Fish communities inhabiting soft-sediment areas are representative conservation targets for coastal habitats, but how the ecological function of soft-sediment tidepools drives diversity is still unknown. To tackle this issue, the ecological functions of soft-sediment tidepools for fishes according to topographic types (open and closed habitats) on Okinawa-jima Island, located in subtropical Japan, were examined in diversity, species composition, and lifestyle (resident and transient species). Landward tidepools serve as permanent habitat for specialists, whereas seaward tidepools are more important for transient species as temporal habitats, which shaped the inverse trend in α- and β-diversity between topographic types, depending on the habitat heterogeneity and the biological characteristics of resident and transient species. We propose a strategy for the conservation and management of topographically distinct intertidal habitats, basically as a single set, while also considering the ecological functions with spatial nuances at smaller scales within coastal landscapes.

栖息在软沉积区的鱼类群落是沿海栖息地的代表性保护目标，但软沉积物潮池的生态功能如何驱动多样性尚不清楚。为了解决这个问题，位于日本亚热带的冲绳岛根据地形类型（开放和封闭栖息地）对鱼类的软沉积物潮池的生态功能进行了多样性、物种组成和生活方式（常驻和暂住）的研究。物种）。向陆潮池作为专家的永久栖息地，而向海潮池作为临时栖息地对临时物种更重要，这形成了地形类型之间α-和β-多样性的反向趋势，这取决于栖息地异质性和居民和居民的生物特征。过渡物种。