997. The Indo-Pacific center of coral diversity re-examined at species level. pp. 365–370. In: H.A. Lessios & I.G. Macintyre (eds), Proceedings of the Eighth International Coral Reef Symposium, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.

  • M. Weber L.F. deBeaufort (1913) The Fishes of the Indo–Australian Archipelago II E. J. Brill Leiden 404

    Google Scholar 

  • E.O. Wiley (1988) ArticleTitleVicariance biogeography Annu. Rev. Ecol. System. 19 513–542 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.es.19.110188.002501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M.E.J. Wilson B.R. Rosen (1998) Implications of paucity of corals in the Paleogene of SE Asia: plate tectonics or center of origin R. Hall J.D. Holloway (Eds) Biogeography and Geological Evolution of SE Asia Backhuys Publishers Leiden 165–195

    Google Scholar 

  • D.J. Woodland (1983) ArticleTitleZoogeography of the Siganidae (Pisces): an interpretation of distribution and richness patterns Bull. Mar. Sci. 33 713–717

    Google Scholar 

  • D.J. Woodland (1990) ArticleTitleRevision of the fish family Siganidae with descriptions of two new species and comments on distribution and ecology Indo-Pacific Fish. 19 1–136

    Google Scholar 

  • R.M. Zink (2002) ArticleTitleMethods in comparative phylogeography, and their application to studying evolution in the North American Aridlands Integr. Comp. Biol. 42 953–959

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, U.S.A.

    Kent E. Carpenter

  2. Division of Fishes, Department of Zoology MRC-159, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, U.S.A.

    Victor G. Springer

Authors
  1. Kent E. Carpenter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Victor G. Springer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carpenter, K.E., Springer, V.G. The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: the Philippine Islands. Environ Biol Fish 72, 467–480 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-3154-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-3154-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation