Camilo Moitinho Ferreira

Live coral predation by parrotfishes (Perciformes: Scaridae) in the Abrolhos Bank, eastern Brazil, with comments on the classification of species into functional groups

Parrotfishes (Perciformes: Scaridae) represent a critical functional group on coral reefs because their intense herbivory activity helps in avoiding coral overgrowth by algae. Although feeding preferentially on algae and detritus, some parrotfish species also consume live corals, leading to detrimental effects that may offset the benefits of removing competitive seaweeds. Parrotfish species differ markedly in terms of jaw morphology, foraging activity and extent of substratum excavation, and are typically divided into three functional groups: browsers, scrapers and excavators. The recognition of species within each functional group helps to understand their relative effects in terms of bioerosion, coral fitness and survival, habitat alteration and ecosystem dynamics. Here we report on live coral predation by the Brazilian endemic parrotfishes Scarus trispinosus and Sparisoma amplum in the largest coral reefs of the South Atlantic (Abrolhos Bank, eastern Brazil) and comment on their classification into functional groups based on direct behavioral observations. Scarus trispinosus and Sp. amplum allocated 0.8% and 8.1% of their bites to live corals respectively. Sparisoma amplum fed at lower rates, took shorter feeding forays and larger bites than Sc. trispinosus. Bite rates and foray size were negatively correlated to body size for Sc. trispinosus, but not for Sp. amplum. Our results indicate that Sp. amplum may be primarily recognized as an excavating species, as well as the most specialized parrotfish coral predator in Brazil, while Sc. trispinosus may be recognized as a scraper or excavator depending on its body size. This functional classification corresponds to the classification used for the putative sister taxa of Sc. trispinosus (Sc. coeruleus) and the sister taxa of Sp. amplum (Sp. viride) in the Caribbean, indicating that these two congeneric species pairs play similar ecological roles in different geographic regions.

The Spanish hogfish Bodianus rufus (Labridae) acting as cleaner of nocturnal fish in the north-east of Brazil

This work reports Bodianus rufus (Labridae) cleaning three clients with nocturnal habits, Rypticus saponaceus (Serranidae), Myripristis jacobus (Holocentridae) and Odontoscion dentex (Sciaenidae) during the day. Our data reinforces the hypothesis that the proximity of temporary cleaning stations to nocturnal fish shelters reduces the exposure of clients to potential predators.

The twinspot bass Serranus flaviventris (Serranidae) as follower of the goldspotted eel Myrichthys ocellatus (Ophichthidae) in north-eastern Brazil, with notes on other serranids

This paper reports the twinspot bass Serranus flaviventris as followers of the goldspotted eel Myrichthys ocellatus in Tinhare Island, Bahia State, north-eastern Brazil. The goldspotted eel disturbs the sediment in coastal waters exposing prey in which the the twinspot bass forages. This note describes for the first time the following behaviour between Serranus and Anguiliform fish. In the remainder of the note we present a review of this behaviour for small serranids in shallow waters of Bahia, north-eastern Brazil.

Community structure of shallow rocky shore fish in a tropical bay of the southwestern Atlantic

Southwestern Atlantic Ocean rocky shores sustain important reef fish communities. However, those communities in tropical regions are not well understood, especially in Brazil. In this present article we assess community parameters of reef fishes such as composition, trophic organization and their relationships with physical and biological factors on four tropical rocky shores in Todos os Santos Bay, southwestern Atlantic. During six months, a total of 80 visual censuses were performed, in which 3,582 fish belonging to 76 species were recorded. Territorial herbivorous fish and turf algae were dominant at all the sites. The spatial variability of fish community structure was related to the benthic cover composition and depth. The high abundance of territorial herbivores and mobile invertebrate feeders could be associated with high levels of turf cover, low wave exposure and shallow waters. Moreover, this fact could be a consequence of the low density of roving herbivores and large carnivores probably due to the pressure of intense fishing activity. Thus complementary studies are needed to evaluate the actual conservation status of these rocky shore reefs, singularly located habitats connecting inner and outer reefs in Todos os Santos Bay.