The United States Virgin islands territorial coral reef monitoring program

ANNUAL REPORT

2011 Smith TB, Kadison E, Henderson L, Gyory J, Brandt ME, Calnan JM, Kammann M, Wright V, Nemeth RS, Rothenberger P

The United States Virgin IslandsTERRITORIAL CORAL REEF MONITORING PROGRAM

Acollaborationbetween:

TheCenterforMarineandEnvironmentalStudies,UniversityoftheVirginIslands

TheDivisionofCoastalZoneManagement,USVIDepartmentofPlanningand

NaturalResources

TheCoralReefConservationProgram,NationalOceanicandAtmospheric

Administration

INDEX

i

©2011.

CiteAs:SmithTB,KadisonE,HendersonL,BrandtME,GyoryJ,KammannM,WrightV,

NemethRS(2011)TheUnitedStatesVirginIslandsTerritorialCoralReefMonitoring

Program.Year11AnnualReport.Version1243pp

INDEX

ii

INDEXOFTABLES XII

PREFACE 1

MISSION 2

OURVISION 2

OBJECTIVES 2

EXECUTIVESUMMARY 3

CORALREEFSOFTHEVIRGINISLANDS:MANGEMENTACTIONSNEEDED 3

CORALREEFSOFTHEVIRGINISLANDS:POSITIVESIGNS 5

RESEARCHHIGHLIGHTS 9

THEIMPACTOF2005AND2010CORALBLEACHINGEVENTS 11

RECOMMENDATIONS 14

POPULATIONSOFCOMMERCIALLYIMPORTANTFISHSPECIES 15

RECOMMENDATIONS 16

IMPACTSOFLAND‐BASEDSOURCESOFPOLLUTIONONCORALREEFS 17

RECOMMENDATIONS 18

INTRODUCTION 21

OBJECTIVESFORMONITORINGCORALREEFS 24

METHODS 26

BENTHICASSESSMENTS 26

FISHCENSUS 32

TERRITORIALCORALREEFMONITORINGSUMMARY 34

INDEX

iii

BENTHICCOMMUNITIESANDCORALREEFHEALTH 35

CORALCOVER 35

EPILITHICALGALCOMMUNITYCOVER 37

MACROALGALCOVER 39

FILAMENTOUSCYANOBACTERIA 41

GORGONIANANDANTIPATHARIANCOVER 43

SPONGECOVER 45

FISHCOMMUNITIES 47

FISHABUNDANCE 49

FISHBIOMASS 51

BLACKSPINYSEAURCHINDIADEMAANTILLARUM 53

SITESUMMARIES 55

RATIONALE 55

SITESUMMMARYELEMENTS 55

ST.CROIX 59

BUCKISLAND,ST.CROIX 61

CANEBAY 67

CANEBAYDEEP 73

CASTLE 79

EAGLERAY 85

GREATPOND 91

JACKSBAY 97

KINGSCORNER 103

LANGBANKEASTENDMARINEPARK 109

LANGBANKREDHINDFISHSPAWNINGAGGREGATION 115

MUTTONSNAPPER 121

SALTRIVERWEST 127

SALTRIVERDEEP 133

INDEX

iv

SPRATHOLE 139

ST.JOHN 145

CORALBAY 147

FISHBAY 151

MERISHOAL 155

ST.THOMAS 159

BLACKPOINT 161

BOTANYBAY 167

BREWERSBAY 171

BUCKISLAND,ST.THOMAS 177

COCULUSROCK 181

COLLEGESHOAL 185

FLATCAY 191

GINSBURGSFRINGE 197

GRAMMANIKTIGER 201

HINDBANK 207

LITTLESAINTJAMES 213

MAGENSBAY 217

SAVANAISLAND 221

SEAHORSECOTTAGESHOAL 225

SOUTHCAPELLA 231

SOUTHWATER 237

LITERATURECITED 243

INDEX

v

IndexofFigures

Figure1.BleachedcoloniesofboulderstarcoralMontastraeaannularisatFlatCay,October2005...................11

Figure2.Starkwhitebleachingandwhitediseaseprevalence,andcoralcoverfrom2004‐2010in(top)

shallowreefs(n=18)and(bottom)mesophoticreefs(n=4).......................................................................................................12

Figure3.Bleaching,outgrowthandrecoveryofthesusceptiblecoralsAgariciaagaricitesandbranching

PoritesintheUSVIoveryears2005,2010,and2012....................................................................................................................13

Figure4.FrequencyofencounterswithcommerciallyimportantspeciesonTCRMPtransects(2003‐2009)...15Figure5.(above)AsiltladenghutflowstotheoceanonSt.Thomas.(left)Relationshipbetweensilt

accumulationandcoralhealthindicatorsforeightnearshoreTCRMPmonitoringsites.............................................17Figure6.LocationsofTerritorialCoralReefMonitoringSitesintheUSVirginIslands,2008‐2010.Boundaries

indicatefederalandterritorialmarineprotectedareas..............................................................................................................25Figure7.Ascreengrabofbenthicvideousedforthedeterminationofpercentcoverofcoralreeforganisms

andnon‐livingsubstrate.............................................................................................................................................................................28Figure8.Coralcover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime................................................................................36

Figure9.EpilithicAlgalCommunitycover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.....................................38Figure10.Macroalgaecover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime................................................................40Figure11.Filamentouscyanobacteriacover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime................................42

Figure12.GorgonianandAntipathariancover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime...........................44Figure13.Spongecover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime..........................................................................46

Figure14.Fishabundance(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime....................................................................50Figure15.Meanfishbiomass(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime...............................................................52

Figure16.Abundanceoftheblackspinyseaurchin(Diademaantillarum)atTCRMPmonitoringsites.Note

thelogscale......................................................................................................................................................................................................54

Figure17.TheBuckIsland,St.Croix.(top)PositionintheBuckIslandReefNationalMonument.(right)A

representativephoto.....................................................................................................................................................................................61

Figure18.BuckIsland,St.Croixbenthictemperatures(14mdepth).DataprovidedbytheNationalPark

Service(siteBUIS_SFR)................................................................................................................................................................................62

Figure19.BuckIsland,St.Croix.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.....................................................63

Figure20.BuckIsland,St.Croixbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)......................................64Figure21.TheBuckIsland,St.Croixfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.............................................66

INDEX

vi

Figure22.CaneBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.............................................................67

Figure23.CaneBaybenthictemperatures(8mdepth)..............................................................................................................68

Figure24.CaneBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative

compositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.......................................................................................69

Figure25.CaneBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...............................................................70

Figure26.TheCaneBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass......................................................................72

Figure27.CaneBayDeep.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005

bleachingevent.Bleachedcoloniesare0.5–3mwide................................................................................................................73Figure28.CaneBayDeeptemperature(39mdepth)..................................................................................................................74

Figure29.CaneBayDeep.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.....................................................................75

Figure30.CaneBayDeepbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...................................................76Figure31.TheCaneBayDeepfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..........................................................78Figure32.Castle.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef....................................................................79

Figure33.Castlebenthictemperatures(9mdepth)....................................................................................................................80Figure34.Castle.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure35.Castlebenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).....................................................................82

Figure36.TheCastlefishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.............................................................................84Figure37.EagleRay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef............................................................85

Figure38.EagleRaybenthictemperatureat9mdepth............................................................................................................86Figure39.EagleRay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative

compositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.......................................................................................87Figure40.EagleRaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).............................................................88

Figure41.TheEagleRayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass....................................................................90

Figure42.GreatPond.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................................................91

Figure43.GreatPondbenthictemperature(5mdepth)...........................................................................................................92Figure44.GreatPond(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure45.GreatPondbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................................................94

Figure46.TheGreatPondfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................................................96

Figure47.JacksBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.............................................................97Figure48.JacksBaybenthictemperatureat12mdepth...........................................................................................................98

INDEX

vii

Figure49.JacksBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure50.JacksBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................................................100Figure51.TheJacksBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................................................102

Figure52.KingsCorner.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefwithaschooloflane

snapper(Lutjaussynagris)......................................................................................................................................................................103

Figure53.KingsCornerbenthictemperature(17mdepth)..................................................................................................104Figure54.KingsCorner(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................105

Figure55.KingsCornerbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)....................................................106

Figure56.TheKingsCornerfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass...........................................................108

Figure57.LangBankEEMP.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef..........................................109Figure58.LangBankEEMPbenthictemperature(28mdepth).........................................................................................110Figure59.LangBankEastEndMarinePark(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimal

community.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment........................111Figure60.LangBankEEMPbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................................112

Figure61.TheLangBankEEMPfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................................114

Figure62.LangBankEEMP.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef..........................................115

Figure63.LangBankHindcurrentspeed(left)andbenthictemperature(right;33mdepth).............................116Figure64.LangBankRedHindFSA(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................117Figure65.LangBankRedHindFSAbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)............................118

Figure66.TheLangBankRedHindFSAfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................120Figure67.MuttonSnapper.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef............................................121

Figure68.MuttonSnapperbenthictemperaturerecordat23m(left)and39mdepth(right)...........................122

Figure69.MuttonSnapper(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................123Figure70.MuttonSnapperbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).............................................124

Figure71.TheMuttonSnapperfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass....................................................126

Figure73.SaltRiver.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................................................127

Figure74.SaltRiverWestsurface‐benthictemperaturerecord(1and5mdepths).Dataprovidedbythe

NOAAICONmonitoringnetwork.........................................................................................................................................................128

INDEX

viii

Figure75.SaltRiverWest(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure76.SaltRiverWestbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...............................................130Figure77.TheSaltRiverWestfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.......................................................132

Figure78.SaltRiverDeep.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.............................................133

Figure79.SaltRiverDeepbenthictemperatureat30mdepth(left)and40mdepth(right)...............................134

Figure80.SaltRiverDeep(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................135Figure81.SaltRiverDeepbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...............................................136

Figure82.TheSaltRiverDeepfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass......................................................138

Figure83.SpratHole.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.......................................................139

Figure84.SpratHolebenthictemperature(7mdepth)..........................................................................................................140Figure85.SpratHole(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative

compositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment....................................................................................141

Figure86.SpratHolebenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).........................................................142Figure87.TheSpratHolefishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass................................................................144

Figure88.CoralBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................................................147

Figure89.CoralBaybenthictemperature(9mdepth)............................................................................................................148

Figure90.CoralBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure91.CoralBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealthin2011(mean±SE)......................................................................150Figure92.CoralBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................................................151

Figure93.FishBaybenthictemperaturerecord(6mdepth)................................................................................................152Figure94.FishBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure95.FishBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).............................................................154

Figure96.MeriShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005coral

bleachingevent(Oct.6,2005).Thebraincoralintheforegroundis1.8mwide........................................................155

Figure97.MeriShoalbenthictemperaturerecord(30mdepth).........................................................................................156

Figure98.MeriShoal(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure99.MeriShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).........................................................158Figure100.BlackPoint.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef...................................................161

INDEX

ix

Figure101.Blackpointcurrentspeedandbenthictemperaturerecord(8mdepth)................................................162

Figure102.BlackPointchlorophyll(left)andturbidity(right)record(16mdepth)................................................162

Figure103.BlackPoint.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure104.BlackPointbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).....................................................164

Figure105.TheBlackPointfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass............................................................166

Figure106.BotanyBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef...................................................167Figure107.BotanyBaybenthictemperaturerecord(11mdepth)....................................................................................168Figure108.Alargecolonyofpillarcoral(Dendrogyracylindricus)dislodge,toppled,anddiseasedafterthe

2009swellevent(BotanyBay,June25,2009)...............................................................................................................................168

Figure109.BotanyBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................169Figure110.BotanyBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)....................................................170Figure111.BrewersBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef................................................171

Figure112.BrewersBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure113.BrewersBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)..................................................174

Figure114.TheBrewersBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.........................................................176

Figure115.BuckIsland,St.Thomas.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................177Figure116.BuckIsland,St.Thomasbenthictemperaturerecord(12mdepth)..........................................................178

Figure117.BuckIsland,St.Thomas.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................179

Figure118.BuckIsland,St.Thomasbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................180Figure119.CoculusRock.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefshowingtheaggregation

ofyellowtailparrotfish.............................................................................................................................................................................181

Figure120.CoculusRockbenthictemperaturerecord(7mdepth)....................................................................................182

Figure121.CoculusRock.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure122.CoculusRockbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).................................................184

Figure123.CollegeShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef...............................................185

Figure124.CollegeShoalbenthictemperaturerecord(29mdepth)...................................................................................186

Figure125.CollegeShoal(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


INDEX

x

Figure126.CollegeShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)................................................188

Figure127.TheCollegeShoalfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass........................................................190

Figure128.FlatCay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef..........................................................191Figure129.FlatCaybenthiccurrentspeed(left)andtemperaturerecord(right)(14mdepth)..........................192

Figure130.FlatCay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relative


Figure131.FlatCaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................................................194Figure132.TheFlatCayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................................................196Figure133.GinsburgsFringe.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefshowingwhorled

lettucecoralcoloniesupto7minwidth...........................................................................................................................................197

Figure134.GinsburgsFringecurrentspeed(50mdepth)......................................................................................................198

Figure135.GinsburgsFringe.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................199Figure136.GinsburgsFringebenthiccoverthroughtime(mean±SE)............................................................................200

Figure137.GrammanikTiger(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.....................................201Figure138.GrammanikTigerbenthiccurrentsspeedandtemperaturerecord(38mdepth)..............................202

Figure139.GrammanikTigerFSA.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................203

Figure140.GrammanikTigerbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).......................................204Figure141.TheGrammanikTigerfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..............................................206

Figure142.HindBank(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef...................................................207Figure143.HindBankbenthiccurrentspeed(40mdepth).Benthictemperaturerecordat20,30,and40m

depth.................................................................................................................................................................................................................208Figure144.HindBank.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure145.HindBankbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)......................................................210

Figure146.TheHindBankEastfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass...................................................212Figure147.LittleSt.James.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef...........................................213

Figure148.LittleSt.Jamesbenthictemperaturerecord(19mdepth)..............................................................................214

Figure149.LittleSt.James.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure150.LittleSt.Jamesbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).............................................216Figure151.MagensBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef................................................217

INDEX

xi

Figure152.MagensBaycurrentspeedandbenthictemperaturerecord(9mdepth)..............................................218

Figure153.MagensBaychlorophyll(left)andturbidity(right)record(16mdepth)..............................................218

Figure154.MagensBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure155.MagensBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...................................................220

Figure156.Savana.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005coral

bleachingevent.ThedogsnapperLutjanusjocu)isapproximately50cminlength..................................................221Figure157.Savanabenthictemperaturerecord(10mdepth).............................................................................................222Figure158.SavanaIsland.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)


Figure159.SavanaIslandbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...............................................224

Figure160.SeahorseCottageShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.........................225Figure161.Seahorsebenthictemperaturerecord(21mdepth)..........................................................................................226Figure162.SeahorseCottageShoal.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................227Figure163.SeahorseCottageShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)...........................228

Figure164.TheSeahorseCottageShoalfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass..................................230

Figure165.SouthCapella.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.............................................231

Figure166.SouthCapellabenthictemperaturerecord(24mdepth)................................................................................232Figure167.SouthCapella.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................233Figure168.SouthCapellabenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)................................................234

Figure169.TheSouthCapellafishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.......................................................236Figure170.SouthWater.(top)Location...........................................................................................................................................237

Figure171.SouthWaterbenthictemperaturerecord(24mdepth)...................................................................................238

Figure172.SouthWater.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)

Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment..................................................................239Figure173.SouthWaterbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)..................................................240

Figure174.TheSouthWaterfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.........................................................242

INDEX

xii

IndexofTables

Table1.TCRMPsitereefcomplextype,locationcoordinates,anddepths.FSA=FishSpawningAggregation.

EEMP=EastEndMarinePark.................................................................................................................................................................29

Table2.TCRMPsitedatesampled(benthic/health)andtypeofsampling..........................................................................30

Table3.Speciesrichnessacrosssitesinbelttransectsandrovingdiversurveys(RDS).Sitesaredividedinto

nearshore,offshoreandmesophoticsitesasdescribedinthetextabove.............................................................................48

PREFACE

1

Preface

Wearepleasedtopresentanewlookanddesignforthe2011TerritorialCoralReef

MonitoringProgram(TCRMP)report.Wehopethenewfeatureswillmakethereport

morereadableandmoreusefulforthepublic,reefmanagers,policymakers,students,

andscientists.Thisredesigncelebratesthe11thyearoftheprogramanda75%increase

inthenumberofpermanentmonitoringsitespresented.Manyofthesesiteswere

previouslyfundedundertemporaryprogramsandmosthaveoversevenyearsof

associateddata.TheirinclusionwillgreatlyaddtothecomprehensivenessoftheTCRMP.

Thisreportredesignincorporatesthefollowingsections:

Execu ve Summary.Thishasnowbeenexpandedandmademorerelevantto

managersandpolicymakerswhomaynothavetimetoreadtheentirereport.

Research Highlights.Thissectionwillpresentneworupdatedannualhighlights

fromfocalareasofresearchthatwefeelareofparticularinterest.Examples

includeimpactsofclimatechange,impactsofland‐basedsourcesofpollution,and

impactsoffishing.

TCRMP Summary.Thissectionisthecoreofinformationprovidedinreportsfrom

previousyearsanditismaintainedforeasycomparisontothepast.Italso

providesausefuloverviewofreefconditionacrossourjurisdiction.Important

newadditionsarewaterqualityandsedimentdata.

Site Summaries.Thegreatvolumeofdatafromindividualsitesdeservesgreater

attention.Assuch,multi‐pageportfoliosforeachsitehavebeendevelopedthat

includesite‐specificdescriptions,maps,photos,benthicstructure,coralhealth,

fishcommunitystructure,benthictemperature,and,whererecorded,currents.

Wehopethissectionwillbeaquickreferenceforthoseinterestedinspecific

geographicareas,reeftypes,andsites.

Appendices.Wehavemovedtoanall‐digitalonlineformatforappendices.

MISSION

2

Mission

OUR VISION

ToprovidecriticalinformationonthestatusandthreatstoallVirgin

Islandscoralreefecosystemsinordertoincreasemanagement

effectivenessandimprovebasicandappliedcoralreefresearch

OBJECTIVES

Monitorthestatusandtrajectoriesofcoralreefsacrossamajorityofhabitats

andthreats,includingland‐basedsourcesofpollution&thermalstress

Linkchangesincoralreefhealthwithspecificstressors,indicatingspecific

managementinterventionsmosteffectiveforpreservingreefs

Integrateassessmentsofunderstudiedmesophoticcoralreefecosystemsand

threatenedspeciesintheUSVI

Providedata,outputs,andadvicetostakeholdersandcreateanexusof

informationforreefresearch

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3

ExecutiveSummary

CoralreefsintheCaribbeanarefacingadramaticdeclineandareatacrossroads.

Managementdecisionsmadetodaywillaffectthegoodsandservicesthatreefsprovide

fordecadestocome.ThegovernmentoftheUnitedStatesVirginIslands(USVI),in

coordinationwiththeNOAACoralReefConservationProgramandtheUniversityofthe

VirginIslands,implementedtheTerritorialCoralReefMonitoringProgram(TCRMP).

TheTCRMPhasestablishedbaselineconditionsandtemporaltrendsofcoralreefsand

fishpopulationsandhasidentifiedthreatsthatwillinfluencethefuturereefhealthand

development.

AmajorfocusoftheTCRMPistoprovideinformationthatcanleadtomoreeffective

managementstrategiesthatbalancetheimmediateneedsoftheVirginIsland’s

populationwithpreservationandsustainabilityofcoralreefsandtherenewable

goodsandservicestheyprovide.

Theintentofthisreportistodistillmonitoringdataintoactionableinformationthatcan

guidemanagementdecisionsandinformthepublicandpolicy‐makersonareasthatneed

furthereffort.ThisexecutivesummarypresentsinformationonthreatstoUSVIreefsthat

requiremanagementintervention/actionaswellaspositivesignsthatcaninformour

understandingofsustainability.

CORAL REEFS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS: MANGEMENT ACTIONS NEEDED

TheTCRMPdatahasidentifiedthreatstoUSVIcoralreefecosystemsthatneedincreased

managementattentionifreefcoralsaretopersistinaconditionthatisequaltoorbetter

thancurrentconditions.

