MCR LTER: Coral Reef Resilience: North Shore Herbivorous Fish Counts, Habitat Associations, and Substrate, 2010

These data describe the species abundance, size distributions, and habitat
associations of roving herbivorous fishes (fishes belonging to the families,
Acanthuridae, Scaridae, and Siganidae) found in different habitats in the lagoon and
forereef on the north shore of Moorea. Adult fishes and large juveniles were counted
(and their size estimated) by a SCUBA diver or snorkeler on thirty-four 50 m by 5 m
wide transects. After counting large fishes, the entire transect was swam a second
time, with the diver looking exclusively for small juvenile fishes on a 1 m swath.
In addition to recording the species identity and estimated size of each juvenile
encountered, the diver also recorded the particular microhabitat each individual or
group of individuals was associated with. Finally, to quantify the relative
availability of different types of microhabitat, the diver conducted point contacts
where the primary benthic substrate was identified at regular (1 m) intervals on the
same transect.