title: Homing is not for everyone: displaced cardinalfish find a new place to live.
abstract: It was tested whether the pajama cardinalfish Sphaeramia nematoptera (Apogonidae) could home by displacing individuals up to 250 m within and among isolated reefs. Contrary to expectations, only two of 37 (5·4%) displaced S. nematoptera returned home and another 16 (43·2%) were found to have joined other social groups and did not home after 26 months of observations; while over the same period, 94% of control S. nematoptera remained associated with home corals, demonstrating strong site attachment. Hence, while this species has the potential to return home, being able to do so may not be as critical as previously assumed.
authors: College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia. theresa.rueger@my.jcu.edu.au.|ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia. theresa.rueger@my.jcu.edu.au.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Rueger
authors: College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia.
authors: N M
authors: NM
authors: Gardiner
authors: College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia.|ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia.
authors: G P
authors: GP
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005260:Female; D006702:Homing Behavior; D008297:Male; D010473:Perciformes
keywords: Apogonidae; Sphaeramia; site attachment