Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The Western Indian Ocean harbors one of theworld’s most diverse marine biota yet is threatened byexploitation with few conservation measures in place.Primary candidates for conservation in the region are theScattered Islands (Iles Eparses), a group of relativelypristine and uninhabited islands in the MozambiqueChannel. However, while optimal conservation strategiesdepend on the degree of population connectivity amongspatially isolated habitats, very few studies have beenconducted in the area. Here, we use highly variablemicrosatellite markers from two damselfishes (Amphiprionakallopisos and Dascyllus trimaculatus) with differing lifehistory traits [pelagic larval duration (PLD), adult habitat]to compare genetic structure and connectivity among theseislands using classic population structure indices as well asBayesian clustering methods. All classical fixation indexesFST, RST, G0ST, and Jost’s D show stronger genetic differentiationamong islands for A. akallopisos compared to D.trimaculatus, consistent with the former species’ shorterPLD and stronger adult site attachment, which may restrictlarval dispersal potential. In agreement with these results,the Bayesian analysis revealed clear genetic differentiationamong the islands in A. akallopisos, separating the southerngroup (Bassas da India and Europa) from the center(Juan de Nova) and northern (Iles Glorieuses) islands, butnot for D. trimaculatus. Local oceanographic patterns suchas eddies that occur along the Mozambique Channel appearto parallel the results reported for A. akallopisos, but suchfeatures seem to have little effect on the genetic differentiationof D. trimaculatus. The contrasting patterns ofgenetic differentiation between species within the samefamily highlight the importance of accounting for diverselife history traits when assessing community-wide connectivity,an increasingly common consideration in conservationplanning.
ISSN: 0722-4028

hal-01561992
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01561992
DOI : 10.1007/s00338-016-1495-z

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Inter-Research
Résumé : International audience
Many large groupers form spawning aggregations, returning to the same spawning sites in consecutive spawning seasons. Connectivity between spawning aggregations is thus assured by larval dispersal. This study looks into the genetic structure and gene flow among spawning aggregations of a large grouper, the gulf coney Hyporthodus acanthistius, in the northern Gulf of California. First, using the mitochondrial control region and 11 microsatellites, we calculated FST metrics and conducted a Bayesian clustering analysis to determine structure among 5 spawning aggregations. Shallow genetic structure was found, separating the southernmost spawning aggregate from the remainder. Second, we used the results from the structure analysis and local water circulation patterns to delineate 3 distinct models of gene flow. The best-supported model, in which the southernmost spawning aggregate formed one group and all other spawning aggregates were nested into a second group, was the one that was consistent with water circulation during the species’ spawning season. Larval retention within a seasonal anticyclonic gyre that formed during the gulf coney’s spawning season may be responsible for the patterns found. This study highlights the importance of local oceanographic conditions in dictating the structure among spawning aggregations even at small geographic scales and contributes to informed management plans for this overexploited grouper.
Marine Ecology Progress Series

hal-01301199
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01301199
DOI : 10.3354/meps10637

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Outbreaks of the corallivorous crown-of-thorns seastar Acanthaster planci (COTS) represent one of the greatest disturbances to coral reef ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific, affecting not only coral reefs but also the coastal communities which rely on their resources. While injection approaches are increasingly used in an attempt to control COTS densities, most of them display severe drawbacks including logistical challenges, high residual environmental impacts or low cost-effectiveness. We tested a new alternative control method based upon acidic injections of cheap, 100% natural products. We investigated the lethal doses, intra-and inter-specific disease transmission and immune responses of COTS when injected with fresh lime juice (extracted from local Citrus arantifolia) and white spirit vinegar. High COTS mortality was achieved with small volumes: 10–20 ml per seastar induced death in 89%/ 97% of injected specimens after an average 34.3 h/29.8 h for lime juice and vinegar respectively. Highest efficiency was reached for both solutions with double shots of (2 × 10 ml) in two different areas on the body: 100% mortality occurred within 12–24 h, which is similar or faster compared with other current injection methods. Multiple immune measures suggested that death was very likely caused by pH stress from the acidic solutions rather than a bacterial infection. Contagion to either conspecifics or a variety of other reef species was not observed, even at COTS densities 15 times higher than the highest naturally reported. 10 to 20 l lime juice/vinegar could kill up to a thousand COTS at a cost of less than 0.05 USD per specimen; no permits or special handling procedures are required. We conclude that injections of lime juice and vinegar offer great advantages when compared to current best practises and constitute a cheap and natural option for all reefs affected by COTS.
ISSN: 1932-6203

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01208272
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01208272/file/journal.pone.0137605.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0137605

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD CRC Press
Résumé : International audience
Biology of damselfishes

hal-01384262
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01384262

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD PeerJ
Résumé : International audience
Coral reefs are in decline across the globe as a result of overexploitation, pollution, disease and, more recently, climate change. The impacts of changes in coral cover on associated fish communities can be difficult to predict because of the uneven dependence of reef fish species on corals for food, shelter or the three-dimensional structure they provide. We compared live coral cover, reef fish community metrics, and their associations in two surveys of the lagoon of the remote atoll of Mataiva (French Polynesia) carried out 31 years apart. In contrast to the general pattern of decreasing coral cover reported for many parts of the Indo-Pacific region, live coral cover increased 6–7 fold at Mataiva between 1981 and 2012, and fish density nearly doubled. The stable overall reef fish species richness belied a significant shift in community structure. There was little overlap in community composition across years, and fish assemblages in 2012 were more homogeneous in composition than they were in 1981. Changes in species abundance were not clearly related to species-specific reliance on corals. The strong positive relationships between live coral cover and fish diversity and abundance noted in 1981, when coral cover rarely exceeded 10%, were no longer present in 2012, when coral cover rarely fell below this value. The most parsimonious explanation for these contrasting relationships is that, over the combined range of coral cover observed in the 1981 and 2012 snapshots, there is a rapidly asymptotic relationship between coral and fish. Our results, and other data from the south and west Pacific, suggest that fish diversity and abundance might accumulate rapidly up to a threshold of approximately 10% live coral cover. Such a relationship would have implications for our expectations of resistance and recovery of reef fish communities facing an increasingly severe regime of coral reef disturbances.
ISSN: 2167-8359

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01135589
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135589/file/2015_02_26_more_coral_more_fish.pdf
DOI : 10.7717/peerj.745