Spatial and Social Behavior of Acanthurus triostegus on Moorea (French Polynesia) and Palmyra Atoll (USA), 2017-2018

Human-induced environmental change has directly and indirectly affected
ecosystems on a global scale, altering the behavior, ecology, and
evolutionary trajectories of various species. Fishing of marine top
predators and the cascading effects this may have on marine ecosystems is
of critical concern. Predators are thought to be an important reason for
why fish form schools, thus, a reduction in predator populations could
alter schooling behavior for prey fish. Here, we investigate the indirect
effects of fishing out predators on the schooling behavior of coral reef
fishes. We compared the tendency to school for three fish species between
two Pacific coral reefs: Palmyra Atoll (USA), an unfished reef with high
predator abundance, and Moorea (French Polynesia), a fished reef with low
predator abundance. We also specifically characterize movement and
foraging-associated behaviors of one of these fishes, the convict
surgeonfish (Acanthurus triostegus), in this same comparative
context.