Home range areas and activity centres in six species of Caribbean wrasses (Labridae)

In six Caribbean wrasse (Labridae) species: Halichoeres bivittatus , Halichoeres garnoti , Halichoeres maculipinna , Halichoeres poeyi , Halichoeres radiatus and Thalassoma bifasciatum , home range area ( A HR ) was positively correlated with fish total length ( L T ) and this relationship was not significantly different among H. bivittatus , H. garnoti , H. radiatus and T. bifasciatum . The data for three of these species ( H. radiatus was excluded because only juveniles were investigated) were pooled and the relationship between L T and A HR was analysed for juveniles and initial phase (IP) adults separately. This analysis found that once individuals of these two species become IP adults, the A HR reached a plateau, despite continued fish growth. In a separate analysis including all six wrasse species, after accounting for differences in L T using ANOVA, it was found that IP adults required larger areas than juveniles, and terminal phase (TP) adults required larger A HR than IP adults. Upon analysis of the distribution of activity throughout A HR for all species studied, it was found that 50% of the observation points (defined as the activity centre) were found in 13 to 24% of the A HR .