WILLEMSTAD - A collaborative study led by the University of Texas in Austin has deployed over a hundred specialized structures for monitoring fish at six locations, including the deep reefs of Curaçao. The aim of this study is to find a standardized, simple, and effective way to investigate small, bottom-dwelling fish populations.
From shallow tide pools to the deep sea, thanks to unique evolutionary traits, fish can occupy every corner of the ocean. Historically, fish populations have been mapped using visual surveys, often overlooking small or bottom-associated (cryptobenthic) species.
A joint study led by the University of Texas in Austin explored a new technique to quantify these hard-to-find species. They achieved this by utilizing so-called fish-specific Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (FARMS) that allowed for the sampling of the fish.
FARMS
These FARMS (Fish-Specific Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures) are specially crafted using easily accessible and affordable materials. By combining stacked PVC pipes and mesh baskets, FARMS can be deployed in a wide range of locations to study these cryptobenthic populations.
While FARMS may not fully mimic the environment, especially in habitats lacking fixed structures, it proved to be an efficient method. Local fish species diversity could be effectively sampled, and a greater number of species were captured compared to other methods.
Curaçao
During this research, FARMS were deployed at six locations, including Curaçao. The FARMS there were used to explore deeper parts of the reef, placed at depths of sixty meters, 146 meters, and 223 meters.
Due to the limitations of diver-based research, deep reefs are one of the least studied ecosystems, and the vast majority of deep reef research is based on visual counts. Notably, one of the FARMS captured a species of goby (Psilotris laurae) that had never been documented on Curaçao before.
This highlights the potential of these systems to sample populations in a new and improved way, particularly in deep or hard-to-reach locations.
Effects
Overall, FARMS are considered a simple, standardized, and cost-effective technique for studying cryptobenthic fish communities in habitats where other sampling methods may be impractical or limited.
The study emphasized the potential of FARMS for exploring under-sampled habitats, such as deep reefs, where they can contribute to the discovery of new species and enhance our understanding of the diversity and distribution patterns of cryptobenthic fishes.
Photo credit: DCNA