ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on October 9, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(1):50-55; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn165
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This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: European Symposium on Marine Protected Areas as a Tool for Fisheries Management and Ecosystem Conservation [View the issue table of contents]
Movement patterns of four coral reef fish species in a fragmented habitat in New Caledonia: implications for the design of marine protected area networks
LIVE University of New Caledonia, Aquarium des Lagons, BP R4, 98851 Noumea cedex, New Caledonia
Correspondence to L. Wantiez: tel: +687 26 68 92; fax: +687 27 32 72; e-mail: wantiez{at}univ-nc.nc.
Chateau, O., and Wantiez, L. 2009. Movement patterns of four coral reef fish species in a fragmented habitat in New Caledonia: implications for the design of marine protected area networks. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 50–55.Acoustic telemetry was used to examine the patterns of fish movements between a marine reserve and two unprotected reefs separated by large areas of lagoon soft bottoms (900–2000 m) in the South Lagoon Marine Park of New Caledonia. Four commercial fish species (Epinephelus maculatus, Plectropomus leopardus, Chlorurus microrhinos, and Scarus ghobban) were studied for 17 months (45 fish). Nine fish (20%) were detected on reefs other than the reef onto which they were released. Four patterns of inter-reef movement were identified during the survey, including home range relocations, movements larger than the scale of the study, many inter-reef movements within the study area, and punctual excursions outside the daily home range. The information gathered in this study demonstrates the ability of the fish to carry out medium-scale movements in a fragmented habitat. Consequently, the effectiveness of the reserve to protect the entire population is probably limited for these species. Because all the identified patterns implied at least one movement across the reserve boundaries, our results support the hypothesis that the Larégnère Marine Reserve, part of the South Lagoon Marine Park, could benefit the adjacent fished area through spillover.
Keywords: acoustic telemetry, fish behaviour, fragmentation, home range, inter-reef movements, marine reserve, South Pacific
Received 25 October 2007; accepted 21 May 2008; advance access publication 9 October 2008.
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