Role of Temperature and Depth in Atlantic Reef Fish Habitat Selection

Animals are selective in their habitat use. Habitat selection is the process or behavior that animals use to choose a habitat. Animals must be able to withstand the conditions of the habitat, and find the resources that they need to survive. Reef fish from shelf waters off Georgia and Florida were sampled in June, 2015 using data from chevron trap settings during a 2015 reef fish assessment survey. The relationship between catches of 4 Atlantic reef fish species and habitat depth and temperature were examined from 13 subsampled stations where these species were abundant. Linear regressions revealed that tomtate catches were significantly related with depth, while vermillion snapper catches were related to temperature. The findings are helpful in understanding complex species interactions among the snapper-grouper complex of Southeast Atlantic reef fish, and important commercial fishery.