Tropical range extending herbivorous fishes gain foraging benefits by shoaling with native temperate species.

ABSTRACT: Tropicalization creates novel species assemblages in temperate ecosystems as range-extending species move. The sociality of range-extending species could facilitate their establishment, particularly if they associate with natives. The eastern Mediterranean Sea has witnessed widespread collapses of vegetated ecosystems since the arrival of the tropical rabbitfishes Siganus rivulatus and Siganus luridus. We explored whether mixed-species shoaling influenced the fish foraging activity of the novel herbivore assemblage. We recorded 250 shoals, 30% composed exclusively of native species (i.e., Sarpa salpa and Sparisoma cretense), 43% of rabbitfish, and 27% of species from both origins. S. rivulatus was the most gregarious species, establishing positive shoaling associations with S. luridus and

SUBMITTER: Minguito-Frutos M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12508093 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature