Alien marine fishes deplete algal biomass in the Eastern Mediterranean

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 6; no. 2; p. e17356
• Main Authors: Sala, Enric, Kizilkaya, Zafer, Yildirim, Derya, Ballesteros, Enric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 22.02.2011; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Algae; Animals; Benthic communities; Biodiversity; Biology; Biomass; Content analysis; Cystoseira; Dictyota; Echinoidea; Ecosystem; Ecosystem biology; Ecosystems; Eukaryota - physiology; Experiments; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Fish; Fisheries; Fishes; Fishes - physiology; Fishing; Food Chain; Food chains; Fucales; Geography; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Grazing; Herbivorous fish; Herbivorous fishes; Introduced Species; Marine ecology; Marine fish; Marine fishes; Marine pollution; Mediterranean Sea; Phaeophyceae; Population Dynamics; Sea urchins; Seaweeds; Siganidae; Siganus; Siganus luridus; Siganus rivulatus; Turkey; Underwater; World Wide Web; Mediterranean Sea; Turkey; Ankara Turkey; Spain
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017356

One of the most degraded states of the Mediterranean rocky infralittoral ecosystem is a barren composed solely of bare rock and patches of crustose coralline algae. Barrens are typically created by the grazing action of large sea urchin populations. In 2008 we observed extensive areas almost devoid of erect algae, where sea urchins were rare, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. To determine the origin of those urchin-less 'barrens', we conducted a fish exclusion experiment. We found that, in the absence of fish grazing, a well-developed algal assemblage grew within three months. Underwater fish censuses and observations suggest that two alien herbivorous fish from the Red Sea (Siganus luridus and S. rivulatus) are responsible for the creation and maintenance of these benthic communities with extremely low biomass. The shift from well-developed native algal assemblages to 'barrens' implies a dramatic decline in biogenic habitat complexity, biodiversity and biomass. A targeted Siganus fishery could help restore the macroalgal beds of the rocky infralittoral on the Turkish coast.