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Wariness of reef fish to passive diver presence with varying dive gear type across a coral reef depth gradient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2017

Dominic A. Andradi-Brown Open the ORCID record for Dominic A. Andradi-Brown [Opens in a new window] ,
Erika Gress ,
Jack H. Laverick Open the ORCID record for Jack H. Laverick [Opens in a new window] ,
Margaux A. A. Monfared ,
Alex David Rogers  and
Dan A. Exton
Dominic A. Andradi-Brown*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK
Erika Gress
Affiliation:
Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK
Jack H. Laverick
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK
Margaux A. A. Monfared
Affiliation:
Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, University House, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth PO1 2UP, UK
Alex David Rogers
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
Dan A. Exton
Affiliation:
Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: D. A. Andradi-Brown, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK email: dominic.andradi-brown@zoo.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Both active and passive human interactions with reef fish communities are increasingly recognized to cause fish behavioural changes. However, few studies have considered how these behavioural adaptations impact standard reef survey techniques, particularly across natural gradients of interest to ecologists and reef managers. Here we measure fish abundance, biomass and minimum approach distance using stereo-video surveys to compare the effects of bubble-producing open-circuit scuba vs near-silent closed-circuit rebreathers. Surveys extended across a shallow to upper-mesophotic gradient on the fringing reefs of Utila, Honduras, to explore how the effects of diver gear choice vary with depth. For most fish families we recorded similar abundances and biomass with the two diving techniques, suggesting that open-circuit transects are generally appropriate for surveying western Atlantic reefs similar to Utila with regular tourist diving but no spearfishing. Despite no overall significant difference in fish abundance or biomass, we identified several fish families (Labridae, Pomacentridae, Scaridae) that allowed closed-circuit rebreather divers to approach more closely than open-circuit divers. In addition, smaller fish generally allowed divers to approach more closely than larger fish, and in most cases divers could approach fish more closely on mesophotic than shallow reefs. Despite these significant differences in approach distances, their magnitude suggest they are unlikely to affect reef fish detectability during normal fish surveys for most families. Our findings highlight the importance of considering variation in fish behavioural adaptations along natural gradients such as depth, which otherwise has the potential to cause biases when surveying by traditional monitoring programmes.

Keywords

Fish warinessmesophotic coral ecosystemclosed-circuit rebreatherflight initiation distancepassive diver presenceDOVstereo-video systemminimum approach distanceHonduras
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 98 , Issue 7 , November 2018 , pp. 1733 - 1743
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2017 

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Footnotes

†

These authors have contributed equally and are joint last authors.

References

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