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Non-native regal demoiselle, Neopomacentrus cyanomos, presence, abundance, and habitat factors in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico

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A Correction to this article was published on 30 March 2021

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Abstract

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys were conducted at reef sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) during 2018–2019. Artificial (AR = 63) and natural (NR = 139) reefs were located in a 2 × 105 km2 area south of Mobile, AL to Destin, FL at depths of 13–75 m. We observed a total of 5371 damselfishes (Family: Pomacentridae) belonging to eight taxa. The non-native regal demoiselle (regal), Neopomacentrus cyanomos, was present at 30.2% of ARs but only 1.4% of NRs with densities ranging from 0.19 to 18.11 fish per 100 m2. Regals were most dense at shallow ARs, comprising 53% of the damselfish community, and least dense at deeper reefs comprising < 1% of observed damselfishes. Results from generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) indicated the interaction among reef type, complexity, relief, and depth had a significant effect on regal density but that reef type (36%) and the interaction between reef type and depth (25%) explained the greatest proportions of variance in the data (partial η2) while the interaction among all four main effects explained only a small amount (2%). Our data indicate regals prefer shallow artificial structures with low complexity but can occupy deeper reefs, including NRs, despite less-favorable conditions. Our data document the persistence of regals in the nGOM and identify habitat factors that are significantly related to their presence and density in the region. However, the dynamics controlling their distribution are still uncertain and potential negative impacts on native reef fish communities remain unclear.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions helped to improve our analyses and writing of this manuscript. We thank Captains Johnny Greene, Sean Kelly, and Josh Livingston and crew for participation and assistance in the ROV sampling. We also thank laboratory members Kristen Dahl, Jordan Bajema, Holden Harris, Miaya Glabach and Jessica Van Vaerenbergh for conducting field work associated with ROV and lionfish trapping studies. This research was made possible in part by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative/C-image III. Data (https://doi.org/10.7266/dkbv9pgp) are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org. Funding was also provided by The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Restore Centers of Excellence Program (Grant Number: 4710-1126-00-D).

Funding

This research was made possible in part by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative/C-image III. Data (https://doi.org/10.7266/dkbv9pgp) are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org. Funding was also provided by The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Restore Centers of Excellence Program (Grant Number: 4710–1126-00-D).

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WFP designed the experiment. JHT and SBG collected data, JHT, SBG analyzed the data, JHT, WFP, SBG wrote the manuscript. All authors critiqued the manuscript for intellectual content.

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Correspondence to Joseph H. Tarnecki.

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The original online version of this article was revised due to the third author’s name published incorrectly and it has been corrected.

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Tarnecki, J.H., Garner, S.B. & Patterson, W.F. Non-native regal demoiselle, Neopomacentrus cyanomos, presence, abundance, and habitat factors in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico. Biol Invasions 23, 1681–1693 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02424-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02424-0

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