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Fishery Bulletin 107(2) 
highest for rock outcrops followed by pavement, rubble, 
and live O. varicosa, all of which were within the 95% 
confidence limits. Species richness ( A + ) for standing 
dead habitat, however, was less than expected and fell 
below the 95% confidence limits. Among management 
areas, species richness was higher in the OECA and 
OHAPC compared to the open management area (Fig- 
ure 3). Average taxonomic distinctness (A + ) for the OE- 
CA and OHAPC were within the 95% confidence limits, 
however, A + for the open area was less than expected 
falling below the 95% confidence limits. 
Grouper densities were significantly different among 
habitat types (GLM, PcO.OOl) and management areas 
(GLM, P=0.033) (Fig. 4). Observed grouper species 
include speckled hind, red grouper (E. morio ), snowy 
grouper (E. niveatus), scamp, gag (M. microlepis), and 
rock hind (E. adscensionis). Pairwise comparisons re- 
vealed that grouper densities were significantly higher 
(P<0.05) on live O. varicosa, rock outcrops, and stand- 
ing dead O. varicosa compared to pavement and rubble. 
Grouper densities were also higher in the OECA com- 
pared to both the OHAPC and open management areas. 
When compared within each single habitat, grouper 
densities were significantly different on rock outcrops 
(One-way ANOVA, P= 0.023) and pairwise comparisons 
revealed that densities were higher in the OECA com- 
pared to both the OHAPC and open areas (P<0.05). 
Grouper densities among management areas were not 
significantly different (P>0.05) for any of the other 
habitat types. 
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 
Figure 3 
Average taxonomic distinctness ( A + ) of fish assemblages relative 
to the mean 4 + (dashed line) and the 95% confidence intervals 
(solid lines) by habitat (A) and management area (open = any area 
outside the OHAPC open to fishing, OHAPC = areas where all 
bottom gear except hook and line are restricted, i.e., excluding 
the OECA, and OECA = inside the MPA where all bottom gear, 
including hook and line fishing, are restricted) (B) from remotely 
operated vehicle (ROV) transects conducted on the Oculina Bank 
during April-May 2003 and October 2005. 
Habitat assessment 
: 
Analysis of digital stills revealed the highest 
percentage of live coral habitat was found in 
the OECA making up only 1.9% of the total 
habitat observed (Fig. 5). A total of 1307 digi- 
tal still images were taken in 2003 and 2005 
and used for analysis. There was significantly 
more live O. varicosa located within the OECA 
compared to the OHAPC and open (One-way 
ANOVA, P= 0.025). The percentage of rock out- 
crops was significantly higher in the OHAPC 
compared to the open and OECA as well as 
in the open compared to the OECA (One-way 
ANOVA, P<0.001). Significantly more rubble 
was found in the OECA and open compared 
to the OHAPC (One-way ANOVA, PcO.OOl). 
The percentage of pavement was significantly 
higher in the OECA and OHAPC compared to 
the open area (One-way ANOVA, P=0.003) and, 
finally, there was significantly more standing 
dead O. varicosa in the OECA than the open 
(One-way ANOVA, P=0.032). Location of video 
transects and digital still images containing 
live O. varicosa are shown in Figure 6. 
Discussion 
This is the first study to address the functional- 
ity of coral habitat and to compare fish assem- 
blages among areas with different management 
levels on the Oculina Bank. Prior to this study, 
the last survey conducted on the Oculina Bank 
was in 2001 (Koenig et ah, 2005), however, 
several differences exist between the two and 
new findings have emerged from the current 
survey. Koenig et al. (2005) targeted high relief 
sites within the OECA, used side-scan sonar 
to locate sites, and compared fish densities 
among three general habitat types (no coral, 
sparse live and dead O. varicosa, and dense 
live and dead O. varicosa ). The current study 
had updated multibeam maps to target sites, 
