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Home range estimates for squaretail coralgrouper, Plectropomus areolatus (Rüppell 1830)

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to estimate home range areas and distance of movement away from a squaretail coralgrouper (Plectropomus areolatus) spawning aggregation site located within a small-scale 1.5 km2 Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Pohnpei, Micronesia. Fifteen P. areolatus were acoustically tagged and re-located within a ca. 50 km2 search area over a 4-month period that included reproductive and non-reproductive months. All relocated fish were found in areas of moderate to high coral cover either on the fore reef or inside the lagoon in home ranges of 0.048 ± 0.018 km2 (μ ± S.E.). Variability in home range area (0.004–0.12 km2) and distance of movement from aggregation sites following spawning (0.02–23.0 km; 5.3 ± 3.6 km, μ ± S.E.) was observed, but did not appear to be sex specific. Five of the six relocated individuals were found within 0.02–6.1 km of the aggregation. This evidence and that from recent tag-recapture studies of epinephelids suggest that a substantial proportion of individual P. areolatus spawning populations reside within close proximity to their respective aggregation sites. Reproductive populations could be protected by MPAs of moderate scale (10 s of km2) that include aggregation sites, migratory corridors and adjacent home range habitats.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for the project was provided by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), General Coral Reef Conservation Grant (NA07NMF4630127) to M Tupper (WorldFish Center, Malaysia) and KLR. Logistic support and matching funds were provided by the Pohnpei Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the College of Micronesia-Palikir and the Conservation Society of Pohnpei and a number of their respective staff and students worked to ensure the success of the project. We greatly appreciate the comments from anonymous reviewers that helped to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine and Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute, DPI Queenscliff Centre, PO Box 114, Queenscliff, VIC, 3225, Australia

    N. Hutchinson

  2. College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, The University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200W. Kawili St, Hilo, HI, 96720, USA

    K. L. Rhodes

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  1. N. Hutchinson
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  2. K. L. Rhodes
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Correspondence to N. Hutchinson.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Prof. Philip Munday

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Hutchinson, N., Rhodes, K.L. Home range estimates for squaretail coralgrouper, Plectropomus areolatus (Rüppell 1830). Coral Reefs 29, 511–519 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0584-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0584-7

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