Spatial distribution and feeding substrate of butterflyfishes (family Chaetodontidae) on an Okinawan coral reef.

ABSTRACT: Coral reefs support diverse communities, and relationships among organisms within these communities are quite complex. Among the relationships, clarifying the habitat association and foraging substrate selection relative to habitat characteristics is of central importance to ecology since these two aspects are the fundamentals for survival and growth of organisms. The aims of the present study were to investigate the spatial distribution and feeding substrate selection of 14 species of butterflyfishes on an Okinawan coral reef in Japan. Species-specific spatial distributions varied with habitat characteristics (e.g., encrusting corals, massive corals, branching Acropora and rock). For feeding substrates, seven species of obligate coral polyp feeders exhibited significant positive se

SUBMITTER: Nanami A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7413084 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature