Population and feeding responses of the corallivorous pufferfish Arothron meleagris to coral mortality in the eastern Pacific

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Arothron meleagris occurs densities ranging from 0 to 320 fish ha-1 of live coral on eastern Pacific coral reefs of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and the Galapagos Islands. On reefs in Panama and Costa Rica, over 50% of corals died during the 1982-83 El Nino event and 40% of remaining corals at Cano Island, Costa Rica, died during red tides in 1985. The population density of A. meleagris is not related to coral density on different reefs and fish densities did not change in a consistent manner following the coral mortalities. Diets and feeding preferences of A. meleagris at different sites are not related in a consistent way to the abundance of various corals or to changes in coral abundances following coral mortalities. At Cano Island A. meleagris prefers Porites lobata over the less abundant Pocillopora damicornis. At Uva Island, Panama, where P. damicornis is the more abundant species, A. meleagris does not prefer either coral. The relationship between the availability and consumption of the uncommon coral Psammocora stellata also differs among localities. Changes in this fish''s diet following the mass coral mortalities varied among sites. At Cano Island fish switched first to coralline algae and then to corals. Fish do grow when experimentally fed only coralline algae, but grow better when fed corals. The ability of the puffer to switch diets and maintain its populations following coral mortality may affect the recovery of coral populations. Even when uncommon, the puffer may have an impact on rare corals.