Abstract

Mangroves and seagrass beds are considered important nursery habitats for juveniles of coral reef fishes. Studies have mostly focused on the fish community of just one habitat, so the connectivity between different coastal habitats is often unclear. In this study, density and size ofreeffish were determined using a single sampling technique in four non-estuarine hay habitats and four reef zones in Curaçao and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). The data indicate that of the complete reef fish community at least 21 species show ontogenetic cross-shelf shifts in habitat utilization. The 21 species mainly utilized shallow-water habitats (mangroves, seagrass beds, channel and shallow red) as nursery habitats and the deeper coral reef zones (> 5 m depfu) as adult life-stage habitats. Fish species utilized 1-3 different nursery habitats simultaneously, but habitat utilization clearly differed between species. Previous studies showed that the dependence on these nursery habitats is very high, based on reduced density or absence of adults on coral reefs where fuese habitats were absent. The strong connectivity between several coastal habitats during fue ontogeny of various commercially important reef fish species is evidence for fue inclusion of bay habitats within boundaries of fishery reserves or marine protected areas.

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