Riffbarsch

Gruppe 4: Kleine Ovale

Riffbarsch

Gruppe 4 – Kleine Ovale: Während Taucher bei einem Tauchgang dazu neigen, zuerst die größeren, offensichtlicheren Fische zu bemerken, führt die Herausforderung, neue Arten zu finden, dazu, dass sie nach kurzer Zeit ihr Suchbild ändern, um nach kleineren, bisher unbemerkten Fischen zu suchen. Im Allgemeinen gehören die ersten neuen Arten, denen ein Taucher begegnet, zu der kleinen ovalen Gruppe. Diese Gruppe besteht aus den Riffbarschen und ihren nahen Verwandten, den Chromis. Jungfische ähneln den Doktorfischen darin, dass sie Algen fressen. Sie streifen nicht auf der Weide umher, sondern pflegen wie ein Bauer kleine Algengärten. Diese Gebiete werden streng bewacht, da die Algenfarm die Nahrungsquelle der Jungfrauen ist. Aus diesem Grund kann man sich den Riffbarsch nicht nur als territorialen Riffbarsch vorstellen, sondern auch als Riffbarsch mit seinem Revier.

Viele Riffbarsche haben als Jungfische deutlich andere Farben, die in jungen Jahren oft viel heller und bunter sind und mit zunehmendem Alter eintöniger werden. (Ähnlich wie wir Menschen!) Aus diesem Grund wurden die Jungfische in großem Umfang für den Aquarienhandel gesammelt und stehen unter starkem Fischereidruck. Im Rahmen des REEF Fish Survey Project werden Taucher gebeten, Jung- und Altfische bei zwei der Riffbarsche – dem Cortez-Riffbarsch und dem Riesen-Riffbarsch – getrennt zu überwachen.

Beaubrummel, juvenile (pez de dos colores, Stegastes flavilatus)

As with
many damselfishes, the beaubrummel is a rather bland looking fish as an adult, however, in the juvenile stage (shown here) its bright blue and yellow coloration stand out on the reef. Notice the colors are divided horizontally. Generally found in the shallower reef areas, it also has a small black spot at the base of the tail. (Size 1-3”)

Beaubrummel, adult (pez de dos colores, Stegastes flavilatus)

The adult beaubrummel is overall brown/tan in coloration with yellow edges to all its fins. (Max. size 5”)

Cortez Damselfish, adult (pez azul de Cortes, Stegastes rectifraenum)

Cortez damselfish are bright blue as juveniles, turning a deeper blue and finally to a dull brown later in life. This fish is an adult. (Max. size 4”)

Cortez Damselfish, juvenile

Found near the bottom like other damsels, the bright blue juvenile has been a prime target for collectors. (Size 1-4”)

Giant Damselfish, adult (castañuela gigante, Microspathodon dorsalis)

The giant damsel can grow to over 1 foot in length. It is usually found in shallow water of 20 feet or less and, though territorial, it is not as aggressive as the smaller damsels. The long filaments on the dorsal and anal fins can provide a positive ID. (Size 6-10”, max 12”)

Giant Damselfish, juvenile

The juvenile of the giant damsel is covered in bright blue spots and is more secretive than the adults. It is also a prime target for collectors. (Size 1-6”)

Blue-And-Yellow Chromis (castaneto de Limbaugh, Chromis limbaughi)

This member of the damselfish family is generally found on the deeper reef areas of 60 feet and more at the base of large rocky faces. Distinct blue and yellow coloration divides this fish at an angle. (Max. size 4”)

Scissortail Damselfish (castañeta conquita, Chromis atrilobata)

The scissortail damselfish (also called the brown chromis) can be very abundant in shallow waters and near the surface. Spending its time up in the water column, this chromis is an active plankton feeder. Aside from its drab brown coloration, the scissortail damselfish can also be identified by its distinct scissor tail. (Size 2.5- 4”, max 5”)

Panamic Sergeant Major (pintano, Abudefduf troschelii)

Sergeant majors are damselfish but spend most of their time feeding on algae and plankton in the water column. They can be readily identified by the bars down the side, just like the military shoulder stripes of the sergeant major. Males that are guarding eggs turn a dark purple. (Size 3-5”, max 9”)

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1. Disks and Ovals / Colorful

The first category of disk and oval shaped fish are very important to learn. They are colorful, large and very obvious and the three main families that make up the group can be found on almost every dive.

2. Silvery Fish

Silvery fish have many different family members, though we will look at just a few representatives. As opposed to the colorful butterfly, angel and surgeonfish, the silvery fish tend to blend in better in open water and are usually not found near the colorful bottom.

3. Sloping Head / Tapered Body

This third group of “fish-like” fish, are very important to learn. The are common on most dives and are also highly sought after as food fish. It is especially important to monitor these fish to provide data for fisheries management. Snappers can be very difficult to tell apart from the similarly shaped grunts. One helpful hint is to look at their tails. Snappers tend to have straight, flat tails. They are also known for their habit of snapping their mouth open and shut when caught on hook and line. They have very sharp canine teeth that can provide a nasty bite to the unsuspecting angler. Look closely on your next dive and you may see the small teeth protruding from the side of the mouth. Grunts on the other hand, have slightly notched tails. They get their name from the grunting sounds they emit when threatened. These sounds are created by rubbing together bony teeth plates located in the back of the throat. Since the teeth are in the throat, a diver will never see protruding teeth on a grunt, only big blubbery fish lips.

