Contrasting movements and residency of two serranids in a small Macaronesian MPA

Afonso, P.; Abecasis, D.; Santos, Ricardo Serrão; Fontes, Jorge

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/9078

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Authors

Afonso, P.

Abecasis, D.

Santos, Ricardo Serrão

Fontes, Jorge

Abstract(s)

Protection inside marine reserves and the desired ‘reserve effect’ depend directly on the home rangeand sedentary behaviour of fishes throughout their lives. Benthic territorial predators are typically seenas major candidates to beneficiaries, but empirical evidence of short-versus long term residency is stillsurprisingly rare. We studied the inter-annual patterns of site fidelity and finer scale movements in twoof the most abundant benthic predators of the NE Atlantic coastal reefs, the dusky grouper (Epinephelusmarginatus) and the blacktail comber (Serranus atricauda), using passive acoustic telemetry inside andaround a small marine reserve in the Azores islands, central North Atlantic. Individuals of both speciesresided in the reserve year-round, occupying stable core activity areas within relatively small homeranges. Groupers were detected nearly every day (n = 11, median = 5.0 years) while combers were stilldetected in 2/3 of the days (n = 9, median = 2.0 years). Some dusky groupers underwent daily short-rangeforays during the summer, most probably related to spawning events, whereas combers appeared toforay for longer periods with no direct relation with reproductive activity. The two species also contrastin their diel pattern, strictly diurnal in the comber but crepuscular in the grouper. This study evidencesthat even small reserves within the size range of most coastal reserves can accommodate the multiple-scale patterns of space use of exploited benthic territorial species, and promote the recovery of theirlocal exploited populations in the long-term via the ‘reserve effect’ and, potentially, via the ‘larval export’effect.