Wayward youth: how maturity, reproduction and seaweed drive snapper (Lutjanus spp.) habitat shifts.

ABSTRACT: Despite snappers' (family Lutjanidae) commercial and ecological significance, knowledge gaps remain regarding life history, ontogeny and ecology across their range in the Caribbean and south Atlantic. There is also a need to explore the efficacy of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool for enhancing nursery and spawning habitat conservation for multiple snapper species. Additionally, even as hurricanes and sargassum inundation have become rising issues for coastal communities, there is a scarcity of data on how commercially important species respond to these environmental disturbances. To address these data gaps, we investigated the spatial and temporal movements of 32 snappers of multiple species in mangrove estuary, reef and shelf edge habitats in St Croix, US Virgin Islands for up to

SUBMITTER: Siceloff L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12861840 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature