Reef fishes of Saba Bank, Netherlands Antilles: assemblage structure across a gradient of habitat types.

ABSTRACT: Saba Bank is a 2,200 km(2) submerged carbonate platform in the northeastern Caribbean Sea off Saba Island, Netherlands Antilles. The presence of reef-like geomorphic features and significant shelf edge coral development on Saba Bank have led to the conclusion that it is an actively growing, though wholly submerged, coral reef atoll. However, little information exists on the composition of benthic communities or associated reef fish assemblages of Saba Bank. We selected a 40 km(2) area of the bank for an exploratory study. Habitat and reef fish assemblages were investigated in five shallow-water benthic habitat types that form a gradient from Saba Bank shelf edge to lagoon. Significant coral cover was restricted to fore reef habitat (average cover 11.5%) and outer reef flat habitat (2.4%) a

SUBMITTER: Toller W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2873942 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature