An updated checklist of the reef fishes of the Southeastern Reefs Marine Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic

Lista actualizada de los peces arrecifales del Santuario Marino Arrecifes del Sureste, República Dominicana

Table 1

Sites of study (visual surveys) of fish associated with coral reefs in the SMASE. Geographical coordinates (decimal degrees) and depths (m) are included.

Reef	Latitude (N)	Longitude (W)	Depth
1. La Pared	18º15’28.8”	68º46’55.2”	6
2. Coralina	18º22’12”	68º50’49.2”	4
3. Atlantic Princess	18º22’8.4”	68º51’7.2”	13
4. Magallán	18º21’43.2”	68º50’45.6”	13
5. Pepito I	18º20’42”	68º49’58.8”	14
6. Pepito II	18º20’34.8”	68º49’48”	14
7. Dominicus Reef	18º20’34.8”	68º49’58.8”	13
8. El Peñón	18º15’10.8”	68º46’44.4”	13
9. Punta Cacón	18º10’37.2”	68º47’31.2”	14
10. Cayo Ratón	18º11’42”	68º38’13.2”	4

Results

A total of 150 species of reef fishes from 86 genera and 47 families were observed in the transects (Table 2).

Table 2

Taxonomic list of fish fauna observed in the SMASE coral reefs of La Pared (LP), Coralina (C), Atlantic Princess (AP), Magallán (M), Pepito I (PI), Pepito II (PII), Dominicus Reef (DR), El Peñón (EP), Punta Cacón (PC), and Cayo Ratón (CR). An * indicates a new record for the area.

The greatest number of species counted in the surveys belonged to the order Perciformes, with 105 species (70%), followed by the Tetraodontiformes with 18 (12.1%) and the Anguilliformes with 7 (4.7%). Determination of the species richness indicated that the families Serranidae (16 species; 10.7%), Haemulidae (12 species; 8.1%), and Pomacentridae (10 species; 6.3%) were the most speciose. The remaining families had lower levels of species richness (< 9). Haemulon and Lutjanus, with 7 species each, were the most species-rich genera, followed by Chaetodon, Stegastes, and Sparisoma with 5 species. The genera Calamus, Scarus, and Gymnothorax, were represented by 4 species (Fig. 2), while the rest (78 genera) were represented by not more than 3 species in the area (Fig. 3).

We documented 14 new records for the area of influence of the SMASE (9.4% of the total): Cosmocampus elucens Poey, 1868, Emblemariopsis sp. Longley, 1927, Haemulon parra Desmarest, 1823, Hemiramphus balao Lesueur, 1821, Hemiramphus brasiliensis Linnaeus, 1758, Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933, Lutjanus cyanopterus Cuvier, 1828, Halicampus crinitus Jenyns, 1842, Mycteroperca bonaci Poey, 1860, Ophioblennius macclurei Silvester, 1915, Seriola dumerili Risso, 1810, Stegastes adustus Troschel, 1865, Balistes capriscus Gmelin, 1789 and Pterois volitans Linnaeus, 1758 (Fig. 4).

Discussion

The list of species registered in this work constitutes the first record for the reefs La Pared, Coralina, Atlantic Princess, Magallán, Punta Cacón, and Pepito I and II, all in the SE region of the Dominican Republic.

The species richness (150) is consistent with other studies, including the most represented families being Serranidae, Scaridae, and Haemulidae (Bustamante et al., 1998; Schmitt et al., 2002; Williams et al., 1983). Additionally, most of the species observed in this study (93.3%) are widely distributed in coral reefs of the tropical western Atlantic (Joyeux et al., 2001), including the lionfish, which originated in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and has widely invaded the Atlantic coast and Caribbean region (Schofield, 2009). Only 6 species present in the SMASE are on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 5 species are assessed as vulnerable (Coryphopterus personatus Jordan & Thompson, 1905, Elacatinus prochilos Böhlke & Robins, 1968, Lachnolaimus maximus Walbaum, 1792, Lutjanus cyanopterus Cuvier, 1828, and Balistes capriscus Gmelin, 1789)
and 1 as endangered (Epinephelus striatus Bloch, 1792).

This study recorded 150 species, which represents a 17% increase in the number of species compared with the most recent previous study, which identified 125 species (Schmitt et al., 2002). However, it is worth noting that the use of other sampling techniques, such as a detailed cryptic survey or rotenone collections, would increase the number of species recorded (Del Moral-Flores et al., 2013). Nonetheless, the RDT is useful for species detection, and Schmitt et al. (2002) concluded that it is a good sampling method for achieving a better representation of the fish community (more species) (Francisco-Ramos & Arias – González, 2013).

Local species richness may be related to environmental conditions and ecological relationships (e.g., topographic complexity), with different reefs providing different amounts of habitat availability and diversity in which fishes can feed and reproduce (Gratwicke & Speight, 2005). These reefs present rough surfaces with holes that serve as refuges, and they have substrates with complex structures. Furthermore, their proximity to mangroves and sea grasses may increase species richness (Rogers et al., 2014).

This study adds 14 new records of fishes present in coral reefs of the SE region of the coast of the Dominican Republic. A comprehensive inventory of fish species is critical for an assessment of the biodiversity and ecological relationships on reefs and will play a significant role in the conservation of endangered coral reef habitats.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff of Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies and the Coral Reefs Ecosystems Ecology Laboratory of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies – Campus Mérida (CINVESTAV-IPN). The authors also thank the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt ) for their valuable contribution. Camilo Cortés-Useche thanks the mixed program grants provided by Conacyt (290936) and support of FOMIX (YUC-2014-C17-247043). We thank the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic for permission to work in the Marine Protected Area. We would also like to thank Dr. Benjamin C. Victor from the Nova Southeastern University (Florida) for their kind support identifying the chaenopsid blenny Emblemariopsis sp. Berlin Jiménez and Núria Torras Rovira for their photographs.

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