title: Small-Boat Noise Impacts Natural Settlement Behavior of Coral Reef Fish Larvae.
abstract: After a pelagic larval phase, settlement-stage coral reef fish must locate a suitable reef habitat for juvenile life. Reef noise, produced by resident fish and invertebrates, provides an important cue for orientation and habitat selection during this process, which must often occur in environments impacted by anthropogenic noise. We adapted an established field-based protocol to test whether recorded boat noise influenced the settlement behavior of reef fish. Fewer fish settled to patch reefs broadcasting boat + reef noise compared with reef noise alone. This study suggests that boat noise, now a common feature of many reefs, can compromise critical settlement behavior of reef fishes.
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK. S.Simpson@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK. andy.radford@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Radford
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK. sophie.holles@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holles
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5B4. maud.ferrari@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Maud C O
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferarri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5E2. doug.chivers@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Douglas P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Chivers
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia. mark.mccormick@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Mark I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: University of Western Australia Ocean Sciences Centre, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia. M.Meekan@aims.gov.au.
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Meekan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D009622:Noise; D012767:Ships; D013637:Tape Recording
keywords: Anthropogenic noise; Habitat selection; Patch reefs; Settlement stage