Coral reef fish assemblages along a disturbance gradient in the northern Persian Gulf: A seasonal perspective.
Seasonal dynamics of coral reef fish assemblages were assessed along a gradient of potential anthropogenic disturbance in the Northern Persian Gulf. Overall, the attributes of coral reef fish assemblages showed seasonality at two different levels: seasonal changes irrespective of the magnitude of disturbance level (e.g. species richness), and seasonal changes in response to disturbance level (e.g. total abundance and assemblage composition). The examined parameters mostly belonged to the second group, but the interpretation of the relationship between patterns of seasonal changes and the disturbance level was not straightforward. The abundance of carnivorous fishes did not vary among seasons. SIMPER identified the family Nemipteridae as the major contributor to the observed spatiotemporal variations in the composition of coral reef fish assemblages in the study area.
Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C. Evin, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Amir
A
Ghazilou
Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C. Evin, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Electronic address: M_Shokri@sbu.ac.ir.
Mohammad Reza
MR
Shokri
School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
William
W
Gladstone
D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000254:growth & development*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D019156:Indian Ocean; D010473:Perciformes / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D011156:Population Density; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D012621:Seasons; D013045:Species Specificity
Anthropogenic disturbance; Assemblage composition; Seasonality