Abundance and Diversity of Crypto- and Necto-Benthic Coastal Fish Are Higher in Marine Forests than in Structurally Less Complex Macroalgal Assemblages.

ABSTRACT: In Mediterranean subtidal rocky reefs, Cystoseira spp. (Phaeophyceae) form dense canopies up to 1 m high. Such habitats, called 'Cystoseira forests', are regressing across the entire Mediterranean Sea due to multiple anthropogenic stressors, as are other large brown algae forests worldwide. Cystoseira forests are being replaced by structurally less complex habitats, but little information is available regarding the potential difference in the structure and composition of fish assemblages between these habitats. To fill this void, we compared necto-benthic (NB) and crypto-benthic (CB) fish assemblage structures between Cystoseira forests and two habitats usually replacing the forests (turf and barren), in two sampling regions (Corsica and Menorca). We sampled NB fish using Underwater Visual

SUBMITTER: Thiriet PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5070871 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature