Corresponding author: David Ross Robertson (
Academic editor: K. Piller
Sint Eustatius (Statia) is a 21 km2 island situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea. The most recent published sources of information on that island’s marine fish fauna is in two non-governmental organization reports from 2015–17 related to the formation of a marine reserve. The species-list in the 2017 report was based on field research in 2013–15 using SCUBA diving surveys, shallow “baited underwater video surveys” (
Robertson DR, Estapé CJ, Estapé AM, Peña E, Tornabene L, Baldwin CC (2020) The marine fishes of St Eustatius Island, northeastern Caribbean: an annotated, photographic catalog. ZooKeys 1007: 145–180.
Sint Eustatius island, known locally as Statia, is a 21 km2 island in the northeastern Caribbean, and is one of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. Until recently there were very few published accounts relating to the marine-fish fauna of Statia. The most comprehensive are represented by two non-governmental organization (
As one of the Dutch Caribbean islands, Statia sits among Saba, Sint Marten and St Kitts and Nevis (Figure
Location of Sint Eustatius. The Caribbean Sea, with the location of Sint Eustatius island indicated in the inset. Source:
The Caribbean Sea, with the location of Sint Eustatius island indicated in the inset. Source:
A comprehensive set of species records came from two
In 2017 the Smithsonian Institution’s
Study sites at Sint Eustatius Island. Location of dive sites during 2017 and 2020: Black stars indicate submersible dives, blue stars 2017 SCUBA dives, red stars 2020 SCUBA dives (some individual stars indicate multiple dives in very close proximity), purple star an intertidal snorkeling site, and the red outline shows limits of the shore-diving area in 2020. See Suppl. material
Two of the authors, CJE and AME, are citizen scientists with extensive experience photographing reef fishes at various sites in the Greater Caribbean. In 2020 they spent two months (mid-March to mid-May) living at Statia and SCUBA diving daily to obtain photographic vouchers of the fishes they observed. They made 62 dives, each of approximately one-hour duration, at depths between 1–30 m on both hard-reef, sand, rubble and seagrass habitats, as well as on sunken wrecked ships. Half of those dives were nearshore in a restricted area, as, during the second half of their stay at the island, they lacked dive-boat support and were able to dive only from the shoreline (see Figure
In addition, we also assessed information provided by three major aggregators of online georeferenced location data on marine fishes (GBIF
Location of dive sites during 2017 and 2020: Black stars indicate submersible dives, blue stars 2017 SCUBA dives, red stars 2020 SCUBA dives (some individual stars indicate multiple dives in very close proximity), purple star an intertidal snorkeling site, and the red outline shows limits of the shore-diving area in 2020. See Suppl. material
Members of the entire Statia fauna as currently known (Table
The research during 2017–2020 was aimed at documenting the reef-associated bony fishes of Statia. For analyses of the structure of the Statia20 fauna we assigned those species to the following ecological groups (following
In the Greater Caribbean region reef-associated bony fishes comprise ~ 900 species from 304 genera in 76 families (
A list of reef-associated fishes known from Alligator Reef was extracted from the list in
We reduced the number of species on the list of
The
Updated checklist of marine fishes from Sint Eustatius Island, 2020. Key to column headings and entries:
Species in families | English common name |
|
|
Estapé |
|
|
GBIF | OBIS | Plate | Zoo |
|
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||
Doctorfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
||||
Blue Tang | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
||||
Northern Ocean Surgeonfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
||||
|
||||||||||||
Flabby Sole | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Blackmouth Bass | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Spotted Eagle Ray | (P) | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||
Longlure Frogfish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Sargassumfish | (P) | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Bridle Cardinalfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Flamefish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Broadsaddle Cardinalfish |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
Pale Cardinalfish | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
Twospot Cardinalfish |
|
C |
|
|
||||||||
Sawcheek Cardinalfish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Belted Cardinalfish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Blackfin Cardinalfish | Estapé | V |
|
|||||||||
Conchfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Bigtooth Cardinalfish | V | P | Yes | 1 |
|
|||||||
Freckled Cardinalfish | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
Dusky Cardinalfish | Yes | 1 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Yes |
|
Yes | ||||||||||
Pygmy Argentine |
|
CP | 1 |
|
Yes | |||||||
|
||||||||||||
Reef Silverside | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Hardhead Silverside | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Atlantic Trumpetfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Gray Triggerfish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Queen Triggerfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||
Ocean Triggerfish | V | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Black Durgon | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 |
|
|||||
Sargassum Triggerfish |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Keeltail Needlefish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Houndfish | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Pearl Blenny | P | Yes | 1 |
|
||||||||
Oyster Blenny | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
Orangespotted Blenny | Estapé | P | 1 |
|
||||||||
Longhorn Blenny | (P) | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Redlip Blenny | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Seaweed Blenny | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Peacock Flounder | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Eyed Flounder | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Pelican Flounder | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Lancer Dragonet | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
|
CP | 13 | ? | Yes | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Deepbody Boarfish |
|
V | Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
African Pompano | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Yellow Jack | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Blue Runner | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Crevalle Jack | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Horse-eye Jack | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Black Jack | V | Yes | Yes |
|
||||||||
Bar Jack | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
||||
Mackerel Scad | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Round Scad | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Rainbow Runner | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Bigeye Scad | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Almaco Jack | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Permit | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Palometa | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Bull Shark | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Blacktip Shark | Yes | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Reef Shark | V | Yes | Yes |
|
||||||||
Tiger Shark | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Lemon Shark | P | Yes | 2 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Large Gulper Shark | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Roughhead Blenny | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Secretary Blenny | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Spinyhead Blenny | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Yellowface Pikeblenny | P | Yes | 2 |
|
||||||||
Sailfin Blenny | P | Yes | Yes | 2 |
|
|||||||
Ribbon Blenny | Estapé | (P) | 2 |
|
||||||||
Blackhead Blenny | Estapé | P | 3 |
|
L | |||||||
Carib Blenny | Estapé | P | 3 |
|
L | |||||||
|
||||||||||||
Foureye Butterflyfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||
Spotfin Butterflyfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
Reef Butterflyfish | V | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
|||||||
Banded Butterflyfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||
Longsnout Butterflyfish | C | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||
Guyana Butterflyfish |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Pale-cavity Gaper | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Cuban |
Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Gulf |
Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Seagrass Eel | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Shortnose Greeneye | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Longnose Greeneye | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Redspotted Hawkfish | P | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||
False Pilchard | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Redear Sardine | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Dwarf Herring | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Atlantic Thread Herring | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Spanish Sardine | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Bandtooth Conger | Estapé | (P) | 3 |
|
||||||||
Brown Garden Eel | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
Twopatched-teeth Conger | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Dolphinfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Rough Leg Skate | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Margined Tonguefish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Flying Gurnard | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Southern Stingray | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Web Burrfish | P | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
|||||||
Striped Burrfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Balloonfish | P | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||||
Porcupinefish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Silver Spinyfish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Sharksucker | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
Whitefin Sharksucker | Estapé | P | 3 |
|
||||||||
|
Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Atlantic Spadefish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Caribbean Lantern Shark | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
West Indian Lantern Shark | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Bluespotted Cornetfish | P | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||
Slender Mojarra | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Mottled Mojarra | P | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||||
Yellowfin Mojarra | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Nurse Shark | (P) | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Tailspot Clingfish |
|
CP | 3 |
|
Yes | |||||||
|
||||||||||||
Sabre Goby |
|
CP |
|
3 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Antilles Frillfin | Estapé | P | 3 |
|
||||||||
Colon Goby | P | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||||
Pallid Goby | P | Yes | 3 |
|
||||||||
Bridled Goby | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Glass Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Kuna Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Peppermint Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Masked Goby | V | P | Yes | 4 |
|
|||||||
Bartail Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Sand Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Sand-Canyon Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Dash Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Shortstripe Goby | C | P | Yes | Yes | 4 |
|
L | |||||
Sharknose Goby | P | Yes | Yes | 4 |
|
|||||||
Genus 1 species 5 |
|
CP | 13 | ? | Yes | |||||||
Genus 1 species 6 |
|
CP | 13 | ? | Yes | |||||||
Genus 2 species 1 |
|
CP | 13 | ? | Yes | |||||||
Ninelined Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Goldspot Goby | V | P | Yes | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||
Dwarf Goby | C | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Seminole Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
||||||||
Orangespotted Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Bigeye Goby |
|
CP |
|
4 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Ember Goby |
|
C |
|
|
Yes | |||||||
Thiony’s Goby |
|
CP | 4 |
|
Yes | |||||||
Rusty Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Hovering Dartfish | V | P | Yes | 4 |
|
|||||||
Tusked Goby | C | P | Yes | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||
Orangesided Goby | P | Yes | 4 |
|
||||||||
Greenbanded Goby | Estapé | P | 4 |
|
L | |||||||
Ocellated Split-Fin Goby |
|
CP |
|
4 |
|
L | Yes | |||||
Spotted-Sail Goby |
|
CP |
|
4 |
|
Yes | ||||||
|
||||||||||||
Yellowcheek Basslet |
|
CP |
|
5 |
|
|||||||
Fairy Basslet | P | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||||
Banded Basslet |
|
CP |
|
5 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Bicolor Basslet |
|
CP | 5 |
|
Yes | |||||||
Hourglass Basslet |
|
CP | 5 |
|
Yes | |||||||
Royal Basslet |
|
CP |
|
5 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Threeline Basslet |
|
CP |
|
5 |
|
Yes | ||||||
|
||||||||||||
Thorny Tinselfish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Black Margate | P | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||||
Smallmouth Grunt | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||
Margate | P | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||||
Tomtate | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||
Caesar Grunt | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||
French Grunt | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||
Spanish Grunt | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Cottonwick | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
Sailors Choice | Yes |
|
||||||||||
White Grunt | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
Bluestriped Grunt | (P) | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||||
Striped Grunt | V | V | Yes |
|
||||||||
Boga | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Stripejaw Halosaur | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Ballyhoo | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Spinycheek Soldierfish |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Squirrelfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||
Longspine Squirrelfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
|||||
Blackbar Soldierfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||
Reef Squirrelfish | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
Longjaw Squirrelfish | C | P | Yes | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||
Dusky Squirrelfish | P | Yes | 5 |
|
||||||||
Bigeye Soldierfish |
|
CP |
|
6 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Cardinal Soldierfish | Estapé | P | 6 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Sailfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Blue Marlin | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Gray Seachub | Estapé | P | 6 | |||||||||
Topsail Seachub | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Bermuda Chub | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Yellow Chub | V | Yes |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Spanish Hogfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||
Creole Wrasse | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||
Red Hogfish |
|
CP |
|
6 |
|
Yes | ||||||
|
CP | 13 |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Greenband Wrasse |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Slippery Dick | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Yellowcheek Wrasse | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Yellowhead Wrasse | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||
Clown Wrasse | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Rainbow Wrasse | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Blackear Wrasse | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Puddingwife | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Bluehead | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||
Rosy Razorfish | P | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||||
Pearly Razorfish | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Green Razorfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Bluelip Parrotfish | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Blue Parrotfish | Yes | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Rainbow Parrotfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Striped Parrotfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||
Princess Parrotfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
||||
Queen Parrotfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
|
|||||
Greenblotch Parrotfish | P | Yes | 6 |
|
||||||||
Redband Parrotfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||
Redtail Parrotfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||
Bucktooth Parrotfish | P | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||||
Yellowtail Parrotfish | P | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Stoplight Parrotfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||
Spotcheek Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Puffcheek Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Palehead Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Mimic Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Hairy Blenny | P | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Goldline Blenny | P | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||||
Diamond Blenny | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Imitator Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Rosy Blenny | Estapé | P | 7 |
|
||||||||
