Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Revisiting the functional roles of the surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Ctenochaetus striatus

  • Report
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Investigating the functional role of herbivorous fish species is important for understanding reef resilience and developing targeted management plans. Among the most abundant fish species on Indo-Pacific coral reefs are the surgeonfishes Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Ctenochaetus striatus. A. nigrofuscus is an herbivorous grazer that crops filamentous algae from the epilithic algal matrix, while C. striatus is detritivorous and was thought to ‘brush’ detritus from the surface of filamentous algae, causing little damage to algal strands. Although the foraging mechanisms and general diet of these surgeonfishes have been established, their grazing impact on epilithic algal turfs has been unclear. This is the first study to quantify the grazing impact of A. nigrofuscus and C. striatus on algal turfs. Through aquaria trials using epilithic algal turf grown on experimental tiles, we found that both A. nigrofuscus and C. striatus consistently fed more intensively upon sparse/short algal turfs even though the yield of algae per bite was greater for dense/long algal turfs. As there was no difference in the nutritional value of sparse and dense algal turfs, we hypothesise that A. nigrofuscus avoided dense turf due to its significantly greater sediment load than sparse turf, while C. striatus likely avoided dense turf as it would become entangled in their bristle-like teeth. Unexpectedly, despite its dental morphology, C. striatus removed significantly more algal turf per hour than A. nigrofuscus, irrespective of canopy height. The capability of C. striatus to remove significant quantities of algal turf through their foraging activity implies that this abundant and widespread species may substantially affect algal turf dynamics. If this is the case, the exclusion of detritivorous Ctenochaetus species from herbivorous fish functional groups used in resilience monitoring will need to be re-evaluated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Bellwood DR, Fulton CJ (2008) Sediment-mediated suppression of herbivory on coral reefs: decreasing resilience to rising sea levels and climate change? Limnol Oceanogr 53:2695–2701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C, Nystrom M (2004) Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature 429:827–833

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bruggemann JH, Van Oppen MJH, Breeman AM (1994a) Foraging by the stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride. I. food selection in different, socially determined habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 106:41–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruggemann JH, Begeman J, Bosma EM, Verburg P, Breeman AM (1994b) Foraging by the stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride. II. intake and assimilation of food, protein and energy. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 106:57–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkepile DE, Hay ME (2008) Herbivore species richness and feeding complementarity affect community structure and function on a coral reef. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:16201–16206

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter RC (1986) Partitioning herbivory and its effects on coral reef algal communities. Ecol Monogr 56:345–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheal A, Emslie M, Miller I, Sweatman H (2012) The distribution of herbivorous fishes on the great barrier reef. Mar Biol doi. doi:10.1007/s00227-012-1893-x

    Google Scholar 

  • Choat JH (1991) The biology of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 120–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Choat JH, Bellwood DR (1985) Interactions amongst herbivorous fishes on a coral reef: influence of spatial variation. Mar Biol 89:221–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choat JH, Clements KD, Robbins WD (2002) The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs - I: dietary analyses. Mar Biol 140:613–623

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Choat JH, Robbins WD, Clements KD (2004) The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs - II. food processing modes and trophodynamics. Mar Biol 145:445–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin G, Hay ME (1996) Within-plant variation in seaweed palatability and chemical defenses: optimal defense theory versus the growth-differentiation balance hypothesis. Oecologia 105:361–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox RJ, Sunderland TL, Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2009) Estimating ecosystem function: contrasting roles of closely related herbivorous rabbitfishes (Siganidae) on coral reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 385:261–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galetto MJ, Bellwood DR (1994) Digestion of algae by Stegastes nigricans and Amphiprion akindynos (Pisces: Pomacentridae), with an evaluation of methods used in digestibility studies. J Fish Biol 44:415–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goatley CHR, Bellwood DR (2010) Biologically mediated sediment fluxes on coral reefs: sediment removal and off-reef transportation by the surgeonfish Ctenochaetus striatus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 415:237–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green AL, Bellwood DR (2009) Monitoring functional groups of herbivorous reef fishes as indicators of coral reef resilience – a practical guide for coral reef managers in the Asia Pacific region. IUCN working group on climate change and coral reefs. IUCN, Gland, p 70

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatcher BG (1981) The interaction between grazing organisms and the epilithic algal community of a coral reef: a quantitative assessment. Proc 4th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:515–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatcher BG (1997) Organic production and decomposition. In: Birkeland CE (ed) Life and death of coral reefs. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp 140–174

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hatcher BG, Larkum AWD (1983) An experimental analysis of factors controlling the standing crop of the epilithic algal community on a coral reef. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 69:61–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Brostoff WN (1996) Succession and herbivory: effects of differential fish grazing on Hawaiian coral-reef algae. Ecol Monogr 66:67–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2009) Limited functional redundancy in a high diversity system: single species dominates key ecological process on coral reefs. Ecosystems 12:1316–1328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horn MH (1989) Biology of marine herbivorous fishes. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 27:167–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Bellwood DR, Folke CS, McCook LJ, Pandolfi JM (2007) No-take areas, herbivory and coral reef resilience. Trends Ecol Evol 22:1–3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klumpp DW, McKinnon AD (1992) Community structure, biomass and productivity of epilithic algal communities on the at different spatial scales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 86:77–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krone R, Bshary R, Paster M, Eisinger M, van Treeck P, Schuhmacher H (2008) Defecation behaviour of the lined bristletooth surgeonfish Ctenochaetus striatus (Acanthuridae). Coral Reefs 27:619–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ledlie MH, Graham NAJ, Bythell JC, Wilson SK, Jennings S, Polunin NVC, Hardcastle J (2007) Phase shifts and the role of herbivory in the resilience of coral reefs. Coral Reefs 26:641–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis SM (1986) The role of herbivorous fishes in the organization of a Caribbean reef community. Ecol Monogr 56:184–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobel PS, Ogden JC (1981) Foraging by the herbivorous parrotfish Sparisoma radians. Mar Biol 64:173–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marnane MJ, Bellwood DR (2002) Diet and nocturnal foraging in cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) at one tree reef, great barrier reef, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 231:261–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery WL, Myrberg AA, Fishelson L (1989) Feeding ecology of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) in the northern Red Sea, with particular reference to Acanthurus nigrofuscus (Forsskal). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 132:179–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumby PJ, Steneck RS (2008) Coral reef management and conservation in light of rapidly evolving ecological paradigms. Trends Ecol Evol 23:555–563

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson S, Wilkins S (1988) Sediment processing by the surgeonfish Ctenochaetus striatus at Moorea, French Polynesia. J Fish Biol 32:817–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyström M, Folke C (2001) Spatial resilience on coral reefs. Ecosystems 4:406–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT, Vadas RL (1969) Calorific values of benthic marine algae and their postulated relation to invertebrate food preference. Mar Biol 4:79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polunin NVC, Klumpp DW (1989) Ecological correlates of foraging periodicity in herbivorous reef fishes of the Coral Sea. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 126:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polunin NVC, Harmelin-Vivien M, Galzin R (1995) Contrasts in algal food processing among five herbivorous coral-reef fishes. J Fish Biol 47:455–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purcell SW (2000) Association of epilithic algae with sediment distribution on a windward reef in the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Bull Mar Sci 66:199–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Purcell SW, Bellwood DR (1993) A functional analysis of food procurement in 2 surgeonfish species, Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Ctenochaetus striatus (Acanthuridae). Environ Biol Fishes 37:139–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purcell SW, Bellwood DR (2001) Spatial patterns of epilithic algal and detrital resources on a windward coral reef. Coral Reefs 20:117–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson DR (1982) Fish feces as fish food on a Pacific Coral Reef. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 7:253–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson DR, Gaines SD (1986) Interference competition structures habitat use in a local assemblage of coral reef surgeonfishes. Ecology 67:1372–1383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russ G (1984) Distribution and abundance of herbivorous grazing fishes in the central Great Barrier Reef. I. levels of variability across the entire continental shelf. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 20:23–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russ G (2003) Grazer biomass correlates more strongly with production than with biomass of algal turfs on a coral reef. Coral Reefs 22:63–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Steneck RS (1988) Herbivory on coral reefs: a synthesis. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:37–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Steneck RS, Dethier MN (1994) A functional group approach to the structure of algal-dominated communities. Oikos 69:476–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steneck RS, Macintyre IG, Reid RP (1997) A unique algal ridge system in the Exhuma Cays, Bahamas. Coral Reefs 16:29–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travis J (1982) A method for the statistical analysis of time-energy budgets. Ecology 63:19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trip EL, Choat JH, Wilson DT, Robertson DR (2008) Inter-oceanic analysis of demographic variation in a widely distributed Indo-Pacific coral reef fish. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 373:97–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SK, Bellwood DR (1997) Cryptic dietary components of territorial damselfishes (Pomacentridae, Labroidei). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 153:299–310

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SK, Bellwood DR, Choat JH, Furnas MJ (2003) Detritus in the epilithic algal matrix and its use by coral reef fishes. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 41:279–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Wismer S, Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2009) Cross-shelf benthic community structure on the great barrier reef: relationships between macroalgal cover and herbivore biomass. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 376:45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Mark Priest and Chris Doropoulos for their invaluable assistance with field and laboratory work, and also to Iliana Chollett-Ordaz for drawing the fish outlines used in our figures. We are grateful for logistical support provided by all of the staff at Heron Island Research Station, and for helpful discussions with members of the Marine Spatial Ecology Lab. This project was funded by an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship to P.J.M. and was covered by University of Queensland GBRMPA limited impact accreditation number UQ004/2010 and Australian Animal Ethics approval number: SBS/188/10/ARC. We appreciate comments from Mark Hay and two anonymous reviewers that improved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia Campus, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    A. Marshell & P. J. Mumby

Authors
  1. A. Marshell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. J. Mumby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Marshell.

Additional information

Communicated by Ecology Editor Prof. Mark Hay

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Marshell, A., Mumby, P.J. Revisiting the functional roles of the surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Ctenochaetus striatus . Coral Reefs 31, 1093–1101 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0931-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0931-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation