Taking this one step further, 

 Robins (1971) recognizes two general 

 faunal groupings of western Atlantic 

 reef fishes: continental and insu- 

 lar. Insular fish faunas occur in 

 regions of great environmental sta- 

 bility characterized by clear water, 

 extensive coral reef development, 

 and coarse to fine-grained calcar- 

 eous bottom sediments. On the other 

 hand, in regions of constant envi- 

 ronmental change (temperature, sa- 

 linity, and turbidity) the continen- 

 tal fish fauna is prevalent. This 

 grouping is characterized by turbid 

 waters, muddy or silty bottoms, and 



negligible, if any, coral reef 

 development. The Florida Keys ma- 

 rine fauna represents a mixture of 

 these two faunal groupings, with 

 gradations running parallel and 

 perpendicular to the island arc. 

 Table 13 shows representative fami- 

 lies recorded from the reef tract, 

 whose species consist primarily of: 

 (1) the continental group; (2) the 

 insular group; and (3) family or 

 species that show no clear prefer- 

 ence for either group. Some fami- 

 lies such as the gobies (Gobiidae) 

 show a fifty-fifty split of species 

 association (Gilbert 1972). 



Continental Families 

 Sciaenidae (drums) 

 Batrachoididae (toadfish) 

 Sparidae (porgies) 

 Ophidiidae (cusk-eels) 

 Bothidae (left -eye flounders) 

 Cynoglossidae (tongue fishes) 



Associated with Both 



Carangidae (jacks) 



Sphyraenidae 

 Sphyraena barracuda 

 (great barracuda) 



Gobi idae 



Bathygobius soporator 

 (fri 1 If in goby) 

 Gobionellus boleosoma 

 (darter goby) 



Gerreidae 



Eucinostomus argenteus 

 (slender mojarra) 

 E. gula 

 (si lver jenny) 



Blenniidae (combtooth blennies) 

 Blennius cristatus 

 (mol ly mi Her) 



Ophichthidae 



Myrophis pu net at us 

 (speckled worm eel) 



Lut janidae 



Lutjanus qriseus 

 (grey snapper) 

 L. jocu 

 (dog snapper) 



Insular Families 



Pomadasyidae (grunts) 



Holocentridae 

 (squirrelfish) 



Chaetodont idae 



(butterfly & angel 

 fishes) 



Apogonidae 



(cardinal fishes) 



Clinidae (clinids) 



Scaridae (parrotfish) 



Labridae (wrasses) 



Table 43. Common continental, insular, and mixed fish associations found 

 in the Florida Keys (adapted from Stark 1968 and Gilbert 1972). 



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