Palabras clave
Tobago
trophism
underwater visual surveys
trofismo
Tobago
peces de arrecife de coral
encuestas submarinas visuales
Cómo citar
Resumen
Los ensamblajes de peces de arrecife en el Caribe están bajo una creciente presión de las actividades humanas. La ejecución inadecuada de la legislación, junto con los desembarques poco fiables y con escasez de datos en Tobago han llevado a una explotación sin reglas durante décadas. Este estudio aborda la falta de datos sobre las comunidades de peces de arrecife en los principales arrecifes. Las observaciones visuales se llevaron a cabo desde noviembre 2011 hasta mayo 2013 en sitios de acceso a los arrecifes abiertos (Speyside, Charlotteville, Culloden, Arnos Vale, el monte Irvine, La Guira, Kilgwyn, Plymouth y Negro Rock) y un área protegida (El parque Buccoo Marine Reef). Se utilizaron encuestas para determinar la densidad de peces, la diversidad y abundancia de especies a 10-15m de profundidad del contorno. El tamaño de los peces se convirtió a biomasa utilizando la relación talla- peso de los peces W=aLb. La mayoría de las comunidades de peces son dominadas por pequeños herbívoros (<15cm), en particular Pomacentridae y Scaridae. Pocos depredadores grandes (>40cm), por ejemplo Serranidae, se observó, lo que es indicativo de la presión de pesca. El análisis de escala multidimensional identificó tres conjuntos distintos de peces indicados como i) del noreste, ii) al suroeste y iii) grupos intermedios. El grupo del noroeste (Speyside y Charlotteville ) es más representativo de comunidades de peces de arrecife en toda la isla, y mostró la mayor riqueza de especies, diversidad y biomasa. Sin embargo, se observó la abundancia más alta de peces en el grupo del suroeste. El área marina protegida contenia mayor biomasa, abundancia, diversidad y riqueza de peces, pero era el único representante de las asociaciones de peces arrecifales en el suroeste de la isla y no de todo Tobago. Se recomienda determinar los impactos de la pesca en los arrecifes, particularmente con el uso de arpón.
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Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución 4.0.
Derechos de autor 2014 Revista de Biología Tropical