Coral Reef Bleaching.Highthermalstresscausedbyclimatechangeiscurrentlythe

greatestthreattoUSVIcoralreefecosystems.The2005coralbleachingeventcausedthe

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4

largestlossofcoralinthedocumented

historyoftheUSVI,witha50%declinein

coralcoverinshallowwaterslessthan

25m/85’deep.Thiseventsurpassedall

knownmodernimpactsfromphysical

damage(stormsandanchoring),ecosystem

changes(fishinganddisease),andpollution

(terrestrialsedimentsandtoxins).These

eventsarepredictedtoincreasewithawarmingplanet,troublingnewsfortheUSVI

Whilelocalmanagementactionscannotmitigateimpactstoreefsfromglobalwarming,

reefsthatareotherwiselessstressedbyland‐basedsourcesofpollution,fishing,and/or

physicaldamageareknowntorecovermorequicklyfrombleaching.Hence,local

managementactionsthatpromoteseascape‐widecoralreefhealthofferthebeststrategy

forsustainablereefs.Wecanalsoidentifyareasthatarenaturallymoreresistantto

thermalstressandoffertheseareasfurtherprotection,sincetheyofferinsuranceagainst

theworstpossiblefutureoutcomesforUSVIreefs.

Overfishing.ThereareclearindicationsthatreefsoftheUSVIaresufferingtheeffectsof

overexploitationofreefresources,althoughtherearealsopositivesigns(seenext

section).TheentiredistrictofSt.Croixhasanextremelylowabundanceofcommercially

importantgrouperspecies,includingthethreatenedNassaugrouper.InSt.JohnandSt.

Thomas,manycommonspecieshavecompletelyornearlydisappearedfromnearshore

watersinthelast30years.Forexample,astudyconductedbyRogersetal.(1982)onthe

southwestcoastofSt.Thomasduringtheairportrunwayexpansion(1979‐1981)founda

varietyofspeciesthatarenolongerencounteredorarerare,includingtheblack,Nassau,

tiger,andyellowfingroupers,aswellastheprotectedparrotfishspeciesblue,midnight,

andrainbow.AstudybyRandall(1963)alsofoundhighrelativeabundancesofgroupers

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

5

andthreatenedparrotfishonthesouthcoastofSt.John.Rebuildingthesefishstockwill

requirecomprehensivelife‐historyinformationfortargetspecies,awillingnesstofind

strategiestorebuildstocks,andpartnershipsbetweencommercialandrecreational

fishers,communitystakeholdersandmanagers.

Land‐Based Source of Pollu on.ThesteephillsidesoftheUSVIarenaturalconduitsfor

run‐offduringheavyraineventsandinmanyinstancesthereislittleinterceptionof

materialsbeforetheyreachtheseaandimpactcoralreefs.Whentropicalsoilsare

naturallydisturbedorthroughtheactionsofman,theycanerodeandreleasefine‐

grainedsiltandclayparticles.IntheUSVI,thesefine‐grainedparticlesarequickly

transportedtocoralreefswheretheycanblocksunlight,directlysmothercorals,or

increasethegrowthorganismsthatcompetewithcoralsforspace.Thereisevidence

fromtheTCRMPthatterrestrialsedimentsarehavinglargenegativeimpactson

nearshorecoralreefsbyincreasingmortalityofecologicallyimportantcorals.

CORAL REEFS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS: POSITIVE SIGNS

DespitetheincredibledeclinesinreefhealthwitnessedsincetheinceptionoftheTCRMP

in2001,therearemanypositivesignsfortheUSVIthatshouldbehighlighted.These

successesofferlessonsthatcanbeappliedtotroubledreefsandmayindicaterefuge

areaswherewemight“double‐down”oncurrentmanagementstrategies.

Reef Refuges.TheUSVIisblessed,perhapsuniquelyfortheCaribbean,withextensive

areasofdeepbankandslopereefsthatarebufferedfromthedirectimpactsofclimate

changeandlocalpressures.Themesophotic(pronounced:mizo‐photik;meaning;

“middle‐light”)reefsoftheUSVIarethebestdevelopedintheCaribbeanfromwhatis

currentlyknown.MesophoticCoralEcosystem(MCE)bankreefswithhighpopulations

ofboulderstarcorals(Montastraeaannularisspeciescomplex),whichhaverecentlybeen

proposedforlistingasendangeredontheUnitedStatesEndangeredSpeciesList(NOAA

2012),formextensivetractsonthesouthshelfofSt.JohnandSt.Thomas,fromthe

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

6

BritishVirginIslandstoVieques,PuertoRico.Well‐formed,butpatchiermesophotic

bouldercoralreefsalsoformontheLangBank,St.CroixandthenorthernPuertoRican

Shelf.Duringthe2005bleachingevent,whereshallowwaterreefslost50%ofcoral

cover,MCEstudiedbytheTCRMPhardlybleachedandlostamoremodest20%coral

cover.Thus,thereishopethatthesereefswillserveasrefugesforcoralsduringatime

ofincreasingoceantemperatures.

Infederalwaterssomeoftheseareasarewhollyorpartlyprotectedfromfishingof

ecologicallyimportantspeciesthathelpmaintainreefhealth.TheseincludetheRed

HindMarineConservationDistrict(est.1999),theGrammanikBankSeasonallyClosed

Area(est.2005),andtheLangBankRedHindSeasonallyClosedArea(est.1993).

However,extensivelydevelopedmesophoticreefinunprotectedterritorialwatersalso

existneartheislandofFrenchCapandSailRock,St.ThomasDistrict.Itisimportantthat

theseareasareidentified,theirthreatsassessed,andtheyareincorporatedintothe

territorialandfederalmanagementplanningprocess.

Rebounding Fisheries Species.Therearepositivesignsofrecoveryforcertainfishspecies

insomeareas.AttheGrammanikBankgrouperspawningaggregationsitetherehave

beenincreasingnumbersofNassaugrouperpresentforannualspawning(Nemeth,

unpub.data)andaredhindaggregationintheRedHindMarineConservationDistrict

(MCD)hasdramaticallyrebounded(Nemeth2005).Redhindcaughtinthefisheryonthe

southsideofSt.Thomasaremorenumerousandlarger(D.Olsen,pers.comm.).Itisalso

theimpressionoftheauthorsthatstocksofgrouperandsnapperareincreasinginthe

MCD,althoughTCRMPmeasurementsareconfoundedtosomedegreebytherotating

arrayofaggregatingfishes.OtherterritorialandfederalclosedareasinSt.Croix,St.John,

andSt.Thomasaremorerecentlyestablishedandmaynotshoweffectsforseveralyears.

However,in2011theTCRMPrecordedthefirsteversightingsoftwoNassaugrouperin

St.Croix,apositivesign.Forspeciesthatarecompletelyprotectedfromfishing(Nassau

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

7

grouperandblue,midnight,andrainbowparrotfish),educationalcampaignsfor

recreationalandcommercialfishermanarecritical,asawarenessofregulationsappears

tobelacking(Authors,unpub.obs.).

Land‐based source of pollu on.Whiledevelopmentofsteepislandslopeshascontinued

despitecurrentregulationsintendedtopreventsedimentsfromenteringnearshore

waters,researchhasidentifiedkeytargetsforrestorationandsomeeffectivehabitat

restorationbest‐managementpractices.ResultsfromTCRMPresearchsuggestthatthere

arecertainlevelsofsilt‐ladenterrestrialrun‐offthataredamagingtocorals,providinga

targetforreductionsofsedimentinthemarineenvironment.Unpavedroadsegments

havebeenimplicatedastheworstculpritsintheproductionofsediment‐ladenrun‐off

(Ramos‐ScharronandMacDonald2007b)andthisprovidesacleartargetforwhere

managementcanbemosteffectivelyapplied.Restorationofwatershedshasshownthat

implementationofbest‐managementpracticesandcontrolstructurescanbeeffectivein

reducingsedimentation.Forexample,theAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentAct

project“USVICoastalHabitatRestorationThroughWatershedStabilization”showed

promisingresults(VirginIslandsResourceConservationandDevelopmentCouncil;P.I.

M.Taylor).

Thisreportpresentsresultsofthe11thyearofmonitoringonreefssurroundingSt.Croix,

St.John,andSt.Thomas(years2001‐2011).Monitoringsitesweredistributedacrossthe

insularplatformindepthsfrom5to63m(16–220’)inanefforttocapturethediversity

ofreeftypespresentintheVirginIslands.Digitalvideoanddiversurveyswereusedto

quantifybenthiccoverandcoralhealthat14permanentsitessurroundingtheislandof

St.Croixand19permanentsitesonthePuertoRicanShelfsurroundingtheislandofSt.

JohnandSt.Thomas.Inaddition,at19ofthesesitesseaurchindensityandfish

communitystructurewereevaluated.Thisreportpresentsdatafromamajorexpansion

ofcoralreefmonitoringsites.Long‐termdataisnowpresentedfrom33sites,an

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

8

increaseof14sites,includingtheconditionof1newreeflocationaroundSt.Croixand

13surroundingSt.John‐St.Thomas.Whilenotexhaustive,withtheexpandednumberof

sites,theTCRMPisnowmoreinclusiveofthegeographicareasandvarietyofreeftypes

intheUSVI.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

9

ResearchHighlights

CORAL BLEACHING

10

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

11

TheImpactof2005and2010CoralBleachingEvents

Recentepisodesofcoralbleachingarethegreatestmodernthreattocoralreefsofthe

USVIand,althoughglobalforcesarethecause,therearelocalmanagementactionsthat

canlimitdegradationofvitalreefresources.Unprecedentedhighseawatertemperatures

affectedtheUSVIandthewidernortheasternAntillesfromAugusttoOctoberof2005

(Eakinetal.2010).Climatemodelingsuggeststhathuman‐inducedglobalwarmingfrom

theemissionofgreenhousegasescausedthisevent(Donneretal.2007).Theyear2010

startedwarmerthan2005andexpertspredictedanothermassbleachingevent,however

whenHurricaneEarlpassedtheUSVIseasurfacetemperaturesdroppedrapidlyinan

exampleoftropicalstormcooling(Manzelloetal.2007)avertingmoresignificant

bleachingandmortality.

Thermalbleachingiscausedbyexposureofcoralstohightemperaturesandlight.This

initiatesabreakdownofthemicroscopicbrownalgae(Symbiodinium)thatliveincoral

tissueandalossofthefoodthey

supplytothecoralanimal.

