TY - JOUR
T1 - Habitat utilization by an invasive herbivorous fish (Siganus rivulatus) in its native and invaded range
AU - Pickholtz, Renanel S.M.
AU - Kiflawi, Moshe
AU - Friedlander, Alan M.
AU - Belmaker, Jonathan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Movement is essential for understanding the distribution and abundance of animals. While it has been suggested that invasion success can be facilitated by species’ ability to adapt to novel environments, direct comparisons of movement patterns between native and invaded ranges of animals in their natural habitat are rare. The rivulated rabbitfish Siganus rivulatus was introduced from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean, where it is now found in extremely high abundances, and has overgrazed the coastal marine ecosystem in many locations. Through a continuous acoustic tracking system, we found that the movement of S. rivulatus individuals at a Mediterranean site differed substantially from those at a Red Sea site, with individuals in the Mediterranean having larger overall home ranges and lower site fidelity. However, no variation between sites was found in daily home range sizes. Results show that at the Mediterranean site S. rivulatus individuals have a larger spatial footprint, which may contribute to their impact and ability to expand their distribution. This study demonstrates a potential shift in individual movement of a marine invasive species between its native and invaded range, and highlights the role of movement in understanding biological invasions.
AB - Movement is essential for understanding the distribution and abundance of animals. While it has been suggested that invasion success can be facilitated by species’ ability to adapt to novel environments, direct comparisons of movement patterns between native and invaded ranges of animals in their natural habitat are rare. The rivulated rabbitfish Siganus rivulatus was introduced from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean, where it is now found in extremely high abundances, and has overgrazed the coastal marine ecosystem in many locations. Through a continuous acoustic tracking system, we found that the movement of S. rivulatus individuals at a Mediterranean site differed substantially from those at a Red Sea site, with individuals in the Mediterranean having larger overall home ranges and lower site fidelity. However, no variation between sites was found in daily home range sizes. Results show that at the Mediterranean site S. rivulatus individuals have a larger spatial footprint, which may contribute to their impact and ability to expand their distribution. This study demonstrates a potential shift in individual movement of a marine invasive species between its native and invaded range, and highlights the role of movement in understanding biological invasions.
KW - Habitat utilization
KW - Invasive species
KW - Mediterranean Sea
KW - Movement
KW - Red Sea
KW - Reef fish
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049076564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10530-018-1790-4
DO - 10.1007/s10530-018-1790-4
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AN - SCOPUS:85049076564
SN - 1387-3547
VL - 20
SP - 3499
EP - 3512
JO - Biological Invasions
JF - Biological Invasions
IS - 12
ER -