Did you know that REEF is part of an international effort to determine how to best use large fish biodiversity datasets? REEF Co-Executive Director of Science & Engagement Dr. Christy Semmens is part of a working group called "CoNCENSUS: Advancing standardisation of COastal and Nearshore demersal fish visual CENSUS techniques", led by Anthony Bernard from the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and Rick Stuart-Smith from Reef Life Survey. Christy will attend the upcoming CoNCENSUS working group meeting in South Africa this October.
Tropical regions are, in general, more diverse than ecosystems at higher temperate latitudes. A commonly held hypothesis is that the diverse predators in tropical regions cause predation to have a relatively stronger role in shaping communities. Data from the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP) were used by Michele Repetto and colleagues from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to test for underlying differences in regional fish diversity that could contribute to variation in predation intensity and impact.
Biogeographic and Seasonal Differences in Consumer Pressure Underlie Strong Predation in the Tropics
Tropical regions are, in general, more diverse than ecosystems at higher temperate latitudes. A commonly held hypothesis is that the diverse predators in tropical regions cause predation to have a relatively stronger role in shaping communities. Data from the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP) were used by Michele Repetto and colleagues from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to test for underlying differences in regional fish diversity that could contribute to variation in predation intensity and impact.
REEF and the Semmens Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) are collaborating on an exciting new project that uses cutting-edge technology to improve our understanding of ocean ecosystems. The idea is simple: enable REEF volunteers to collect bits of environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material that animals shed into their surroundings. REEF surveyors, who are already in the water conducting fish surveys as part of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP), are excellent candidates to help gather eDNA samples.
This paper provides a review of the 28 dwarfgobies (genus Eviota) known to occur in Fiji, including descriptions of five new species. One of these new species, Eyre's Dwarfgoby, was initially discovered and documented by REEF surveyor, Janet Eyre. This was the first of several new species that Janet's keen eyes and strong natural history sense has generated. The paper provides an illustrated key to the dwarfgoby species known to occur in Fiji, and each species is represented by a diagnosis or a description, range, habitat descriptions, and photographs.
Our partners at the Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DoE) recently used REEF data to evaluate Scalloped Hammerhead shark populations in the Cayman Islands, and their findings could mean good news for the future of hammerhead sharks in the area! The Scalloped Hammerhead is a critically endangered shark species with a decreasing global population. They are normally seen in large schools in the Pacific Ocean, but this is a rare sighting in the Atlantic Ocean, and schools of Scalloped Hammerheads have not been observed in the Cayman Islands for decades.
The Scalloped Hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini), a critically endangered species with a decreasing global population, is characterised by its occurrence in large schools. Such schools are still observed today in the Pacific Ocean, but this is generally not the case in the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Cayman Islands not since the 1970s. The authors of this paper report a recent record of a school of S.
The state of biodiversity for most of the world is largely unknowable due to a lack of long-term population monitoring data. Citizen science programs could substantially contribute to resolving this data crisis, but there are noted concerns on whether methods can overcome the biases and imprecision inherent to these programs.
REEF recently concluded the annual field season for the Grouper Moon Project, a highly successful conservation science collaboration between REEF and the Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DOE) to study one of the largest and last known spawning aggregations of endangered Nassau Grouper in the Caribbean. The research team, made up of REEF staff and volunteers, along with our collaborators from DOE, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Oregon State University, conducted daily dives on the aggregation off the west end of Little Cayman, and visited the an active aggregation on Caym
Last month, we wrapped up the year-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project (VFSP). Since its launch in 1993, this citizen science program has generated one of the largest marine life databases in the world. Here are a few stats to recap a great year!