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Four dense assemblages of the bulb-tentacle sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor and associated clownfish in HongKong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2014

Ka-Man Lee ,
James Y. Xie ,
Yanan Sun ,
Keith Kei  and
Jian-Wen Qiu
Ka-Man Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China
James Y. Xie
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China
Yanan Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China
Keith Kei
Affiliation:
College of International Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, 8 On Muk Street, Hong Kong, China
Jian-Wen Qiu*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.-W.Qiu, Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University224 Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China email: qiujw@hkbu.edu.hk
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Abstract

Clownfish and their associated sea anemones are icons of tropical andsubtropical coastal ecosystems, but bleaching and collecting for theaquarium trade has reduced their population densities in severalIndo-Pacific locations. We surveyed four Entacmaea quadricolor populations and their associated clownfish Amphiprion clarkii in Hong Kong. These assemblagesrepresented a combination of exposed and sheltered, flat bottomed and slopedconditions. Different from tropical areas, where E. quadricolor is usually found in sheltered shallow waters, thefour populations in Hong Kong were distributed in 4–10 m depths, beingdensest on a 40 × 80 m slope of volcanic rocks (34.2–76.6% substrate coverand 48.7–102.1 ind  m−2) at an exposed site. This distributionpattern could be explained by the high turbidities associated with riverdischarge and sedimentation rates in local waters, which discourage theestablishment of E. quadricolor populations in sheltered bays; shallowhabitats might not be suitable for E. quadricolor in HongKong due to strong wave actions generated by typhoons. Amphiprion clarkii was present at low densities (0.07–0.26 fish m−2) across the sites. Our data provide abaseline for monitoring the changes of these conspicuous members of shallowwater communities in Hong Kong.

Keywords

sea anemoneclownfishdensityaquarium tradeHong Kong

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 63 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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