Settlers were seeded onto sponges along the transect to test the hypothesis that the distribution of E. lori settlers is the result of variation in their persistence (i.e., defined here as the time a settler spent on a sponge as a result of mortality and/or movement) across settlement habitats. For each of the 120 tagged sponges, divers recorded the presence or absence of the seeded settler every other day for two weeks (n = 7 observations/settler). New settlers that arrived from the water column and individuals from elsewhere that moved to tagged sponges were identified using differences in size and pigmentation (Figure 3), removed from the sponge, and measured to confirm size (SL). Following completion of the first two-week trial, a second trial was carried out using the same sponges, but with a new group of 120 E. lori settlers.
Persistence of E. lori settlers seeded onto 120 tagged tubes sponges on the fore reef off South Water Caye.
\nThese data were included in Figure 6 and Table 3 of:
\nMajoris, JE; D'Aloia CC, Francis RK, Buston PM (Accepted) Differential persistence favors habitat preferences that determine the distribution of a reef fish. Behav. Ecol.
R version 3.2.3
\nBCO-DMO Data Processing Notes:
\n- dates reformatted to yyyy/mm/dd
\n- periods replaced with underscores in column names
\n- missing identifier replaced with nd