Eventuallythesesymbioticalgaeare

expelledfromthecoral,turningthe

tissuespaletostarkwhite(Fig.1).

Bleachedcoralsareatincreasedrisk

ofdisease(BrandtandMcManus

2009)anddeath(Bakeretal.2008).

Figure1.BleachedcoloniesofboulderstarcoralMontastraeaannularisatFlatCay,October2005.

CORAL BLEACHING

12

The2005coralbleachingeventhadmajor,negativeimpactstocoralcommunitiesinthe

USVI(Fig.2).About60%ofshallowcoralsinwaterlessthan25mdepthwere

approximately60%bleachedtostarkwhite.Thisledtounprecedentedlevelsofwhite

diseaseandseverelyaffectedthefoundationalreefbuildingboulderstarcoral

(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex),leadingtoanapproximate50%lossofcoralcover.

BoulderstarcoralsareresponsibleformuchofthehabitatcreationthatsupportsUSVI

fisheriesandothercoralspecies.Deeper,mesophoticreefsinwatersgreaterthan25m

depthwerelessaffectedbybleaching,butsubsequentlyexperiencedhighandenduring

levelsofwhitediseasethatledtoalossofcoralcoverofabout20%.

Therewashighsite‐to‐sitevariabilityinthemortalitysufferedfollowingbleaching.Most

monitoredmesophoticsitesfaredbetterthanshallowwatersites.However,mesophotic

wallenvironmentsshowedextensivebleachingand,althoughcoverwasnotmonitoredin

2005,theyappeartohavelostlargeamountsofcover.Ingeneral,lowcoralcoverreefs

showedlessdramaticornolossof

coralcover.Thismayreflectacoral

communitycomposedofspeciesthat

aremoreresistanttocoralbleaching

relatedmortality.Offshoreshallow

siteswithhigherabundanceof

boulderstarcoralshowedhigher

lossesofcoralcover,whichranged

from22%(FlatCay)toanextreme

87%(MuttonSnapper).

Figure2.Starkwhitebleachingandwhitediseaseprevalence,andcoralcoverfrom2004‐2010in(top)shallowreefs(n=18)and(bottom)mesophoticreefs(n=4).

% W

hite D

isease

0

4

8

12

16

% B

leac

hin

g &

Co

ral C

ove

r

0

20

40

60

80

200

4-2

00

5

Ble

ac

hin

g

Ea

rly

200

6

La

te 2

00

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

Coral Cover

0

20

40

60

80Bleaching

0

4

8

12

16

White Disease

Shallow (< 25m depth)

Mesophotic (> 25m depth)

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

13

TheUSVIshallowwatercoralcommunities’responsesuggeststhatCaribbeanreefs

underseawaterwarmingconditionswillshifttohigherdominanceofmoreresistant

species.Theboulderstarcoralsandthegiantbraincoral(Colpophyllianatans)were

showntobeverysusceptibletodiseaseafterbleachingandthisledtolargelossesof

coralcover.Ontheotherhand,moderatebleaching,notolowdisease,andnotolow

coverlosswasseenintheresistantsmallmassivespeciesDiploriastrigosa,Montastraea

cavernosa,Poritesastreoides,andSiderastreasiderea.ThespeciesAgariciaagaricitesand

branchingPoriteswereverysusceptibletobleachingandmortality,butareshowingsigns

offast‐regrowthandresilience(Fig.3).

Reefsthatsawlossesofcoralcoveralsomayshowdifferingcapabilitiesforrecovery.On

manySt.Croixreefsareasexposedduetolosesincoralcoverwerecolonizedbyan

abundanceofmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria,,indicatingthatfishesand

invertebratesthatnormallycontrolalgaewerenotpresentinsufficientnumbers.St.

JohnandSt.Thomas,withmorerobustfishcommunities,werelesslikelytogain

macroalgaeandcyanobacteria.Thismightindicatethatreefswithhigherprotectionof

criticalecologicalfishspecies,suchasparrotfish,willreboundfaster(Mumbyand

Harborne2010).ThespecificmechanismsforthisintheUSVIneedfurtherresearch.

Figure3.Bleaching,outgrowthandrecoveryofthesusceptiblecoralsAgariciaagaricitesandbranchingPoritesintheUSVIoveryears2005,2010,and2012

2005 2010 2012

CORAL BLEACHING

14

RECOMMENDATIONS

Therearelocalmanagementactionsthatworktoprotectcoralreefsinthefaceofa

changingclimate(MarshallandSchuttenberg2006)andensuretheycontinuetoprovide

economicandsocialbenefitsfortheUSVI.Thesestrategiesinvolveunderstandinghow

coralsarerespondingacrosstheseascapeandapplyingbestmanagementpracticesto

supportreefhealth.DatafromtheTCRMPcanhelpdeterminethemosteffectiveactions

withtheleastdirectandindirectcoststotheUSVIeconomy.

Strategy #1.Reducelocalstressors,suchasremovalofecologicallyimportantspecies

(e.g.,large‐bodiedparrotfish),land‐basedsourcesofpollution,andphysicaldamageto

reefs.Bleachedreefsaremostfragileduringbleachingandthefollowingyear.Special

restrictionsmightbeconsideredduringthisperiodtoreducestressanddisease.

Strategy #2.Identifyreefsresistanttoclimatechange.TheTCRMPhasidentifieddeeper

mesophoticreefsystemsasresistanttobleaching.Mesophoticreefslikelyexceed

shallowwaterreefareaintheUSVIandthemayhavetheabilitytoreseeddegraded

shallowsystems.Specialmanagementcouldbeapplied,includingreducingfishtraps

thatremoveecologicallyimportantfishesanddamagecoral,andrestrictinganchoring

andcablelaying.Thesereefsshouldbefullyresearchedtounderstandtheirextent,their

futurepersistence,andtheirabilitytore‐seedyoungcoralstodegradedshallowreefs.

Strategy #3.Identifyreefsandspeciessusceptibletoclimatechange.Ashiftawayfrom

reefdominancebyboulderstarcoralstosmallcoralsandalgaewoulddegradethe

fisheriesandtouristpotentialofUSVIreefs,yetshallowboulderstarcoralreefsarethe

mostsusceptibletobleaching.Thesereefsshouldbefullycataloguedandsetasideas

specialareas.ManyUSVIprotectedareaswiththepowertoassistcoralreefrecovery

(e.g.,notakereserves)aresitedoutsidethedensestareasofstarcorals.Forexample,the

EastEndMarinePark’sno‐takeareainsideabarrierreefcontainsrelativelylittleboulder

coral,whereastheouterbarrierreefhaslargepopulationsoftheseimportantspecies.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

15

PopulationsofCommerciallyImportantFishSpecies

Reeffishesserveimportantecologicalrolesthatdirectlyandindirectlyaffectthehealth

ofcoralreefs.Forexample,large‐bodiedparrotfishesaregrazersofmacroalgaethat

displacejuvenilecoralsandcompetewithadultcoralsforreefspace(Mumby2006),

increasingcoraldiseaseandmortality(Smithetal.2006).Inaddition,commercially

importantspeciesarealsoimportantpredatorsthatcreatecascadingeffectswiththe

potentialtoimprovereefhealth(Sandinetal.2008).Maintaininghealthypopulationsof

reeffishesisaworthy/valuablemanagementtargetasawaytopromotesustainable

fisheriesresourcesandoverallreefhealthandfunction.

IntheUSVI,assessmentsofreeffishpopulationshavebeenfewandtendedtofocuson

marinereserveeffectiveness.TheTCRMPhasassessedpopulationsoffishesacross

manysites(5–40mdepth).Fishcensusdatabetween2003and2009showedthatmany

speciesthatwererelativelycommononSt.John‐St.Thomasreefswereinlowabundance

onSt.Croixreefs(Fig.4).Fishingpressureasmeasuredbythenumberofregistered

commercialfishermanversusshelfarea(<65mdepth)wasapproximatelyfourtimes

greaterperareaonSt.CroixthanonSt.Thomas‐St.John,largelybecausethenorthern

USVIhasaboutthreetimesasmuchdeepshelfarea(26‐65mdepth).ShallowSt.Croix

watersalsoallowedmoreintensivenetting&spearingonSCUBA.Inaddition,many

snapperspeciesareavoided

southofSt.JohnandSt.

ThomasduetoCiguateraFish

Poisoning.

Figure4.FrequencyofencounterswithcommerciallyimportantspeciesonTCRMPtransects(2003‐2009).

FISHERIES IMPACTS

16

ThesedatasuggestthatsomefishspeciesonSt.Croixareseverelyoverfishedandcannot

performtheircriticalecologicalrolesaspredatorsandgrazers.Interritorialandfederal

watersoftheUSVIinsularshelf,manylimited‐orno‐takemarineprotectedareasand

speciallyprotectedspeciesregulations(e.g.,nopossessionofNassaugrouperandblue,

midnight,andrainbowparrotfish)areonlyadecadeoldorless.Therefore,regulations

maynothavehadsufficienttimetorebuildfishstocks.Yet,manyoftheserestrictionsare

notenforced,therefore,theintendedimpactofprotectingandrestoringthesevitalfish

populationsmaynotberealized.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Strategy #1.Maintainandenforcecurrentfisheriesregulationssothattheintended

benefitsofprotectioncanberealized.Examinethemarineprotectedareasnetworkto

identifyunprotectedareasthatmightbeimportanttorebuildingfisheriesstocksor

protectedareasthatarenotperformingastockenhancementrole.Also,payattentionto

ecologicallyimportantareas,suchasboulderstarcoralreefsrecoveringfrombleaching

mortality,wheresustaininghighfishabundanceisimportanttoenhancingreefrecovery.

Strategy #2.Identifyandprotectfishspawningaggregations(FSA).Allreproductivefish

fromanentirepopulationcanbeconcentratedinFSAwheretheyaremostvulnerableto

overexploitation.LossofentirelocalpopulationsispossibleiftheseFSAareallowedto

beexploited.

Strategy #3.Researchtheecologicalrolesoffisheriesspecies,suchasparrotfish,to

determinepopulationsnecessarytomaintainreefhealthandincorporateresultsinto

managementstrategies.

Strategy #4.PromotetheharvestoftheinvasiveIndo‐Pacificlionfish(Pteroisvolitans),

whichisavoraciousconsumerofyoungandsmallfishes.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

17

ImpactsofLand‐BasedSourcesofPollutiononCoralReefs

Land‐BasedSourcesofPollutionareasignificant

threattotheintegrityofnearshorecoralecosystems

intheUSVI.Ratesofsiltaccumulation,often

associatedwithterrestrialsediment‐ladenrunoff,

increasedramaticallyfromoffshoretonearshore

watersoftheUSVI(Smithetal.2008).Terrestrial

siltandclayparticleslessthan0.75µMdiameter

havestrongnegativeeffectsoneconomically

importantstonycorals,includingbleaching,disease,

andmortality(Weberetal.2006).DatafromtheTCRMP(Fig.5)showsthatnearshore

sitesthehighestlevelsofsiltinputaresickerthanotherreefs1.ThisindicatesthatUSVI

coralsaresufferingfrom

sedimentimpactsthatare

degradingnearshorecoral

reefsystemsandlimiting

thebenefitstheyprovideto

ourcommunity.

Figure5.(above)AsiltladenghutflowstotheoceanonSt.Thomas.(left)RelationshipbetweensiltaccumulationandcoralhealthindicatorsforeightnearshoreTCRMPmonitoringsites.

1(OldPartialMortality:R2=0.80,F=10.6,p<0.0175;Bleaching:R2=0.90,F=25.3,p<0.0024;OverallImpairment:R2=0.89,F=17.3,p<0.0031)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Pre

vale

nce

Silt Accumulation (mg cm-2 day-1)

Old Partial Mortality

Bleaching

Impairment

LAND‐BASED SOURCES OF POLLUTION

18

Lessisknownaboutotherland‐basedsourcesofpollutionandtheirimpactsoncoralreef

ecosystems.Theseincludetoxinscarriedwithrun‐offorleachedfromdomesticand

industrialactivities,suchasthecentralwastedumpstersthatareoftensitedonroadways

adjacenttoghuts.Nutrientscarriedorleachedfromsedimentscanalsohaveindirect

effectsoncoralsbystimulatingbenthicmacroalgaeandnuisancealgalblooms.Nutrients

canalsoreducewaterclarityandblocklighttocoralsthroughthestimulationof

microscopicalgaeinthewatercolumn(phytoplankton).

Thegoodnewsisthattheeffectsofland‐basedsourcesofpollutionareveryamenableto

managementactions.Manyproblemscanbetackledthroughsimplesolutionsintended

tokeepsedimentsoutofcoastalwaters,whichdonotrequireexpensiverestorationor

inhibiteconomicdevelopment.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Strategy #1.Implementstandards,certifications,andeducationalprogramsfor

contractorsandheavymachineryoperatorsthatofferguidanceforearthmoving.This

guidancecouldincludemonthswhereearthworkisnotadvisedduetothepotentialof

soillossthroughrunoff,suchasduringtropicalstormperiods(Jul.‐Nov.).

Strategy #2.Unpavedroadsarethelargestartificialproducersofterrestrialsedimentin

theUSVI(Ramos‐ScharronandMacDonald2007b).Identifytheworstroadsandtarget

theseforpublicallysupportedrestoration.Offertaxrebatestohomeownersforroad

pavingorimplementationofsedimentreductiontechniques.Strengthenrequirements

forprivateandcommercialroadconstructionthatreducesedimentproduction(e.g.,

sloperestrictions,re‐gradingrequirements,specialrestrictionsneardrainages).

Strategy #3.Protectsaltpondsastheyareveryeffectivenaturalsedimentretention

structures.Restoresaltpondsthathavebeencompromisedbybermopeningorinfilling

andcreateartificialsedimentretentionpondsalongproblematicghuts.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

19

Strategy #4.Investinresearchtounderstandhowterrestrialsedimentlevelsaffectcoral

reefs,whatthresholdsofsedimentmostimpactcoralsandwhatcouldbetolerated,and

identifycoastalareaswheresedimentmitigationismostlikelytoprotectcoralreefs,

particularlythosewithinmarineprotectedareas.

INTRODUCTION

21

Introduction

TheU.S.VirginIslandsconsistsofthreelargeislands,St.Thomas,St.JohnandSt.Croix,

andnumeroussmallerislandssurroundedbyadiverse,tropicalmarineenvironmentthat

includescoralreefs,seagrassbeds,andmangroveforests(Fig.6).TheislandsofSt.

ThomasandStJohnlieonthePuertoRicanShelf,anextensiveshallowwaterplatform

thatconnectsthemtoPuertoRicotothewestandtheBritishVirginIslandstotheeast.

Sixty‐fivekilometerstothesouthofSt.ThomasandSt.Johnandseparatedbythe

AnegadaPassageandtheVirginIslandsTrough(over3,000mdeep),St.Croixliesonan

isolatedplatform.Thisformsaneffectivebarriertothemigrationofcoralreeffishesand

invertebrates.ThecoralreefsoftheVirginIslandsrepresentawiderangeof

characteristiccoralreefhabitatsoftheCaribbean,includingpatchreefs,fringingreefs,

barrierreefs,shelfreefs,andextensivebankandslopemesophoticcoralreefecosystems.

TourismdrivestheeconomyoftheVirginIslands,famousforwhitesandbeachesthat

givewaytoclean,clearmarinewaters.TheVirginIslandsareidealforsailingbecauseof

thepersistenttradewindsandthenumerousbaysthatprovideprotectedanchorages.

Thediversemarinelifeofthecoralreefsandotherhabitatsattractsthousandsofskin

andscubadiverseachyear.Sportfishingoncharterboatsandprivatevesselsalsomakes

animportantcontributiontotheeconomy.

Inadditiontotheirtouristappeal,thecoralreefsandotherhabitatsintheVirginIslands

areessentialtothelivesofhundredsofthousandsofspeciesincludingeconomically

importantqueenconch,whelk,spinylobster,snapperandgrouper.Overthreehundred

full‐timeorpart‐timecommercialfishermenfishinterritorialandfederalwaters

surroundingallthreeislands(Tobias1997).Recreationalandartisanalfishingisa

frequentactivityandislikelytohaveasignificantimpactonnearshorefishpopulations,

butthereexistsverylimiteddataonspeciescompositionandspatialdistributionof

annualcatches(Authors,personalobservation).Intougheconomictimesandafter

INTRODUCTION

22

naturaldisasters,fishingisanimportantmeansofsupplementalincomeorextraprotein

formanypeople.

Overthelastfewdecades,majorhurricanes,coraldiseaseoutbreaksandmasscoralreef

bleachinghavecausedextensivecoralmortalitytothecoralreefssurroundingtheVirgin

Islands(Gladfelter1982,EdmundsandWitman1991,Rogersetal.1991,Rothenberger

etal.2008,Woodyetal.2008,Milleretal.2010).Recoveryfromthesenatural

disturbancesishinderedbyamultitudeofhumanimpactsthataffectcoralreefs,suchas

overfishingofecologicallyimportantspecies,physicaldamagetoreefstructure,and

pollution(Hatcher1984,PastorokandBilyard1985,RogersandGarrison2001,Mumby

2006,Mumbyetal.2006,MumbyandHarborne2010).Moreover,rapiddevelopmentof

steepislandslopeshasdramaticallyincreasedsoilerosionandsedimentationinto

nearshorewaters(Brooksetal.2007,Grayetal.2008,Smithetal.2008),particularly

belowunpavedroadsurfaces(AndersonandMacdonald1998,Ramos‐Scharronand

MacDonald2007a).Chronicsedimentationaffectstheabundanceanddiversityofcorals

andotherreeforganisms,increasescoralstressandsusceptibilitytodiseasesand

bleaching,andreducestheabilityofcoralsandotherreeforganismstorecoverand

regenerateafternaturaldisturbancessuchashurricanes(AcevedoandMorelock1988,

Rogers1990,NemethandSladeckNowlis2001,Fabricius2005).Thefirstsightingsof

theinvasiveIndo‐Pacificlionfish(Pteroisvolitans)occurredintheUSVirginIslandsin

2009.Thispredatorhastheabilitytodramaticallyaltercoralreeffishcommunity

structure(CoteandMaljkovic2010)andthesealterationsmayhaveadditional,indirect

impactsonbenthiccommunities(AlbinsandHixon2011).

HighthermalstressandcoralbleachingeventsaffectedthenortheasternCaribbeanin

2005and2010,buttheseeventshadcontrastingsignaturesintheUnitedStatesVirgin

Islands.Theyear2005wasthemostseverehighseasurfacetemperature(SST)eventon

recordforthenortheasternCaribbean(Eakinetal.2010).IntheVirginIslandsapeakof

INTRODUCTION

23

10.25DegreeHeatingWeeks(DHW)wasregisteredfromsatelliteSSTrecords(NOAA

2012)andaperiodofapproximately59daysabovethelocalbleachingthresholdof

29.5°C(Aug.20–Oct.18);alevelofthermalstressaccumulationassociatedwithsevere

coralbleachingandsomemortality.Thewarmseasonof2010startedaswarmor

warmerthan2005,withthebleachingthresholdsurpassedfor21daysbetweenAugust

12andSeptember2.Inaclearexampleofameliorativestormcooling(Manzelloetal.

2007),thepassingofthestormcenterofHurricaneEarlonAugust30th,approximately

100kmtothenortheastoftheSt.Thomas‐St.John,causedarapiddeclineinSST’sbelow

thebleachingthresholdto29.3°C,andthenfromOctober5‐8,thepassageofHurricane

OttocausedwindyandcloudyweatherthatfurtherreducedSSTbelow29.1°C.Total

DHWaccumulatedin2010begantodecreaseafterthebeginningofOctober,whenithad

reached5.1DHW,alevelassociatedwithsomebleachingandlimitedmortality.

MostresearcharoundtheVirginIslandshasfocusedonfringingreefs(5–30mdepth)

locatedalongtheshorelineofthethreemainislands,St.Thomas,St.John,andSt.Croix.

Incontrast,verylittleinformationexistsforoffshoreanddeeperreefsystems,whichcan

bequiteextensive.SurroundingSt.ThomasandSt.John,theseotherreefsystems

includemid‐shelfreefs(5–30mdepth)located2to10kmfromtheshoreofthemain

islandsandmesophoticreefs(>30mdepth)locatedfrom0.5to15kmoffshorealongthe

edgeoftheinsularplatform(Armstrongetal.2002,Herzliebetal.2005,Armstrongetal.

2006,Armstrong2007,Menzaetal.2007,Menzaetal.2008,Nemethetal.2008,Smithet

al.2010b).Distancefromshoremaybeafactorinthehistoricaldegenerationofcoral

reefsystemsintheVirginIslands(Herzliebetal.2005,Calnanetal.2008,Smithetal.

2008).Asystematicapproachtoinvestigatingthesecross‐shelfcoralreefsystemsallows

ustoevaluatethevariableimpactsandsynergisticeffectsofnaturalimpactsandhuman‐

inducedstressthatinfluencethedeclineorrecoveryofCaribbeancoralreefsystems.

Thefirsttwoyearsofthisproject(2001and2002)concentratedonthefringingreefs

surroundingSt.Croix.In2003,monitoringcontinuedatSt.Croixreefsandbeganatreef

INTRODUCTION

24

systemsdistributedacrosstheinsularplatformsurroundingSt.Thomas.In2004,2005

and2006monitoringcontinuedatreefssurroundingbothislands,withadditionalreefs

surroundingSt.Thomasaddedin2004,2005,and2011.Mesophoticcoralreef

monitoringsiteswereaddedtoSt.Croixduringthe2008and2009monitoring,aswellas

anadditionalmonitoringsiteintheSt.CroixEastEndMarinePark.Thisreporthasalso

expandedtoincludesitesestablishedunderseparatefundingthatwillbecontinuedin

thecoreTCRMPmonitoringactivitiesfundedbyUSVIDPNRandNOAACRCP.

OBJECTIVES FOR MONITORING CORAL REEFS

Effectivemanagementisnecessarytomaintaintheresourcesintheterritorialand

federalwatersoftheVirginIslandsinanecologicallyandeconomicallysustainable

manner.Monitoringprogramsareessentialforsuccessfulmanagementbecausethey

providemanagerswithfundamentalinformationwithwhichtomakeandreinforce

decisions.Standardsforresourceprotectioncanbemeasuredbycomparisontobaseline

dataestablishedbymonitoring.Monitoringalsoprovidesthemeanstoassessthestatus

andtrendsofecologicalresources,allowingmanagerstodeterminetheeffectivenessof

currentmanagementandtodevelopeffectivemanagementplansforthefuture.The

TerritorialCoralReefMonitoringProgrammonitorstheconditionofcoralreefs

throughouttheU.S.VirginIslandsandprovideskeyinformationtobettermanagethese

ecosystems.Thisreportpresentsmonitoringresultsfrom2001‐2011inSt.Croixand

from2003‐2011inSt.Thomas.Forbothislands,temporalchangesfromyeartoyearin

theconditionsofthereefcommunitiesareassessed.

INTRODUCTION

25

Figure6.LocationsofTerritorialCoralReefMonitoringSitesintheUSVirginIslands,2008‐2010.Boundariesindicatefederalandterritorialmarineprotectedareas.

METHODS

26

Methods

BENTHIC ASSESSMENTS

TheUniversityoftheVirginIslandsdeterminedthebenthiccompositionat33long‐term

monitoringsitesbetween2001and2010(Fig.6).AroundSt.Croixthefollowing14sites

wereassessed:BuckIsland‐St.Croix,CaneBay,CaneBayDeep,Castle,EagleRay,Great

Pond,Jacks/IsaacsBay,KingsCorner2,LangBankEastEndMarinePark(LangEEMP),

LangBankRedHindFishSpawningAggregation(LangHind),MuttonSnapper,SaltRiver,

SaltRiverDeep,andSpratHole.FourofthesesitesarewithintheSt.CroixEastEnd

MarineParkboundary(Castle,GreatPond,JacksBay,LangEEMP),threesitesarewithin

NationalParkServiceboundaries(BuckIsland‐St.Croix,SaltRiverWest,andSaltRiver

Deep),twositesarewithinfederalfisheriesmarineprotectedareas(LangHind,Mutton

2IndicatesasitenewlyincorporatedintoTCRMPfundedbyCZM/CRCP

METHODS

27

Snapper),andfoursitescanbeconsideredmesophoticcoralreefs(CaneBayDeep,Lang

BankEEMP,LangHindFSA,SaltRiverDeep;sensuHindersteinetal.2010).SaltRiver

Deeptransects1‐4weremovedfrom40mdepthattheApril2009samplingto30min

theJanuary2010samplingduetolowcoralcoverinthedeepertransects.

AroundSt.John‐St.Thomasthefollowing19siteswereassessed:BlackPoint*,Botany

Bay*,BrewersBay*,BuckIsland‐St.Thomas*,CoculusRock*,CollegeShoalEast,Coral

Bay*,FishBay*,FlatCay*,GinsburgFringe*,GrammanikBankFishSpawningAggregation

(GrammanikTiger),RedHindBankFishSpawningAggregation(HindBank),LittleSt.

James*,MagensBay*,SavanaIsland*,SeahorseCottageShoal(Seahorse),MeriShoal,

SouthCapella,andSouthWaterIsland.OnesiteisthewithintheSt.ThomasEastEnd

Reserve(CoculusRock),foursitesarewithinfederalfisheriesmarineprotectedareas

(CollegeShoal,GinsburgFringe,GrammanikTiger,HindBank),andfivesitescanbe

consideredmesophoticcoralreefs(CollegeShoal,GinsburgFringe,GrammanikTiger,

HindBank,ShaunRise).FoursitesarealsopartoftheCiguateraFishMonitoring

Programandhavebeensurveyedmonthlyforbenthicstructureandcoralhealthsince

2010(BlackPoint,CoculusRock,FlatCay,Seahorse).

Benthic Cover.Ateachsitebenthiccoverandcoralhealthsurveyswereconductedalong

six10mlongpermanenttransectmarkedwithsteelorbrassrods.Videosampling

consistedofonedivertraversingeachtransectvideotapingthebenthiccoverusingahigh

definitionvideocassetterecorder(SonyFX‐7inLightandMotionHousing).Thediver

swamatauniformspeed,pointingthecameradownandkeepingthelensapproximately

0.4mabovethesubstrateatalltimes.Aguidewandordropperweightattachedtothe

camerahousingwasusedtohelpthedivermaintainthecameraaconstantdistance

abovethereef.Aftertaping,approximately20‐50non‐overlappingimagespertransect

werecapturedandsavedasJPEGfiles(Fig.7).Capturedimagesrepresentedanareaof

reefapproximately0.31m2(0.64mx0.48m).CoralPointCountwithExcelExtension

METHODS

28

software(KohlerandGil2006)wasusedtosuperimposetenrandomlylocateddotson

eachimage.Thesubstratetypelocatedundereachofthedotswasthenidentifiedtothe

mostdescriptivelevelpossibleandenteredintoadatabase.Wheremultiplebenthic

covercategoriesfellunderasinglepoint,forexamplemacroalgaeoverbedrock,the

upperbenthiccategorywasassessed.Foreachtransect,thepercentcoverofcoral,

epilithicalgae(formerlycalleddeadcoralwithturfalgae),macroalgae,sponges,

gorgonians,andsand/sedimentwerecalculatedbydividingthenumberofrandomdots

fallingonthatsubstratetypebythetotalnumberofdotsforthattransect.Epilithicalgae

(sensuHatcherandLarkum1983)arediminutiveturfsandfilamentousalgaewithout

thallusstructurethatcoverallrocksurfacesofcoralreefsnotoccupiedbylarger

epibenthicorganisms.Theycanalsobeconsideredtobegrazedsurfacesareoftenan

indicatorofhealthygrazingcommunitiesandhighanimalcover.

Figure7.Ascreengrabofbenthicvideousedforthedeterminationofpercentcoverofcoralreeforganismsandnon‐livingsubstrate.

METHODS

29

Table1.TCRMPsitereefcomplextype,locationcoordinates,anddepths.FSA=FishSpawningAggregation.EEMP=EastEndMarinePark.

Island Site Reef Complex Lat Long Depth (m)

St. Croix Buck Island-St. Croix Offshore-Shallow 17.78500 -64.60917 15Cane Bay Nearshore 17.77388 -64.81350 10Cane Bay Deep Offshore-MCE 17.77661 -64.81522 38Castle Offshore-Shallow 17.76278 -64.59743 7Eagle Ray Offshore-Shallow 17.76150 -64.69880 10Great Pond Nearshore 17.71097 -64.65221 6Jacks Bay Nearshore 17.74337 -64.57160 14Kings Corner Nearshore 17.69116 -64.90008 17Lang Bank EEMP Offshore-MCE 17.72145 -64.54706 27Lang Bank Red Hind FSA Offshore-MCE 17.82372 -64.44943 33Mutton Snapper FSA Offshore-Shallow 17.63660 -64.86240 24Salt River Deep Offshore-MCE 17.78523 -64.75917 30Salt River West Offshore-Shallow 17.78530 -64.75940 11Sprat Hole Nearshore 17.73400 -64.89540 8

St. John Coral Bay Nearshore-Shallow 18.33797 -64.70402 9Fish Bay Nearshore 18.31417 -64.76408 6Meri Shoal Offshore-MCE 18.24433 -64.75832 30

St. Thomas Black Point Nearshore 18.34450 -64.98595 9Botany Bay Nearshore 18.35845 -65.03330 8Brewers Bay Nearshore 18.34403 -64.98435 6Buck Island-St. Thomas Offshore-Shallow 18.27883 -64.89833 14Coculus Rock Nearshore 18.31257 -64.86058 7College Shoal East Offshore-MCE 18.18568 -65.07677 30Flat Cay Offshore-Shallow 18.31822 -64.99104 12Ginsburgs Fringe Offshore-MCE 18.18770 -64.95998 63Grammanik Tiger FSA Offshore-MCE 18.19113 -64.95032 38Hind Bank East FSA Offshore-MCE 18.20217 -65.00158 39Magens Bay Nearshore 18.37425 -64.93438 7Savana Offshore-Shallow 18.34064 -65.08205 9Seahorse Cottage Shoal Offshore-Shallow 18.29467 -64.86750 20South Capella Offshore-Shallow 18.26267 -64.87237 20South Water Offshore-Shallow 18.28068 -64.94592 20St James Offshore-Shallow 18.29459 -64.83238 15

METHODS

30

Table2.TCRMPsitedatesampled(benthic/health)andtypeofsampling.

