Volume 68
Functional Migration Areas of Dog Snapper Lutjanus jocu and Cubera Snapper Lutjanus cyanopterus Spawning Aggregations in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Authors
Biggs, C. and R. Nemeth Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2015
Pages: 98 -99
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Panama City
Country: Panama
Abstract
Functional migration areas describe movements of reef fish to and from spawning aggregations as well as the spatial distribution of fish within spawning areas and can offer insight to the ecological connectivity of habitats, distribution of resources, population dynamics, and management opportunities within a system. Nemeth (2009) has described a model of the Functional Migration Area (FMA) for aggregating reef fish. The FMA delineates zones of decreasing size based on function and behavior, which range from the catchment area (~1000 km2), staging area (100 km2), courtship arena (< 10 km2) down to the spawning site (1 km2) and include migration pathways and daily movements. Although many characteris-tics of spawning aggregations are similar among species, they also display spatial, temporal, and geographic variability (Domeier and Colin 1997). Much of the work describing FMAs has been based on grouper species, while snapper aggrega-tions and FMAs have not been well documented.