PLANT-EATING INVERTEBRATES 



It is likely that numerous mo Husks , certain echinoderms, crustaceans 

 and other Invertebrates feed on attached plants in Lameshur Bay, but 

 information on the food habits of most is lacking. Bardach (1959) 

 suggested that the largest fraction of herbivores on a Bermuda reef 

 probably consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and annelids. 



Two invertebrate species in Lameshur Bay are known to be important 

 herbivores: the queen couch, Strombus gigas , and the black-spined 

 urchin, Diadema a ntillarum , studied in detail by Randall (1964) and 

 Randall, et al. (1964) The stomach contents of 59 adult Strombus 

 gigas contained principally plant material including 25 genera of algae, 

 disregarding diatoms. During the present study, adults of this species 

 were frequently observed on the sand-algal plain, and were most 

 conspicuous within 100 m of the reef. Adults were notably abundant 

 in grass beds in Salt Pond, southeast of the study area, in accord 

 with Randall's earlier observation (1964). 



Diadema antillarum apparently feeds principally on sea grasses and 

 algae. These urchins were particularly abundant in little Lameshur 

 Bay, northwest of the study area, and were common, often locally 

 abundant, on the reef near the TEKTITE Habitat. They were not 

 observed on the algal plain, however, other herbivorous echinoids 

 in the area far less numerous than Diadema were Lytechinus variegatus 

 and Tripneustes esculent a , known to feed on sea grass , Thalassia 

 testudlnum (Margalef and Rivero, 1958; Moore, e_t al . , 1963a; 

 Moore, et_ al . , 1963b). 



PLANT-EATING FISHES 



Randall (1967) noted 59 species of plant-eating fishes from the 

 West Indies in the families Hemiramphidae , Mullidae, Sparidae, 

 Kyphosidae, Pomocentridae, Scaridae, Monacanthidae, Ostraciontidae, 

 Canthigasteridae, Diodontidae, Tetraodontidae, Ogcocephalidae, 

 Gobiidae, Blenniidae, Ephippidae, Chaetodontidae, Acanthuridae , 

 and Balistidae. During Mission 6-50 observations were made on the 

 habits of 35 plant-eating species in 14 families. General comments 

 follow on each of these families with individual species notes. 



Identification of some species was difficult because positive 

 determinations require a fish in hand and collection of specimens 

 at the study site was necessarily prohibited. I feel confident 

 of family level determinations, however, and regard most species 

 identifications reliable but, where appropriate, have indicated 

 uncertainty. 



VI-144 