Island Site Date Sampled Benthic Health Fish/Urchin St. Croix Buck Island STX 7/19/11 x x x Cane Bay 7/20/11 x x x Cane Bay Deep 7/20/11 x x x Castle 7/19/11 x x x Eagle Ray 7/17/11 x x x Great Pond 7/16/11 x x x Jacks Bay 7/15/11 x x x Kings Corner 7/18/11 x x x Lang Bank EEMP 7/15/11 x x x Lang Bank Red Hind FSA 7/14/11 x x x Mutton Snapper FSA 7/16/11 x x x Salt River Deep 7/16/11 x x x Salt River West 7/13/11 x x x Sprat Hole 7/18/11 x x x St. John Coral Bay 10/11/11 x x Fish Bay 9/16/11 x x Meri Shoal 11/18/11 x x St. Thomas Black Point 10/20/11 x x x Botany Bay 10/27/11 x x Brewers Bay 10/27/11 x x x Buck Island STT 10/21/11 x x Coculus Rock 10/18/11 x x x College Shoal East 10/07/11 x x x Flat Cay 10/20/11 x x x Ginsburgs Fringe 4/19/11 x x Grammanik Tiger FSA 10/5/11 x x x Hind Bank East FSA 11/03/11 x x x Magens Bay 10/06/11 x x Savana 10/06/11 x x Seahorse Cottage Shoal 10/18/11 x x x South Capella 10/01/11 x x x South Water 11/29/11 x x x St James 10/11/11 x x

METHODS

31

Coral Health.Coralhealthassessmentsfollowmethodologiesoutlinedin(Calnanetal.

2008)and(Smithetal.2008)andarebrieflydescribedhere.Allcoralcolonieslocated

directlyunderthetransectlineswereassessedinsituforsignsofmortalityanddisease

followingamodifiedAtlanticandGulfRapidReefAssessmentprotocol(Krameretal.

2005).Incontrasttopreviousyearswhereonlycoloniesgreaterthan10cminmaximum

lineardimensionwereassessed,startingin2008allcolonieswereassessed,regardlessof

size.Partialmortalityofcoralcolonieswasbrokenintotwocategories.Recentpartial

mortalitywascharacterizedvisuallyasskeletonnoteroded(finecorallitestructurestill

intact)andbareorwithathinveneerofsheetingorfilamentousalgae.Recentpartial

mortalityistypicallyvisibleforuptothreemonthsfollowingtissueloss.Oldpartial

mortalitywascharacterizedasskeletonerodedandcoveredwithturformacroalgae.Old

partialmortalityisatransitionfromrecentmortalityandtypicallylastsupto1–6years

(Smithetal.2008,alsoseehttp://www.agrra.org/method/methodcor.html).

Diseases were conservatively categorized into recognized Caribbean scleractinian

diseasesandsyndromesthatincludedbleaching,blackbanddisease,darkspotsdisease,

white plague, and yellow band (blotch) disease (following Bruckner 2007). Acroporid

coralswereextremelyrareatthestudysites;thus,theirassociateddiseases(whiteband

and white pox) are not presented. Bleaching was assessed as abnormal paling of the

colony,and,whenpresent, theseverityof thebleaching(palingortotalwhitening)and

theareaofthecolonyaffectedwereassessed.Amajorbleachingeventoccurredbetween

SeptemberandDecember2005,affectingallmonitoredsites,andamildbleachingevent

occurred September and October 2010. On St. Croix, a subset of sites were assessed

duringthe2010coralbleachingevent,andincludedCaneBay,CaneBayDeep,andJacks

Bay.

For each transect, theprevalenceof coral impairment categorieswas calculated as the

numberofcolonieswithpartialmortality,disease,orbleachingdividedbythenumberof

METHODS

32

colonies assessed. Also, for affected colonies in each transect the average three‐

dimensional surface area (%) of the colony affected was also estimated for each

impairmentcategory.

FISH CENSUS

Fish surveys havebeen conducted at 14 sites around St. Croix and10 sites around St.

Thomas(Table2).In2008,fishcensusmethodsacrossbothislandswereconsistentwith

thoseusedonSt.Croix from2003through2005.Tenreplicatebelt transectsandthree

replicaterovingdivesurveys(RDS)wereconductedateachsite.Belttransectswere30m

x 2m andwere conducted in 15min per replicate. RDS replicateswere either 30min

(sites<25mdepth)or15min(sites>25mdepth)(seeTable3).All fishencountered

wererecordedexceptblenniesandgobies.

In2009to2011fishcensusmethodswereslightlymodifiedfromthoseusedfrom2003

through2008.Asinpreviousyears,tenreplicatebelttransectsandthreereplicateroving

diversurveyswereconductedateachsite.Belt transectswerechangedto includean8

min25mx4msurveyduringwhichallnon‐siteattachedfishwereenumerated,followed

bya7minreturnsurveyalong thesametransect linesurveyingsiteattached fish.Site

attached fish included small (<5 mm) scarids and labrids, pomocentrids (excluding

Chromis spp), fairy basslets (Grammaloreto) and sharpnose puffers (Canthigas

terrostrata).Thischangeinmethodologymaximizedthecaptureof larger,moremobile

fish,andincreasedtheprecisionofenumerationofsmallandcrypticsiteattachedfishes.

Asinpreviousyears,alltransectswerebegunatarandomlocationonthesite,andwere

swuminarandomdirection.Inadditiontorelativeabundancedata,specifictotallength

estimates were made for each large grouper, large snapper or hogfish (Lachnolaimus

maximus) encountered. Data from all fish surveyswere transcribed toMicrosoft Excel

and Access spreadsheets, and were analyzed for descriptive statistics of reef fish

assemblagestructure.

METHODS

33

DiversalsocountedthenumberofDiademaantillarumseaurchinswithin1moneither

side of transects. From 2001 – 2008 this occurred along the 6 – 10 m long benthic

transects. Starting in 2009, urchins were assessed along 25x2m belt transects

correspondingtothereturnofthe10fishtransects.Themeannumberofseaurchinsper

100m2wascalculatedforeachsite.

TCRMP MONITORING SUMMARY

34

TerritorialCoralReefMonitoringSummary


35

BENTHIC COMMUNITIES AND CORAL REEF HEALTH

Benthiccoverwasmonitoredat33monitoringsitesandcoralhealthwasmonitoredat

32sitesin2011.Coralhealthwasnotmonitoredatthedeep(63m)GinsburgsFringe.

BenthiccoverrawdataispresentedinelectronicAppendixI.Coralhealthrawdatais

presentedinelectronicAppendixII.

Coral Cover

Thecoverofhardcoralsdecreasedatmostsitesafterthe2005coralbleachingevent,but

showedlittleornochangeastheresultsofthe2010coralbleachingevent.Shallow(<25

mdepth),nearshoreandoffshoresiteswithgreaterthanabout20%coralcovershowed

declinesincover,buttherewasextremevariabilityinthedegreeofcoverchange.For

exampletheMuttonSnappersiteonSt.Croixlost87%ofitscoralcoverbetween2004

and2006.Sitesthathadlowcoralcoverpriorto2005lostfarlessrelativecoverasthe

resultofbleaching.Whilepartofthismaybeduetodetectabilityatvaluesnearerto0,

thesesitestendtodominatedbysmallmassivespeciesthataremoreresistanttodisease

relatedmortality(Smithetal.unpub.manuscript).

Mesophoticcoralmonitoringsitesthatweresampledbeforeandafterthe2005coral

bleachingeventshowedslightrelativelossesofcoralcover.Lossesrangedfrom5.4%

(GrammanikTiger)to36.0%(MeriShoal).

Recoverysincebleachingwasmarginalatmostsites.Themajorityofsiteshad

apparentlylevelcoralcoverwithrecoverypotentiallyinhibitedbydiseaseandincreased

interactionswithotherorganisms.However,slowupwardtrajectoriesarenotableat

somesites.

BENTHIC COVER & CORAL HEALTH

36

Figure8.Coralcover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

2005

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep


37

Epilithic Algal Community Cover

Algaeshowthehighestinter‐annualvariabilityofanygroupofbenthicorganisms.This

islargelyduetohighlyvariableseasonality.Thecoverofepilithicalgaeisnoexception,

sinceittendstonegativelycovarywithmoreephemeralmacroalgae.EpilithicAlgaeis

importantasitcanindicatesubstratesgrazedbyherbivoresandthereforeopentothe

settlementofsessileepibenthicanimals,includingcoral.

Nearshoreandmesophoticsitesshowedlittleinter‐annualtrendinepilithicalgalcover.

Manyoffshoresites,suchasEagleRayandBuckIsland,St.Croix,appeartohavea

decliningabundanceofepilithicalgae,indicatinganincreaseinotherbenthic

components,suchasmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria,andpossiblyindicating

declininggrazing.


38

Figure9.EpilithicAlgalCommunitycover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2005

BL

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep


39

Macroalgal Cover

Macroalgaehavebeenincreasingatmanyreefs,particularlyafterthe2005bleaching

event.Atsiteswheretherewasnolossofcoralcover,increasedmacroalgaemaybedue

todeclininggrazing,suchasatEagleRay.Atothersiteswherecoralcoverdroppedafter

2005,spaceopenedforalgalcolonizationbycoraldie‐offmaynothavebeengrazedin

reefswhereresidentherbivorescommunitiesarealreadyatthethresholdofmaximum

grazingrates(Williamsetal.2001).Thesereefsinclude,theBuckIslands(St.Thomas

andSt.Croix),CaneBay,MeriShoal,SouthCapella,andSpratHole.Thesameexplanation

mayalsoapplyforfilamentouscyanobacteria(seefollowingsection).


40

Figure10.Macroalgaecover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

2005

BL

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep


41

Filamentous Cyanobacteria

FilamentouscyanobacteriacoverhasbeenincreasingatmanysitesintheTCRMPsince

the2005coralbleachingevent.ThisisparticularlytrueatmanysitesonSt.Croixthat

haveattainedveryhighcovervaluesinrecentyears.Forexample,SaltRiverWest,Jacks

Bay,CaneBay,SpratHole,MuttonSnapper,BuckIsland(St.Croix),EagleRay,LangBank

EEMP,andLangBankHindhaveallseencoveroffilamentouscyanobacteriafrom10–

60%,with2009asaparticularlyhighabundanceyearforoffshoresites.

