Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait 1995-1996

The fish fauna of the edge of coral reefs in Torres Strait was investigated by underwater visual transects at 276 sites on 41 reefs between August 1995 and January 1996. The fish community contained most common families of tropical Indo-Pacific coral reefs.

Acanthurids, Chaetodontids, Pomacentrids and Labrids were the most widespread and speciose families observed. The relative abundance of each species at each site was used to classify sites with multi-dimensional scaling (MDS). The species composition varied strongly across the region with sites classifying into four distinct groups. These represented groups of fish species most abundant on (1) the eastern outer ribbon reefs; (2) the mid- shelf reefs; (3) central Warrior reef complex and (4) the western reefs north of Moa Island.

These patterns in fish community structure were related to changes in the relative proportions of the major benthic habitats in each area. Many species tended to be abundant either in areas of high coral cover (eastern outer ribbon reefs) or high algal cover (central and western reefs). Other factors that were correlated with fish species composition included the distance from sources of terrestrial runoff in Papua New Guinea and Cape York, northern Australia. This effect is likely to be indirect, through the influence of runoff of benthic habitats. These results show that fish communities in Torres Strait are strongly structured and influenced by the benthic habitats. The distribution of benthic habitats are in turn heavily influenced by the regional physical processes that occur because of the location of Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Refer to the published report:

Milton DA and Long BG. (1997) Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait, Australia. Final Report June 1997 (MR-GIS 97/6). CSIRO Marine Research, Cleveland. 14pp.

1995年8月至1996年1月期间，研究团队采用水下视觉样带法，于41座珊瑚礁的276个采样点开展调查，解析托雷斯海峡（Torres Strait）珊瑚礁边缘海域的鱼类区系。该鱼类群落涵盖印度-太平洋热带珊瑚礁生态系统的绝大多数常见鱼类科。

刺尾鱼科（Acanthuridae）、蝴蝶鱼科（Chaetodontidae）、雀鲷科（Pomacentridae）与隆头鱼科（Labridae）为本次调查中分布最广、物种丰富度最高的鱼类类群。研究以各采样点各物种的相对丰度数据为基础，通过多维尺度分析（multi-dimensional scaling, MDS）对采样点进行聚类分类。结果显示，区域内鱼类物种组成差异显著，采样点可划分为4个截然不同的类群，分别对应在以下生境中占优势的鱼类类群：(1) 东部外带状珊瑚礁；(2) 陆架中部珊瑚礁；(3) 中部沃里厄尔礁复合体；(4) 莫阿岛以北的西部珊瑚礁。

鱼类群落结构的上述分布模式，与各区域主要底栖生境的相对占比变化密切相关。多数鱼类物种倾向于在珊瑚盖度较高的区域（东部外带状珊瑚礁）或藻类盖度较高的区域（中部与西部珊瑚礁）形成优势种群。其余与鱼类物种组成显著相关的影响因素还包括：采样点距离巴布亚新几内亚与澳大利亚北部约克角陆地径流源地的距离。该影响可能通过径流对底栖生境的调控作用间接产生。本研究结果表明，托雷斯海峡的鱼类群落具有显著的空间结构特征，且受底栖生境的强烈调控；而底栖生境的空间分布，则深受托雷斯海峡地处澳大利亚与巴布亚新几内亚之间这一地理位置所带来的区域物理过程影响。

请参阅已发表的研究报告：Milton DA与Long BG. (1997) 《澳大利亚托雷斯海峡珊瑚礁鱼类群落的大型分布模式受海岸过程的影响》，1997年6月最终报告（MR-GIS 97/6），CSIRO海洋研究部，克利夫兰，共14页。