USGS 2001 Buck Island National Monument Cryptic Fish Survey

Because cryptic fishes are difficult to accurately survey, they are undersampled components of coral reef habitats. Fifty-eight enclosed stations were sampled in shoreline, nearshore reef, lagoon, backreef, forereef, and bank/shelf habitats with an ichthyocide (rotenone) at Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands in July-August 2001. Our samples included 228 fish species in 55 families, including 60 species previously unreported from St. Croix. Fish assemblages varied across habitat zones with the shoreline assemblage the most distinct. Only 8% of the species were present in all habitats. The use of rotenone is controversial but important for obtaining reasonably complete inventories of reef fishes. For more information, see Smith-Vaniz, W.F., H.L. Jelks, and L.A. Rocha. 2006. Relevance of cryptic fishes in biodiversity assessments: a case study at Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix. Bulletin of Marine Science 79:17-48.