Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:33:42.185Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unusual colour patterns of territorial damselfish (Pomacentridae: Stegastes) in the south-western Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2011

Allan T. Souza ,
Martina I. Ilarri ,
Paulo Roberto Medeiros ,
Cláudio L.S. Sampaio  and
Sergio R. Floeter
Allan T. Souza*
Affiliation:
CIMAR/CIIMAR Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Portugal ICBAS—Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Lg. Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal
Martina I. Ilarri
Affiliation:
CIMAR/CIIMAR Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Portugal ICBAS—Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Lg. Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal
Paulo Roberto Medeiros
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58059-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil
Cláudio L.S. Sampaio
Affiliation:
Departamento de Pesca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Campus Arapiraca, Unidade de Ensido Penedo, 57200-000, Alagoas, AL, Brasil
Sergio R. Floeter
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88019-970, Brasil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A.T. Souza, CIMAR/CIIMAR Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação, Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Portugal email: allantsouza@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Reef fish usually display a remarkable variety of colours and coloration patterns. The colour patterns are largely used for species identification, and some morphologically conservative genera are highly dependent on coloration for this purpose. In this context, this paper aims to briefly describe unusual colour patterns recorded for territorial damselfish of the genus Stegastes in the south-western Atlantic Ocean. Four unreported coloration pattern types were observed in three species (S. fuscus, S. rocasensis and S. pictus). The pale morph which is characterized by individuals presenting whitish marks over the regular coloration pattern was recorded in S. fuscus in north-eastern reefs and S. rocasensis in Fernando de Noronha archipelago. On the other hand, S. fuscus and S. pictus presented other types of unusual coloration patterns, which are characterized by an irregular cover (blue or dusky) over the regular colour pattern. Another type of unusual coloration pattern was recorded for S. fuscus, which presented a yellowish/reddish dorso-anterior band. Additionally, two distinct colour patterns of adult S. variabilis, from the south-eastern and north-eastern Brazilian reefs are reported.

Keywords

Brazilpale morphreef fishStegastes variabilis
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 4 , December 2011 , e101
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, G.R. (1991) Damselfishes of the world. Melle, Germany: Mergus Publications.Google Scholar
Araújo, M.E., Maranhão, H.A., Véras, D.P. and Hazin, F. (2009) Unusual coloration pattern in juveniles of Stegastes fuscus (Actinopterygii: Pomacentridae). Zootaxa 2081, 67–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, T. and Kramer, D.L. (2000) Territoriality and habitat use by juvenile blue tangs, Acanthurus coeruleus. Environmental Biology of Fishes 58, 401–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvalho-Filho, A. (1999) Peixes da costa brasileira. São Paulo, Brazil: Melro.Google Scholar
Cheney, K.L. and Marshall, N.J. (2009) Mimicry in coral reef fish: how accurate is this deception in terms of color and luminance? Behavioral Ecology 20, 459–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deloach, N. and Humann, P. (1999) Reef fish behavior. Jacksonville, FL: New World Publications.Google Scholar
DeMartini, E.E. and Donaldson, T.J. (1996) Color morph–habitat relations in the arc-eye hawkfish Paracirrhites arcatus (Pisces: Cirrhitidae). Copeia 1996, 362–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floeter, S.R., Guimarães, R.Z.P., Rocha, L.A., Ferreira, C.E.L., Rangel, C.A. and Gasparini, J.L. (2001) Geographic variation in reef-fish assemblages along the Brazilian coast. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10, 423–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasparini, J.L., Moura, R.L. and Sazima, I. (1999) Stegastes trindadensis n. sp. (Pisces: Pomacentridae), a new damselfish from Trindade Island, off Brazil. Boletim do Museu de Biologia Professor Mello Leitão 10, 3–11.Google Scholar
Gasparini, J.L. and Floeter, S.R. (2001) The shore fishes of Trindade Island, south-western Atlantic. Journal of Natural History 35, 1639–1656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, S.M. and McKinnon, J.S. (2007) Linking color polymorphism maintenance and speciation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22, 71–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Humann, P. and Deloach, N. (2002) Reef fish identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. Jacksonville, FL: New World Publications.Google Scholar
Kodric-Brown, A. (1998) Sexual dichromatism and temporary color changes in the reproduction of fishes. American Zoologist 38, 70–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leclercq, E., Taylor, J.F. and Miguad, H. (2010) Morphological skin colour changes in teleosts. Fish and Fisheries 11, 159–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehner, P.N. (1996) Handbook of ethological methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Luiz, O.J. (2003) Colour morphs in a queen angelfish Holacanthus ciliaris (Perciformes: Pomacanthidae) population of St. Paul's Rocks, NE Brazil. Tropical Fish Hobbyist 51, 82–90.Google Scholar
Marshall, N.J. (2000) Communication and camouflage with the same ‘bright’ colours in reef fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society—Biological Sciences Series B 355, 1243–1248.Google ScholarPubMed
Michael, S.W. (2001) Reef fishes. A guide to their identification, behavior, and captive care. Neptune City, NJ: TFH Publications.Google Scholar
Michael, S.W. (2008) Damselfishes and anemonefishes. Complete illustrated guide to their identification, behaviors, and captive care. Neptune City, NJ: TFH Publications.Google Scholar
Molina, W.F. and Galetti, P.M. Jr (2004) Multiple pericentric inversions and chromosomal divergence in the reef fishes Stegastes (Perciformes, Pomacentridae). Genetics and Molecular Biology 27, 543–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novelli, R., Nunan, G.W. and Lima, N.R.W. (2000) A new species of the damselfish genus Stegastes Jenyns, 1842 (Teleostei: Pomacentridae) from the coast of Brazil. Boletim do Museu Nacional 413, 1–12.Google Scholar
Pacheco, A.C.G. (2008) Partilha de hábitat entre peixes territorialistas nos recifes de Tamandaré—PE. MSc thesis. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brasil.Google Scholar
Sampaio, C.L.S., Carvalho-Filho, A., Feitoza, B.M., Ferreira, C.E.L., Floeter, S.R., Gasparini, J.L., Rocha, L.A. and Sazima, I. (2006) Peixes Recifais Endêmicos e Ameaçados das Ilhas Oceânicas Brasileiras e do Complexo recifal dos Abrolhos: Uma Síntese. In Alves, R.J.V. and Castro, J.W.A. (eds) Ilhas Oceânicas Brasileiras—da pesquisa ao manejo. Brasília: Secretaria de Biodiversidade e Florestas, pp. 217–234.Google Scholar
Sampaio, C.L.S. and Nottingham, M. (2008) Guia para Identificação de peixes ornamentais brasileiros. Brasília: IBAMA.Google Scholar