Feeding Preferences and Dietary Specialisation among Obligate Coral-Feeding Butterflyfishes

摘要: [Extract] Coral reef fishes have long been known to exhibit highly specialised patterns of habitat use (e.g., Fautin, 1985; Munday et al., 1997; Gardiner and Jones, 2005), but are generally considered be versatile in their feeding (Ross, 1986; Bellwood 2006c), opportunistically consuming a wide range different prey. One striking example this is the (including algal farming damselfishes) that abandon normal habitats take advantage ephemeral, lipid-rich prey, on corals eggs during annual mass spawning by scleractinian (Pratchett 2001; McCormick, 2003). There however, increasing realisation coral can extremely when it comes diet. The broad trophic groups once used categorise planktivores, herbivores, carnivores omnivores) increasingly being sub-divided capture important differences ecosystem function (Graham 2006; Hoey Bellwood, 2011), while some studies simply recognise individual species unique functional roles 2003, 2006b). Many diets or habits, such as Holacanthus angelfishes feed almost exclusively sponges, mainly just one (Randall Hartman, 1968) tube-lip wrasses (Labroides Labrichthys) consume mucous from small wounds they inflict specific types (Cole 2008).