Saddled Blenny | P | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Atlantic Tripletail | Yes | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Club-bait Goosefish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Black Snapper | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Queen Snapper | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Mutton Snapper | P | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Schoolmaster | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||
Blackfin Snapper | V | P | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Cubera Snapper | P | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||||
Gray Snapper | (P) | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Dog Snapper | P | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||||
Mahogany Snapper | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||
Caribbean Red Snapper | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Lane Snapper | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||
Silk Snapper | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Yellowtail Snapper | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
||||||
V | ? | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Doublethread Grenadier | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Onelong Grenadier | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Nobeard Grenadier | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
Bigeye Grenadier | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Velvet Grenadier | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Atlantic Blacktip Grenadier | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Longbeard Grenadier | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Sand Tilefish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||
Tarpon | P | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Luminous Hake | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Scrawled Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
Whitespotted Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||
Orangespotted Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||
Fringed Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
Slender Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
Pygmy Filefish | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||
White Mullet | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Yellow Goatfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||
Spotted Goatfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||
Chain Moray | P | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||||
Chestnut Moray | Estapé | (P) | 8 |
|
||||||||
Viper Moray | Estapé | (P) | 8 |
|
||||||||
Green Moray | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
Goldentail Moray | P | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||||
Spotted Moray | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||
Purplemouth Moray | (P) | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Lesser Electric Ray | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Atlantic Batfish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Longnose Batfish |
|
CP | 8 |
|
||||||||
Tricorn Batfish |
|
CP | 8 |
|
Yes | |||||||
|
||||||||||||
Sharptail Eel | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Goldspotted Eel | Estapé | P | 8 |
|
||||||||
Spotted Snake Eel | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Atlantic Bearded |
|
CP |
|
8 |
|
|||||||
Elongate Cusk-eel | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Dusky Cusk-eel | Estapé | P | 8 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Yellowhead Jawfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
||||||
Banded Jawfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Mottled Jawfish | Estapé | P | 8 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Honeycomb Cowfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
|
|||||
Scrawled Cowfish | V | P | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Spotted Trunkfish | P | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Trunkfish | P | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Smooth Trunkfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Horned Whiff | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Shrimp Flounder |
|
CP |
|
9 |
|
|||||||
Channel Flounder | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Red Dory | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Glassy Sweeper | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Hoary Cat Shark | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Antilles Sawtail Catshark | Yes |
|
L | Yes | ||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Ocellate Duckbill | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Saddleback Duckbill | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
Scalychin Flathead |
|
CP |
|
9 |
|
Yes | ||||||
|
||||||||||||
Black Armored Searobin | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Beardfish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Cherubfish | V | P | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Queen Angelfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||
Rock Beauty | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
||||
Gray Angelfish | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
||||||||
French Angelfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
||||
|
||||||||||||
Sergeant Major | P | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Night Sergeant | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
|
|
CP |
|
13 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Blue |
V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||
Sunshinefish | V | P | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Brown |
V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||
Purple Reeffish |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
Yellowtail Damselfish | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||
Dusky Damselfish | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
Longfin Damselfish | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
Beaugregory | Yes | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Bicolor Damselfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||
Threespot Damselfish | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
Cocoa Damselfish | P | Yes | 9 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Glasseye Snapper | P | Yes | Yes | 9 |
|
|||||||
Bigeye | V | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Short Bigeye |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Whale Shark | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Jackknife-fish | V | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||
Spotted Drum | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
|||||||
High-hat | P | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||||
Sand Drum | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Wahoo | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Little Tunny | P | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||||
Skipjack Tuna | Yes |
|
||||||||||
King Mackerel | P | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||||
Cero | V | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||
Blackfin Tuna | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Longsnout Scorpionfish |
|
CP |
|
10 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Spinythroat Scorpionfish |
|
CP | 10 |
|
Yes | |||||||
Red Lionfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
|
|
||||
Spotted Scorpionfish | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
|||||||
Reef Scorpionfish | Estapé | P | 10 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Mutton Hamlet | (P) | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||||
Red Barbier |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
|
CP | 13 |
|
L | Yes | |||||||
Pugnose Bass |
|
CP |
|
10 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Graysby | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
||||
Coney | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
||||
Dwarf Sand Perch | Estapé | P | 10 |
|
||||||||
Rock Hind | V | (P) | Yes | 10 |
|
|||||||
Red Hind | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
||||
Nassau Grouper | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Spanish Flag |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Yellowtail Hamlet | P | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
|||||||
Shy Hamlet | P | Yes | 10 |
|
||||||||
Indigo Hamlet |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
Black Hamlet | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Barred Hamlet | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 |
|
|||||
Bluelip Hamlet | Estapé | P | 13 |
|
||||||||
Butter Hamlet | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Candy Basslet |
|
CP |
|
10 |
|
|||||||
Cave Basslet |
|
CP |
|
10 |
|
|||||||
Yellow-Spotted Basslet |
|
CP |
|
10 |
|
L | Yes | |||||
Peppermint Basslet | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
Yellowmouth Grouper | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Tiger Grouper | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Yellowfin Grouper | P | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||||
Atlantic Creolefish | V | P | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||
|
CP | 13 |
|
L | Yes | |||||||
Roughtongue Bass |
|
CP |
|
11 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Freckled Soapfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Greater Soapfish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||
Orangeback Bass |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
Lantern Bass | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||
Twinspot Bass | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Twospot Sea Bass |
|
CP |
|
11 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Crosshatch Bass |
|
V |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Saddle Bass |
|
V |
|
|||||||||
Tattler | V | Yes |
|
Yes | ||||||||
Tobaccofish | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||
Harlequin Bass | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||
Chalk Bass | V | P | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||
Deepwater Scorpionfish | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Jolthead Porgy | Yes | Yes |
|
|||||||||
Saucereye Porgy | P | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||||
Pluma Porgy | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Great Barracuda | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
||||
Sennet | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Great Hammerhead | Yes |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Gulf Dogfish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Slope Bass |
|
CP |
|
11 |
|
Yes | ||||||
Insular Bunquelovely |
|
CP |
|
11 |
|
Yes | ||||||
|
||||||||||||
Seahorse Pipefish | Estapé | P | 11 |
|
||||||||
Pugnose Pipefish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Whitenose Pipefish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Banded Pipefish | Estapé | V |
|
|||||||||
Lined Seahorse | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
Longsnout Seahorse | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Inshore Lizardfish | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Sand Diver | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||
Red Lizardfish | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
Snakefish | P | Yes | 11 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Goldface Toby |
|
CP |
|
11 |
|
|||||||
Sharpnose Puffer | V | P | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11 |
|
|||||
Marbled Puffer | CP | P |
|
12 |
|
|||||||
Southern Puffer | Yes |
|
||||||||||
Bandtail Puffer | P | Yes | Yes | 12 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||
Western Roughy | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Reticulate Spikefish | Yes |
|
Yes | |||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Streamer Searobin |
|
CP | 12 |
|
Yes | |||||||
|
||||||||||||
Lofty Triplefin | Estapé | P | 12 |
|
||||||||
Roughhead Triplefin | Estapé | P | 12 |
|
||||||||
Mimic Triplefin | p | Yes | 12 |
|
||||||||
Matador Triplefin | Estapé | p | 12 |
|
Notes: 1.
The 13 photographic plates (Suppl. materials
Greater Caribbean endemics represent the largest group of species in the Statia fauna, and, together with more widely ranging western Atlantic endemics, constitute almost three quarters of the species. Trans-Atlantic species and species found outside as well as inside the Atlantic represented only a quarter of the fauna (Table
