New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Relationship between long-term changes in algal community structure and
herbivore diet at the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand
W. Lindsey Zemke-White*
Kendall D. Clements
School of Biological Sciences
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92 019
Auckland, New Zealand
*Present address: School of Applied Sciences, Auckland University
of Technology, Private Bag 92 006, Auckland, New Zealand. email: lindsey.zemke-white@aut.ac.nz
Abstract We examined temporal changes at the Three Kings
Islands, New Zealand in 1993 and 2002 in the diet of the endemic herbivorous
fish Odax cyanoallix (Family Labridae) and in habitat-forming macroalgae,
and compared these with published accounts from 1979. The diet of O. cyanoallix
predominantly comprised the laminarian Ecklonia radiata in 1993, and
the fucoids Sargassum johnsonii and Landsburgia quercifolia
in 2002. In depths <10 m, the endemic fucoid S. johnsonii was dominant
in 1979 and 2002 and absent in 1993. E. radiata was absent in 1979,
abundant in 1993, and rare in 2002. A period of significantly lower sea-surface
temperatures (SST) at the Three Kings Islands in 1990-95 corresponded to
an unusually long El Niño event. The low SST may have resulted in
the failure of S. johnsonii to grow and/or recruit during the El Niño
event, leading to the observed changes. This study demonstrates variability
in fucoid and laminarian assemblages over large time scales that are reflected
in diet shifts in a species of herbivorous fish.
Keywords herbivory; long-term change; herbivorous fish;
seaweed; Ecklonia radiata; Sargassum johnsonii; Odax cyanoallix
M03079; Online publication date 24 November 2004 Received 10 November
2003; accepted 7 July 2004
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2004, Vol. 38:
837–844
0028–8330/04/3805–0837 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004
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