Animals & nature · 2012
Are larger shelters more likely to contain fish on Barbados coral reefs?
Yes. In a survey of two coral reefs in Barbados, larger shelters were more likely to contain fish and held more occupants than smaller shelters. This was an observational study, so it does not prove that shelter size caused the differences.
Details
Researchers counted holes and spaces beneath overhangs with entrance diameters of at least 3 centimetres in 30 plots, each covering 25 square metres. Small shelters were much more common than large ones, but the proportion containing fish and the number of occupants increased strongly with shelter size.
The number of shelter-using fish per unit area was much more strongly predicted by shelter numbers per unit area and median shelter size than by the complexity of the reef surface. Median size describes the middle of the ordered shelter sizes, rather than their average. More complex reef surfaces also had more shelters and a greater total shelter volume per unit area, although this relationship varied among reef zones.
Together, these observations support the idea that complex reefs are associated with more fish partly because they offer more shelter. They also suggest that shelter availability may limit the numbers of some reef fishes. The survey did not test whether adding or enlarging shelters would increase fish numbers.
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