Highlighting ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by nocturnal coral reef fish.

Abstract

The lagoon of Moorea Island was characterised by 12 distinct reef zones. Visual censuses allowed us to document the spatial distributions of recently settled juveniles vs adults of 17 nocturnal fish species among the 12 reef zones. Five distinct patterns in habitat use were found: an increase in the number of reef zones used during the adult stage (four species); a decrease in the number of reef zones adults used compared to recently settled juveniles (two species); the use of different reef zones (one species); the use of same reef zones but with relative densities different (one species); and no change in habitat use (nine species). Overall, this study is the first to explore the use of space by a broad range of nocturnal fish taxa to document the patterns and determinism of habitat shifts between juvenile and adult life stages.