THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LARGE PREDATORY FISH AND RECRUITMENT AND MORTALITY OF JUVENILE CORAL REEF-FISH ON ARTIFICIAL REEFS

Predation on recently settled reef fishes is thought to potentially al ter their patterns of recruitment. This paper describes observations o f recruitment and mortality of pomacentrid recruits on artificial reef s constructed at two distances from natural reefs with differing numbe rs of large predatory fish. Subsequent patterns of recruit abundance ( < 3 wks old) on the artificial reefs were not obscured by post-recrui tment mortality due to predation. These results motivated an experimen t designed to assess whether predation pressure on artificial reefs wa s representative of predation pressure on natural reefs. The results i ndicated that prey on artificial reefs were less likely to encounter l arge predatory fish than prey on natural reefs. Tethered fish disappea red at a greater rate on natural reefs than on artificial reefs, and s uch losses were minimal within cages that excluded large predatory fis h. These findings highlight the potential for predation pressure to va ry among different habitat types and a need for care when choosing the habitats in which to study the effects of predation. Copyright (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science B.V.