Page:Biodiversity Assessment of the Fishes of Saba Bank Atoll, Netherlands Antilles.pdf/32

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

Monacanthus ciliatus (Mitchill, 1818)fringed filefish; USNM, I, V; Figure 193

Monacanthus tuckeri Bean, 1906slender filefish; USNM, I; Figure 194

Ostraciidae—boxfishes

Acanthostracion polygonia Poey, 1876honeycomb cowfish; USNM, F, O, V

Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)scrawled cowfish; USNM, F, O

Lactophrys bicaudalis (Linnaeus, 1758)spotted trunkfish; F

Lactophrys trigonus (Linnaeus, 1758)trunkfish; USNM, I, V; Figure 195

Lactophrys triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)smooth trunkfish; USNM, F, OBS, VIS; Figure 196

Tetraodontidae—puffers

Canthigaster rostrata (Bloch, 1786)sharpnose puffer; USNM, I, O, V; Figure 197

Sphoeroides spengleri (Bloch, 1785)bandtail puffer; USNM, I, O; Figure 198

Diodontidae—porcupinefishes

Chilomycterus antillarum Jordan & Rutter, 1897web burrfish; USNM, F; Figure 199

Figure 199. Chilomycterus antillarum, 180.0 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g199

Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758balloonfish; USNM, I, V; Figure 200

Figure 200. Diodon holocanthus, 104.9 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g200

Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758porcupinefish; O

Figure 193. Monacanthus ciliatus, 33.4 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g193
Figure 194. Monacanthus tuckeri, 32.3 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g194
Figure 195. Lactophrys trigonus, 293.1 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g195
Figure 196. Lactophrys triqueter, 111.7 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g196
Figure 197. Canthigaster rostrata, 50.9 mm SL, photo by JT Williams.
doi:10.137/journal.pone.0010676.g197

Discussion

We document the occurrence of 270 species of fishes at Saba Bank. The diversity of fishes at Saba Bank is comparable (Table 1) to that of the oceanic atolls of Colombia (273 species), the islands in the Mona Passage of Puerto Rico (261 species) and Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM; 262 species). The relatively high diversity of fishes at Saba Bank exists despite the lack of emergent land at the bank. There is no shallow-water shore-fish fauna represented on the bank due to the absence of a high-energy shoreline. These habitats typically add significantly to the fish diversity of Caribbean habitats. For example, the tube blennies (family Chaenopsidae) are a group of shorefishes typically found in fairly shallow coastal waters. According to Williams4, there are approximately 22 recognized species of tube blennies known to