The status of reef fishes in the Cayman Islands (B.W.I.)

This paper is the result of a 1999 AGRRA expedition to the Cayman Islands coordinated by the Marine Education and Environmental Research Institute (MEERI). The paper uses the REEF database (over 1,200 surveys from the Cayman Islands) and the AGRRA fish data to provide an updated species list for the Islands, a comparison between islands (Grand Cayman and Little Cayman) and sites (33 sites), and an analysis of the relationships between herbivorous fishes and algal cover. Thanks to the REEF database, 44 species were added to the list of fishes known to occur on the Islands. A site's location (windward or leeward) appeared to be an important factor in community composition. Additionally, many species had significantly higher abundances on Little Cayman, including groupers which is probably an indication of the difference in anthropogenic impacts between the two islands.