Common coral reef fishes of French Cay
Chaetodon capistratus, Foureye butterflyfish-the most frequently observed reef fish inFrench Cay. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. (
Contents
Introduction French Cay is one of the Turks and Caicos Islands (Common coral reef fishes of French Cay) in the West Indies. Over220 species of reef fishes have been identified during REEF Fish Surveys in French Cay.
25 most common species in French Cay
Foureye butterflyfish- the most frequently observed reef fish in French Cay. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The following ranking is based on the results of344REEF Fish Surveyscovering a bottom time of328 hours and15 minutes.(REEF Geographic Zone Report. June 3, 2009). The species are ranked by the percentage of surveys in which a species was observed. Abundance of fishes in REEF Fish Surveys are estimated using the following categories: 1- single =1 individual, 2-few = 2- 10 individuals, 3-many = 11-100 individuals, and 4-abundant > 100 individuals.
Blue chromis- the reef fish with the highest mean adundance in French Cay. Reef Fish Identification, New World Publications © 1994. The mean numeric abundance (ranging from 1 - 4) was calculated for each species.. The mean abundance category is determined as follows: mean abundance category 0 - 1.49 = single, 1.50 - 1.99 = single-few, 2.0 - 2.49 = few, 2.5 - 2.99 = few-many, 3.0 - 3.49 = many, 3.5 -3.99 = many-abundant, and 4.0 = abundant.
|
Species |
% of surveys observed |
Mean abundance category |
|
1. Foureye butterflyfish |
87.8 |
few |
|
2. Stoplight parrotfish |
83.7 |
few |
|
3. Bluehead |
83.4 |
many |
|
4. Blue chromis |
82.0 |
mean-abundant |
|
5. Bicolor damselfish |
81.4 |
few-many |
|
6. Fairy basslet |
77.6 |
many |
|
7. Trumpetfish |
76.7 |
few-many |
|
8. Yellowtail snapper |
76.2 |
few-many |
|
9. Blue tang |
74.4 |
few |
|
10. Nassa grouper |
71.2 |
single-few |
|
11. French grunt |
70.9 |
few-many |
|
12. Bluestriped grunt |
68.0 |
few |
|
13. Queen angelfish |
66.9 |
single-few |
|
14. Rock beauty |
66.9 |
few |
|
15. Black durgon |
66.6 |
few |
|
16. Bar jack |
66.3 |
few |
|
17. Princess parrotfish |
66.0 |
single-few |
|
18. Horse-eye jack |
65.6 |
few-many |
|
19. Longspine squirrelfish |
64.9 |
few-many |
|
20.Harlequin bass |
62.6 |
few |
|
21. Yellow goatfish |
62.2 |
few |
|
22. Yellowhead wrasse |
62.1 |
few-many |
|
23. Queen triggerfish |
60.4 |
few |
|
24. Great barracuda |
59.8 |
few |
|
25. Schoolmaster |
57.8 |
many |
References and Further Reading
- Reef Environmental Education Foundation
- Geographic Zone Report- 06-03-2009
- REEF Fish Gallery
- Humann, P. and N. Deloach (Editor), 1994. Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc. Jacksonville, FL. ISBN: 1878348078