4. Small Ovals / Damselfish

While divers tend to first notice the larger, more obvious fish on a dive, after a short while the challenge to find new species leads them to change their search image to look for smaller, previously unnoticed fish. Generally, the first new species a diver will encounter will belong to the small oval shaped group. This group is broken into the damselfish and their close cousins the chromis. Damsels are like the surgeonfish in that they eat algae. They do not roam around grazing, but rather tend to small algae gardens like a farmer. These areas are guarded fiercely as the algae farm is the damsels food source. For that reason you can think of the damselfish as not just territorial, but Dam- selfish with its territory. Many damselfish have distinctly different colors as juveniles, often being much brighter and more colorful when they are young and becoming drab with age. (much like us humans!) For this reason, the juveniles have been heavily collected for the aquarium trade and are under heavy fishing pressure. As part of the REEF Fish Survey Project, divers are asked to monitor the juveniles and adults separately in two of the damselfish species – the Cortez damselfish and the giant damselfish.

5. Heavy Body / Large Lips

Heavy bodied, large lipped fish belong to the seabass family. We tend to refer to the larger seabasses as groupers and the smaller seabasses as bass or basslets. These fish are extremely important food fish and are under increasing threats from heavy fishing pressures. Monitoring these fish can help provide valuable data to aid in their protection. Most seabasses are hermaphrodites, meaning the same fish will be both a male and a female during its lifetime. The groupers are all born female and later change sex to become male. Most large groupers also congregate each year to spawn at a specific location, making them easy targets for emerging positioning and fishing technology.

6. Swim with Pectorals / Obvious Scales

The fish in this group all use their pectoral fins to swim with rather than the traditional tail swimming of most other fish. The scales are also quite large and obvious. These fish can also be hermaphrodites, like the groupers, with some fish changing sex and others staying the same. Intermediate and adult fish often have very different appearances compared to the always-male terminal phase. This means learning two colors to be able to ID the same species of fish. Most of the pictures shown in this curriculum are terminal phase males, unless noted.

7. Redish / Big Eyes

This group of reddish fish is normally not seen during day dives due to their nocturnal nature. The reddish color helps them blend in at night and the large eyes help them to see better.

8. Small, Elongated Bottom Dwellers

The small bottom dwelling fish often make up the most interesting fish to watch during your dive. Their approachable nature and interesting behaviors make them great fishwatching finds. Blennies tend to be slightly larger than gobies, but are most easily recognized by their curved body posture and expressive faces. Gobies, though similar in their habitat requirements, tend to sit flat and straight on the bottom. The jawfishes actually live in a burrow in the sand that they excavate and maintain.

9. Odd-Shaped Bottom-Dwellers

This category of fish is made up of families and species that didn’t quite fit anywhere else due to their unique body shapes.

10. Odd-Shaped Swimmers

This group of fish contain families that are unusual in their shape, but are swimmers rather than bottom dwellers.

11. Eels

Though looking like snakes, eels are fish. There are several different types of eels, and we will look at two – garden eels that live in burrows in the sand and moray eels. Moray eels have a bad reputation mainly due to the constant opening and closing of their sharp toothed mouths. However, this is not a threat to divers, as this action pumps water through their gills. Most eels are actually very shy.

12. Sharks & Rays

Even though the sharks and rays are cartilaginous (their skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bones), they are still referred to as fish and count during our surveys.

5 Fun Facts - Damsel Fish

Fun Facts Damsel

Kleine Fische, große Persönlichkeiten! Die Riffbarsche gehören zur Familie der Pomacentridae, zu der über 320 verschiedene Arten gehören! Es gibt sie in verschiedenen Formen, Größen und leuchtenden Farben. Die meisten Riffbarsche kommen in Meeres- oder Salzwasserlebensräumen im Atlantik und im Indopazifik vor. Es gibt noch einige andere Arten, die in Brackwasser- oder Süßwasserlebensräumen anzutreffen sind, wie zum Beispiel der (ebenfalls treffend benannte) Süßwasser-Riffbarsch

Umweltindikatoren: Die Gesundheit der Populationen von Jungfischen kann als Barometer für das allgemeine Wohlbefinden von Korallenriffen dienen. Die Überwachung ihrer Anzahl und ihres Verhaltens kann wertvolle Erkenntnisse über den Zustand dieser fragilen Ökosysteme liefern.

Riffwächter: Jungfrauen sind wie die Sicherheitswächter der Korallenriffe. Es ist bekannt, dass einige Arten ihr Revier erbittert verteidigen und sich sogar Fische schnappen, die viel größer sind als sie selbst, um ihre Behausungen zu schützen.

Künstler des schnellen Farbwechsels: Jungfische sind für ihre Fähigkeit bekannt, die Farbe schnell zu ändern. Sie nutzen diese Fähigkeit nicht nur zur Kommunikation, sondern auch zur Tarnung und zur Balz. Es ist, als hätte man einen eingebauten Stimmungsring!

Putzermannschaften: Einige Arten von Jungfischen, wie zum Beispiel der Putzer-Lippfisch, haben am Riff eine einzigartige Aufgabe. Sie fungieren als „Putzerfische“ und entfernen Parasiten und abgestorbene Haut von größeren Fischen. Es ist eine gegenseitige Beziehung, in der sie eine Mahlzeit bekommen und ihre Kunden eine Spa-Behandlung erhalten!

Filmstars: Jungfrauen haben ihren Weg in die Populärkultur gefunden. Erinnern Sie sich an den bunten Fisch im Animationsfilm „Findet Nemo“? Das war ein blauer Riffbarsch namens Dory, gesprochen von Ellen DeGeneres.

Riffbarsch

Gruppe 4: Kleine Ovale

Riffbarsch

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5 Fun Facts - Damsel Fish

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