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150337 - Moray eels are more common on coral reefs subject to higher human.pdf (1.71 MB)

Moray eels are more common on coral reefs subject to higher human pressure in the greater Caribbean

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posted on 2023-05-24, 11:50 authored by Clementi, GM, Bakker, J, Flowers, KI, Postaire, BD, Babcock, EA, Bond, ME, Buddo, D, Cardenosa, D, Currey-Randall, LM, Goetze, JS, Harvey, ES, Michelle HeupelMichelle Heupel, Kiszka, JJ, Kyne, F, MacNeil, MA, Meekan, MG, Rees, MJ, Simpfendorfer, CA, Speed, CW, Heithaus, MR, Chapman, DD
Proximity and size of the nearest market (‘market gravity’) have been shown to have strong negative effects on coral reef fish communities that can be mitigated by the establishment of closed areas. However, moray eels are functionally unique predators that are generally not subject to targeted fishing and should therefore not directly be affected by these factors. We used baited remote underwater video systems to investigate associations between morays and anthropogenic, habitat, and ecological factors in the Caribbean region. Market gravity had a positive effect on morays, while the opposite pattern was observed in a predator group subject to exploitation (sharks). Environmental DNA analyses corroborated the positive effect of market gravity on morays. We hypothesize that the observed pattern could be the indirect result of the depletion of moray competitors and predators near humans.

History

Publication title

iScience

Volume

24

Article number

102097

Number

102097

Pagination

1-25

ISSN

2589-0042

Department/School

Integrated Marine Observing System

Publisher

Cell Press

Place of publication

United States

Rights statement

Copyright 2021 The Author(s) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Marine biodiversity

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