Abstract

Parrotfishes (Scaridae) are important components of subsistence and commercial fisheries throughout the Caribbean, most notably at locations were piscivorous reef fishes (e.g. snapper, groupers) have been intensively fished. Our aim was to compare the abundance of scarids at four localities (Barbados, Belize, Las Aves Archipelago, and Los Roques Archipelago National Park) with differing fishing intensities. At each locality we surveyed at least five sites separated by kilometers, and across different reef habitats. To estimate densities, counts were made for all species of scarids along 30 x 10 m belt transects, and along 400 x 15 m transects for the large bodied scarids. Los Roques Archipelago (LR), a protected reserve offshore Venezuela were fishing is restricted, supports the highest densities of the large-bodied scarids Scarus guacamaia (9.30 ± 3.79 ind/1000 m2, X ± SE), S. coelestinus (10.73 ± 3.27 ind/1000 m2), S. coreuleus (5.23 ± 1.14 ind/1000m2). However, at the neighboring Las Aves Archipelago, an area heavily fished for predators, densities were also high for S. coelestinus (7.35 ± 1.43ind/1000 m2) and S. coreuleus (4.32 ± 1.93 ind/1000 m2). At non protected sites in Belize, the densities of these large bodied parrotfishes were 10-fold lower than at LR, and were absent from all sites at Barbados, where an intensive trap-fishery occurs. In addition, the high average densities among sites at LR of the excavating scarid Sparisoma viride (3.33-14.97 ind/1000 m2) and the large grazing scarid Scarus vetula (2.50- 45.57 ind/1000m2) reveals that this marine protected area supports the highest parrotfish densities in the Caribbean after Bonaire.

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