urchins, recruitment of juvenile fishes 

 increased approximately sixfold. 



The potential interactions between 

 herbivorous sea urchins, seaweeds, and 

 juvenile reef fishes may be of particular 

 interest in heavily fished areas of the 

 South Atlantic Bight since it appears that 

 urchins occur in unusually high abundance 

 primarily in areas that have been heavily 

 fished by people (Estes and Palmisano 

 1974; Estes et al . 1978; Simenstad et al . 

 1978; Hay 1984b). On some reefs in the 

 bight, urchins may occur at densities of 

 >30/m . On jetties near Beaufort, NC, 

 urchin density ranges from <1 to 10/m . 

 Predatory fishes on temperate and tropical 

 reefs have been shown to affect sea urchin 



distribution, size frequency, and 

 abundance (Tegner and Dayton 1977, 1981; 

 Bernstein et al . 1981; Cowen 1983; Hoffman 

 and Robertson 1983), as well as behavioral 

 patterns, foraging range, and diet breadth 

 (Nelson and Vance 1979; Vance and Schmitt 

 1979; Carpenter 1984). Studies from both 

 the east and west coasts of North America, 

 as well as the Caribbean, have strongly 

 suggested that human removal of urchin 

 predators indirectly results in unusually 

 high urchin densities and thus the loss of 

 algal cover upon which many other 

 organisms may depend (Estes and Palmisano 

 1974; Breen and Mann 1976; Estes et al . 

 1978; Simenstad et al . 1978; Hay 1984b). 

 This could result in longterm suppression 

 of some reef fishes. 



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