The Cichlidae are among the most diversified families of fish in the Neotropics and represent an important component of aquatic biodiversity. Understanding cichlid nest‐site selection is important for assemblages facing uncertain futures due to species invasions and environmental change. This information could be used to predict how inter‐ and intraspecific competition for reproductive space may affect populations with changing community dynamics or to identify areas as targets for conservation. We investigated which hydrogeomorphological factors correlated to preferred nest sites of four native cichlid species in the Bladen River, Belize. We recorded the locations of nest sites and collected habitat data through the study reach, including flow velocity, depth, sediment type, fish cover type richness and distance to the bank. Nest locations and physical habitat data were used to construct spatially explicit habitat models using boosted regression trees (BRTs). The models provided statistically significant evidence that physical habitat variables influence the distribution of the nest sites. We found that all species except Archocentrus spilurus were associated with substrate, specifically sand. Thorichthys meeki was also associated with lower water velocities, whereas Cichlasoma salvini was influenced by all five variables. Vieja maculicauda and Archocentrus spilurus were both influenced by flow velocity, distance to bank and depth, although A. spilurus preferred deeper, slightly faster locations about the same distance to the bank. This study suggests that the spatial distribution of nest sites within this cichlid community is significantly different than random and is at least partially governed by physical controls.

中文翻译：

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一条新热带小河中丽鱼科鱼巢点的规模分布的水文地貌控制

丽鱼科是新热带地区鱼类种类最丰富的鱼类之一，是水生生物多样性的重要组成部分。对于由于物种入侵和环境变化而面临不确定的未来的种群，了解丽鱼科鱼的巢穴选择非常重要。这些信息可以用来预测种间和种内对生殖空间的竞争可能会如何随着不断变化的社区动态而影响种群，或者将区域确定为保护的目标。我们调查了哪些水文地貌因素与伯利兹布拉德河中四种本地丽鱼科鱼的首选巢穴相关。我们记录了巢穴的位置，并通过研究范围收集了栖息地数据，包括流速，深度，沉积物类型，鱼盖类型的丰富程度和到岸的距离。巢位置和物理栖息地数据用于使用增强回归树（BRT）构建空间明确的栖息地模型。该模型提供了具有统计意义的证据，表明物理栖息地变量会影响巢穴的分布。我们发现除食心弧菌与底物有关，特别是与沙子有关。Thorichthys meeki还与较低的水速有关，而Salichi Cichlasoma salvini受所有五个变量影响。沙枣（Vieja maculicauda）和食心弧菌（Arcocentrus spilurus）都受流速，到河岸的距离和深度的影响，尽管沙门氏菌（A. spilurus）更喜欢在距河岸相同距离的较深，稍快的位置。这项研究表明，该丽鱼科动物群落中巢位的空间分布与随机分布明显不同，并且至少部分受物理控制。