Introduction

General description

Project description

Study area description: 

The study was conducted in Atlantic Southwest, more specifically in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, an isolated group of volcanic islands, with one main island (https://deims.org/030bec0b-f6ac-4840-b226-af813258b14b) and 19 smaller adjacent islands and an area of 26 km², located 345 km off the northeast coast of Brazil (3°54’S, 32°25’W) (Fig. 1).

Figure 1.  

Map showing A) the location of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (black circle) in relation to Brazilian mainland and B) the eight sampled localities in the Archipelago (red dots).

Data collection was conducted at eight different localities within the Fernando de Noronha main island: Atalaia, Baía dos Golfinhos, Boldró, Buraco da Raquel, Porto de Santo Antônio, Sancho, Sueste (open) and Sueste (protected). These sites were chosen to cover the diversity of habitats in the Archipelago. Atalaia is a small reef lagoon with a predominance of sandy and rocky habitats. Baía dos Golfinhos is a calm and sheltered rocky area characterised by large pebbles and volcanic sand. Boldró comprises a reef flat area with sand and a rocky plateau in the intertidal zone and is an area exposed to currents. Buraco da Raquel comprises a reef lagoon characterised by sand and rocks mainly, exposed to currents. Porto de Santo António is characterised by a reef area with sandy and rocky habitats mainly and is a calm and sheltered area. Sancho comprises a bay with sand and large pebbles and rocks and is a calm and sheltered area. Sueste (open) is a bay with rock and sand that has a central plateau and is a calm and sheltered area. Sueste (protected) is a bay with rocks, sand and pebbles and is a calm and sheltered area.

Sampling methods

Sampling description: 

To assess the shallow reef fish communities, a total of 165 visual censuses were performed from August to October 2006 (with a minimum of 20 censuses per locality). All observations were made by free diving in areas with depths up to six metres (m) during the day (from 0800 to 1800 h). To account for possible tidal and temporal influences, observations were distributed throughout the day (morning and afternoon) and different tidal regimes (ebb and flood). The fish assemblage was assessed using a belt-transect (30 m x 2 m), based on the belt-transect visual census method (Brock 1954). All censuses were made by the same diver, swimming at a constant speed, having previously stood by for five minutes to minimise disturbance caused by the diver's presence (Russ 1989). Fishes were identified according to Humann and Deloach (2002a), Carvalho-Filho (2023) and Floeter et al. (2023), counted and had their size visually estimated to the nearest centimetre (Fig. 2). Sampling was conducted randomly in selected areas of eight localities with predominantly (75%) consolidated substrate (Luckhurst and Luckhurst 1978, Ohlhorst et al. 1988, Littler et al. 1989, Rogers et al. 1994, Humann and Deloach 2002b).

Figure 2.  

A plate with representative reef fish species observed during the visual censuses in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Southwest Atlantic. A Stegastes rocasensis; B Bothus lunatus; C Sparisoma frondosum; D Caranx latus; E Holocentrus adscensionis; F Muraena pavonina. Photos by Allan T. Souza.

Geographic coverage

Taxonomic coverage

Description: 

The dataset contains the records of 15,065 individuals belonging to 51 species and two unidentified species, from 29 families (Fig. 3) with Thalassoma noronhanum and Stegastes rocasensis representing the vast majority of the individuals (Fig. 3). On average, the largest individuals were recorded at Baía dos Golfinhos and Sancho, while Atalaia and Buraco da Raquel made the largest contribution of small fish individuals (Fig. 4). The taxa identification numbers (acceptedNameUsageID) were based on GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (GBIF Secretariat 2022). The scientific names of the taxa, their authorship and year and original descriptions followed Fricke et al. (2024), whereas the common name of the species was based on FishBase (Froese and Pauly 2024).

Figure 3.  

Sunburst plot showing the proportion of the most representative species per family observed in the visual censuses made in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Southwest Atlantic. The inner circle shows the percentage of individuals recorded by families, while the outer circle displays the proportional abundance of the most representative species recorded in this study. The seven most abundant fish families are displayed individually, while the remainder families are pooled together in the category named Other which contains fishes from 22 families (Aulostomidae, Balistidae, Belonidae, Blennidae, Bothidae, Carangidae, Carcharhinidae, Cheatodontidae, Clupeidae, Dasyatidae, Gobiidae, Hemiramphidae, Holocentridae, Kyphosidae, Lutjanidae, Monacanthidae, Mullidae, Muraenidae, Ophichthidae, Ostraciidae, Pomacanthidae and Sphyraenidae) and 32 species (Acanthostracion polygonium, Aluterus scriptus, Aulostomus strigosus, Bothus lunatus, Cantherhines pullus, Carangoides bartholomaei, Caranx crysos, C. latus, C. lugubris, Chaetodon ocellatus, Coryphopterus glaucofraenum, Echidna catenata, Gymnothorax miliaris, Harengula jaguana, Hemiramphus brasiliensis, Holocentrus adscensionis, Hypanus berthalutzae, Kyphosus sp., Lactophrys trigonus, Lutjanus jocu, Melichthys niger, Mulloidichthys martinicus, Muraena pavonina, Myrichthys ocellatus, Myripristis jacobus, Negaprion brevirostris, Ophioblennius trinitatis, Platybelone argalus, Pomacanthus paru, Pseudupeneus maculatus, Sphyraena barracuda and Sphyraena guachancho).

Figure 4.  

Size class (0-10; 10-20; 20-30; 30-40; 40-50; > 50 cm) per study area of the most representative fish families observed in the visual censuses made in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, SW Atlantic. Less representative families were pooled together and were displayed as Other in the graph. The Other category contains fishes from 22 families (Aulostomidae, Balistidae, Belonidae, Blennidae, Bothidae, Carangidae, Carcharhinidae, Cheatodontidae, Clupeidae, Dasyatidae, Gobiidae, Hemiramphidae, Holocentridae, Kyphosidae, Lutjanidae, Monacanthidae, Mullidae, Muraenidae, Ophichthidae, Ostraciidae, Pomacanthidae and Sphyraenidae) and 32 species (Acanthostracion polygonium, Aluterus scriptus, Aulostomus strigosus, Bothus lunatus, Cantherhines pullus, Carangoides bartholomaei, Caranx crysos, C. latus, C. lugubris, Chaetodon ocellatus, Coryphopterus glaucofraenum, Echidna catenata, Gymnothorax miliaris, Harengula jaguana, Hemiramphus brasiliensis, Holocentrus adscensionis, Hypanus berthalutzae, Kyphosus sp., Lactophrys trigonus, Lutjanus jocu, Melichthys niger, Mulloidichthys martinicus, Muraena pavonina, Myrichthys ocellatus, Myripristis jacobus, Negaprion brevirostris, Ophioblennius trinitatis, Platybelone argalus, Pomacanthus paru, Pseudupeneus maculatus, Sphyraena barracuda and Sphyraena guachancho).

Traits coverage

Temporal coverage

Collection data

Usage licence

Data resources

Additional information

Acknowledgements

Author contributions

References

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Supplementary material