Ecology of rocky reef fish of north‐eastern New Zealand: A review

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Abstract
This review discusses the major factors producing spatial and temporal patterns in abundance and the structure of reef fish populations in north‐eastern New Zealand. It also examines the potential impact of fish feeding on prey populations and habitat structure. Major biological features of the habitat, such as the distribution of macroalgae and echinoids, appear to affect fish populations at a variety of spatial scales. These spatial patterns remain coherent over time, despite temporal variation in population densities, which can be independent of habitat structure. Demographic studies have not yet resolved whether pre‐ or post‐settlement processes are most important in structuring reef fish populations. Feeding categories, and details of diet, prey selection, and the use of microhabitats are discussed as necessary steps toward examining the impact of fish as predators. Experimental studies have not demonstrated that either carnivores or herbivores play a major role in determining the biological structure of habitats, or in modifying prey communities. A picture is emerging which suggests that the habitat has a far greater impact on fish populations than vice versa. It is stressed that the factors influencing patterns of distribution and abundance are likely to be species‐specific; there is unlikely to be a general effect attributable to fish in shallow reef communities.