Percentages of the Sint Eustatius marine fish fauna represented by groups of species with different global geographical ranges.
The vast majority of species are widely distributed within the Greater Caribbean, with only nine (2.25%) of them having ranges limited to a restricted part of the Caribbean. Among those nine, five are deep-living species, and five belong to Core CRF families (Table
The number of deep species increased from 44 on the Statia17 list to 86 in the Statia20 fauna (Table
Characteristics of assemblages of reef fishes at different locations in the Greater Caribbean region. Percentages of ecotypes in the entire regional fauna, the entire faunas from each local area, and within each of two depth subgroups refer to number of species as a % of the entire fauna and of each depth subgroup. Assemblages include those at Statia in 2017 and 2020 (Statia17 and Statia20), in the Saba
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Demersal species% | 35.0 | 55.1 | 66.8 | 47.5 | 46.1 | 49.4 | 19.0 |
Benthic species% | 65.0 | 43.1 | 33.2 | 52.5 | 53.9 | 50.6 | 81.0 |
Cryptobenthic species% | 59.2 | 40.8 | 30.9 | 49.1 | 50.1 | 46.4 | 73.6 |
Small cryptobenthic species% | 41.6 | 24.8 | 15.5 | 30.2 | 31.9 | 24.8 | 49.6 |
Core CRF species% | 45.8 | 28.8 | 20.5 | 33.4 | 35.1 | 27.6 | 48.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-cryptic species% | 40.8 | 59.6 | 68.1 | 50.3 | 47.6 | 58.6 | 23.9 |
Cryptobenthic species% | 59.2 | 40.4 | 31.3 | 49.7 | 52.4 | 41.1 | 76.1 |
Small cryptobenthic species% | 41.3 | 23.2 | 15.4 | 30.7 | 31.9 | 25.8 | 53.2 |
Core CRF species% | 46.2 | 28.5 | 21.0 | 34.1 | 35.4 | 29.0 | 52.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-cryptic species% | 40.3 | 56.5 | 83.3 | 60.0 | 54.9 | 75 | 50.0 |
Cryptobenthic species% | 59.7 | 43.5 | 16.7 | 40.0 | 45.1 | 25 | 50.0 |
Small cryptobenthic species% | 43.3 | 35.6 | 16.7 | 24.0 | 31.4 | 5 | 16.7 |
Core CRF species% | 44.0 | 38.5 | 0 | 24.0 | 33.3 | 0 | 16.7 |
The Statia20 fauna of such species is 38.3% larger than the Statia17 fauna, with numbers of shallow species increasing by 24.8% (from 214 to 267) and of deep species increasing 6.2-fold (from 6 to 39). This led to substantial increases in the relative abundance of deep-reef species, and of benthic, cryptobenthic, small cryptobenthic and core CRFs on both shallow and deep reefs. The Saba17 fauna was 71% larger than that of Statia17, with greater percentages of deep-reef, benthic, cryptobenthic, small cryptobenthic and
The efforts of
Zoogeographically the two largest groups of species in the Statia20 fauna are Greater Caribbean endemics and western Atlantic endemics, and the smallest group is of species found in the Indo-Pacific as well as the Atlantic. This mixture is fairly representative of the Greater Caribbean fish fauna as a whole (
Most species recorded in the Statia17 fauna are readily visible reef fishes, demersal and non-cryptic benthic species commonly found on wider Caribbean reefs, and the proportions of cryptobenthic (particularly small ones) and deep-reef species were relatively low.
Rotenone is an ichthyocide commonly used in small quantities by researchers to extract cryptobenthic fishes hiding within reef structures or buried in soft bottoms, and is an important tool for elucidating the contribution of such species to reef-fish faunal assessments (
The
The proportional abundances of shallow cryptobenthic species, including small species and core CRFs, are also distinctly lower in the Statia20 fauna than the regional fauna. Even if all 121 reef-associated species in the Saba
The research reported in the present study substantially increased our knowledge of the size of the marine fish fauna of Statia and resulted in the discovery of a significant number of undescribed deep-reef species. Although that island fauna is now one of the best documented in the Greater Caribbean there is still much to do to provide a thorough assessment of its diversity. Collecting with ichthyocide (or anesthetics) is essential for effective sampling of the fauna of small, shallow cryptobenthic reef fishes present there, and sampling of both deep and shallow reef fishes needs to be more effectively distributed across the range of habitats present at the island. No single site in the Caribbean Sea has been subject to sufficiently thorough sampling to provide a clear understanding of the size of its entire marine fish fauna, the size of its reef-associated fish fauna, or even the size of its shallow, reef-associated fauna, let alone its deep-reef fish fauna.
Collecting by
CJE and AME: We thank Mike Harterink, Marieke van de Wetering, Menno and Ingrid Walther, and the crew of the Scubaqua Dive Center; St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA); Sybolt and Marlise ten Hoopen, The Old Gin House Hotel; and Robert and Marilyn Bentley, Mike Harterink, and Marit Pistor (STENAPA) for photographs they provided of various species of fishes (
LT and CCB: We thank Thomas Devine for organizing fieldwork and assisting with collections. Jenna Barrett helped transcribe data from submersible videos and generate maps of Statia, and Jordan Casey assisted with collections in the field. Barry B. Brown photographed many of the specimens collected by
Figure S1
Map of
Map of Saba
Table S1
Dive site list
List of dive sites with dates and georeferenced coordinates.
Table S2
Occurences
Fish species occurrences at Saba and Statia.
Plate S1
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S2
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S3
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S4
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S5
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S6
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S7
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S8
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S9
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S10
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S11
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S12
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.
Plate S13
Photographs
Voucher photographs of fishes.