Scholarlink

<p>Symbioses between anemonefish and anemones are iconic images of tropical coral reefs, and important natural resources for tourism. It is critical to quantify anemones and their communities to help better protect these natural resources. This study examined the community structure of host anemones and surrounding associated organisms in two contrasting coral reef ecosystems in central Viet Nam. Via scuba-based ecological surveys, we examined communities in a comparatively disturbed reef area, Nha Trang Bay (NTB), suffering from poor water quality, destructive fishing, coral bleaching, and Crown-of-Thorns starfish outbreaks, and at a comparatively pristine reef in nearby Van Phong Bay (VPB). Seven species of host anemones and four species of anemonefish were observed across both bays. Anemones in VPB were observed to exist in shallower waters than in NTB, and to be larger in size. Immature damselfish <i>D. trimaculatus</i>, inhabited anemone species and coexisted with <i>Amphiprion</i> spp. We observed six additional species of fish that likely used host anemones as temporary shelters, and two cleaning fish species of wrasse (Labridae) that also coexisted with anemonefish. We also confirmed the presence of three species of cleaner shrimps and one species of anemone crab. There were distinct patterns of anemone-fauna associations with organisms tending to prefer specific host anemone species. For both host anemones and anemonefish, β-diversity in NTB was higher and had a more nested structure than that of VPB. However, β-diversity and its nestedness were observed to be reduced or comparable between the two regions after excluding study sites influenced by fishing and tourism. Until now, research on anemones has almost completely focused on hosts and anemonefish, but our data also show much is to be learned from associated invertebrate fauna as well, and future anemone studies would benefit from including such data. Overall, our results show differences in the depth distribution, host anemone sizes, diversity patterns, and associated communities of host anemones between NTB and VPB. Multivariate analyses indicated that associated community composition showed weak bay-level differences but clearer site-level structure, suggesting that local habitat conditions, disturbance histories, and host-anemone composition could be more important than general bay identity alone. These patterns are consistent with previously documented differences in reef conditions between the bays, although unbalanced site-level replication and limited site-level environmental data mean that causes of such differences need to be cautiously interpreted.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Differences in communities of anemones, anemonefish, and other associated species between two bays under different levels of anthropogenic impacts in Viet Nam

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月22日

查看全文
  • Hai-Thanh Thi Nguyen,
  • Mackenzie Stoeltje,
  • Viet Do Hung Dang,
  • James Davis Reimer

摘要

Symbioses between anemonefish and anemones are iconic images of tropical coral reefs, and important natural resources for tourism. It is critical to quantify anemones and their communities to help better protect these natural resources. This study examined the community structure of host anemones and surrounding associated organisms in two contrasting coral reef ecosystems in central Viet Nam. Via scuba-based ecological surveys, we examined communities in a comparatively disturbed reef area, Nha Trang Bay (NTB), suffering from poor water quality, destructive fishing, coral bleaching, and Crown-of-Thorns starfish outbreaks, and at a comparatively pristine reef in nearby Van Phong Bay (VPB). Seven species of host anemones and four species of anemonefish were observed across both bays. Anemones in VPB were observed to exist in shallower waters than in NTB, and to be larger in size. Immature damselfish D. trimaculatus, inhabited anemone species and coexisted with Amphiprion spp. We observed six additional species of fish that likely used host anemones as temporary shelters, and two cleaning fish species of wrasse (Labridae) that also coexisted with anemonefish. We also confirmed the presence of three species of cleaner shrimps and one species of anemone crab. There were distinct patterns of anemone-fauna associations with organisms tending to prefer specific host anemone species. For both host anemones and anemonefish, β-diversity in NTB was higher and had a more nested structure than that of VPB. However, β-diversity and its nestedness were observed to be reduced or comparable between the two regions after excluding study sites influenced by fishing and tourism. Until now, research on anemones has almost completely focused on hosts and anemonefish, but our data also show much is to be learned from associated invertebrate fauna as well, and future anemone studies would benefit from including such data. Overall, our results show differences in the depth distribution, host anemone sizes, diversity patterns, and associated communities of host anemones between NTB and VPB. Multivariate analyses indicated that associated community composition showed weak bay-level differences but clearer site-level structure, suggesting that local habitat conditions, disturbance histories, and host-anemone composition could be more important than general bay identity alone. These patterns are consistent with previously documented differences in reef conditions between the bays, although unbalanced site-level replication and limited site-level environmental data mean that causes of such differences need to be cautiously interpreted.