Theincreasedincidenceoffilamentouscyanobacteriacanbeanindicationof

disturbance,increasednutrientinputs,andinsufficientgrazing(FongandPaul2011).In

addition,filamentouscyanobacteriacanpromoteincreasesinpalatablemacroalgaein

coralreefsbycoatingandprotectingalgaewithsecondarymetabolitesthatdetergrazing

(Fongetal.2006,Smithetal.2010a).Filamentouscyanobacteriacaninhibitthe

recruitmentofcorallarvae(Kuffneretal.2006)andhavebeenobservedinteractingat

thebordersofadultcoral(Authors,unpub.data).Monitoringthetrendsoffilamentous

cyanobacteriainUSVIreefsystemswillbeincreasinglyimportantinfutureyearsinan

efforttounderstandthefactorsinfluencingbloomformationandwhichreefsaremost

vulnerable.


42

Figure11.Filamentouscyanobacteriacover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

200

5 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep


43

Gorgonian and An patharian Cover

Thecoverofgorgoniansandantipatharianshasbeenfairlyconstantatmostmonitoring

sitesthroughouttheyearsofmonitoring.Inmostcasestheyarearelativelyminor

componentofcoverbecauseoftheiruprightgrowthformandsmallbranches.However,

therearesitesthatappeartobemorefavorabletothegrowthofgorgonians,including

MagensBay,FishBay,CoralBay,BuckIsland(St.Croix),SavanaIsland,SouthWater,Lang

BankHindFSA,andSaltRiverDeep.NotethatBlackCorals(antipatharians)typically

tendtobemoreprominentindeepmonitoringsites,whilstgorgonianstendtobemore

dominantinshallowerandwave‐washedsites.


44

Figure12.GorgonianandAntipathariancover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

200

5 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep


45

Sponge Cover

Spongecoverhasbeenconstantorvariableatmanyoffshoreandmesophoticsites,but

thereisanindicationofslightlyincreasingspongecoveratsomenearshoresites.This

increaseinepibenthicandboringspongesmayindicateincreasingsuppliesoffood,such

asbacteriaandsmalleukaryotes,innearshoreenvironments.Thismaybea

consequenceofincreasingnearshorenutrientpollution.Furtherstudyneedstobedone

toestablishthislinkage.


46

Figure13.Spongecover(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

Nearshore

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%Black Point

Botany Bay

Brewers Bay

Cane Bay

Coculus Rock

Coral Bay

Fish Bay

Great Pond

Jacks Bay

Kings Corner

Magens Bay

Salt River West

Sprat Hole

Offshore

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%Buck Island STT

Buck Island STX

Castle

Eagle Ray

Flat Cay

Mutton Snapper

Savana Island

Seahorse

South Capella

South Water

St. James

Mesophotic

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

2005

BL

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Co

ver

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Cane Bay Deep

College Shoal

Ginsburgs Fringe

Grammanik Tiger

Hind Bank FSA

Lang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSA

Meri Shoal

Salt River Deep

TCRMP SITE SUMMARIES

47

FISH COMMUNITIES

Atotalof23,325fishrepresenting123speciesand33familieswererecordedduringbelt

transectsacrossallsitesoffSt.Croixin2011and20,866fishrepresenting116species

and30familiesacrossallsitesoffStThomas.Usingrovingdiversurveys(RDS)118

speciesrepresenting33familieswereobservedin2011offStCroixand117species

representing32familiesoffSt.Thomas(seeAppendicesIII‐VII).Speciesrichnessacross

allsiteswasgreatestinRDS,designedtocapturerareandcrypticspecies(Table3).

OverallfishsizedistributiononbothSt.CroixandSt.Thomasfollowedtrendsseenin

earlieryears.Fishsmallerthan10cmtotallength(TL)predominatedatallsites.Thirty

fivepercentoftheindividualscountedoffSt.Croixwerelessthan5cmTLand74%were

lessthan10cmTL.OffSt.Thomas,32%weresmallerthan5cmand69%wereunder

10cmTL.Largefish(>40cmTL)constituted0.2%(84fish)ofthenumerictotalofboth

islandscombined.St.Thomassitesproducedmoreofthissizeclass,with64fish

estimatedover40cm.Numericallythemostdominantfishacrosstheregionwerecreole

wrasse(Clepticusparrae;22.3%),bluechromis(Chromiscyanae;14.2%),andbicolor

damselfish(Stegastespartitus;7.3%),blueheadwrasse(Thalassomabifaciatum),brown

chromis(C.multilineata),andyellowheadwrasse(Halichoeresgarnoti).Thesesixspecies

madeup60%ofthenumericaltotaloffishobservedonallsitestogether.Mostofthese

specieswereubiquitousandfoundatallsites.Theexceptionwascreolewrasse,which

wasabundantonoffshore,mesophoticsites,andnearshoresitesadjacenttowalls,but

wasuncommononothershallowwatersites.

FISH COMMUNITIES

48

Table3.Speciesrichnessacrosssitesinbelttransectsandrovingdiversurveys(RDS).Sitesaredividedintonearshore,offshoreandmesophoticsitesasdescribedinthetextabove.

Belt Transects (25x4) RDS

Total Number of

Species

Mean species per

transect (±SE)

Total Number of

Species

Nearshore Cane Bay 50 25.8±1.2 58

Great Pond 52 22.0±1.7 51

Jacks Bay 52 18.5±1.2 65

Kings Corner 66 26.0±1.1 70

Salt River West 42 17.6±1.2 55

Sprat Hole 38 25.9±1.0 66

Benner Bay 47 18.2±1.4 66

Black Point 52 20.1±0.9 64

Brewers Bay 50 20.5±0.6 65

Offshore Eagle Ray 55 24.7±1.0 56

Buck Island, St. Croix 52 22.0±1.9 46

Castle 60 22.0±1.0 57

Mutton Snapper 63 20.9±0.8 55

Seahorse Cottage 58 21.2±0.8 68

South Capella 66 22.9±0.9 69

South Water Island 52 19.4±1.3 65

Flat Cay 48 26.8±2.7 64

Mesophotic Cane Bay Deep 51 19.2±2,5 47

EEMP 52 20.5±1.0 64

Lang Bank 54 22.2±1.3 50

Salt River Deep 45 19.8±2.2 50

College Shoal East 55 19.7±0.8 56

Grammanik Bank 65 24.5±1.1 53

Hind Bank East 55 20.0±1.3 55


49

Fish Abundance

Totalfishabundancesacrossnearshore,offshoreandmesophoticsitesandyearsare

showninFig.14.Abundancewasvariableacrosssitesandyearsandshowsnoobvious

patternacrosstimeorspace.Slightdecreasesinabundancesince2005onSt.Croixsites

arethoughttobeanartifactofaslightlyalteredmethodologyanddifferentsurveyteams.

Sitesarehighlydominatedbysmallpomacentrids(damselfish)andwrasses,whichtend

tomasktrendsinotherfishtaxa.Abundancepeaks(suchasEagleRay,2005andCollege

Shoal,2008)aregenerallyaresultoflargeschoolsofcreolewrasseonthesite.Nochange

hasbeendetectedinfishcommunitiessincethecoralbleachingof2005andsubsequent

highcoralmortalityevent.Fishabundancein2011wassimilaracrossallsitestodata

collectedinpreviousyears.

FISH COMMUNITIES

50

Figure14.Fishabundance(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.


51

Fish Biomass

FishbiomassacrosssitesisshowninFig.15.ThemesophoticsitesoffSt.Thomas

(GrammanikBank,HindBankandCollegeShoalEast)havedramaticallyhigheraverage

biomassoffishthroughoutthesamplingperiodcomparedtothemoreshallowsitesand

theSt.Croixmesophoticsites.AbundanceissimilarorloweronthesedeepSt.Thomas

reefs,indicatingalargeraveragefishsize.Juvenilesofseveralspeciesthatoccurin

shallowwaterarenearlyabsentonthemesophoticreefs,andpomacentridsandwrasses

aremuchlesscommon.ThethreemesophoticsitesoffSt.Thomasareallwithinmarine

protectedareasandarewelloffshoreawayfromlandbasedpollution.Inadditionthe

GrammanikTigerandHindBanksiteshostmultispeciesspawningaggregationsfor

groupersandsnapper.Inparticular,samplingperiodsoftenoverlapwithaggregation

periodsforcuberasnapper(Lutjanuscyanopterus)anddogsnapper(Lutjanusjocu),and

thisinfluencesbiomassestimates.Incontrast,twoofthemesophoticsitesoffSt.Croix

(SaltRiverDeepandCaneBayDeep)areveryclosetoshoreandarefishedregularly.As

withabundance,biomassishighlyvariablebetweenyears.Notemporalpatternis

evident,anddifferencesintimeappeartobeseasonalornaturalvariation.Thefish

biomasssurveyedin2011wassimilartodatacollectedinpreviousyears.

FISH COMMUNITIES

52

Figure15.Meanfishbiomass(±SE)acrossTCRMPmonitoringsitesovertime.

SEA URCHINS

53

BLACK SPINY SEA URCHIN DIADEMA ANTILLARUM

TheabundanceoftheblackspinyseaurchinDiademaantillarumshowstremendoussite‐to‐sitevariability(Fig.16).Ingeneraltheshallowestsites,e.g.,GreatPond,supportthegreatestabundanceofD.antillarum.Thesesitesalsotendtohaveverylowmacroalgalcover.Trendsarenotpresentedasyear‐to‐yearvariabilityisgenerallylow.NotethaturchinshavenotyetbeenassessedatCoralBayandGinsburgsFringe.AtCoralBaythereisahighabundanceofEchinometraspp.,whichseemstobethedominantgrazerthateffectivelyremovesmacroalgalcover.Futuremonitoringshouldtakemeasurementsoftheabundanceofthisspecies.

FISH COMMUNITIES

54

Figure16.Abundanceoftheblackspinyseaurchin(Diademaantillarum)atTCRMPmonitoringsites.Notethelogscale.

log (Diadema antillarum/100m2)

0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

St. JamesSprat Hole

South WaterSouth Capella

SeahorseSavana

Salt River DeepMutton Snapper

Meri ShoalLang Bank EEMP

Lang Bank FSAKings Corner

Grammanik BankCollege Shoal

Cane Bay DeepHind Bank

Fish BayFlat Cay

Jacks BaySalt River West

Buck Island STTBuck Island STX

Eagle RayBlack Point

Cane BayMagens BayBrewers Bay

Botany BayCoculus Rock

CastleGreat Pond

SITE SUMMARIES

55

SiteSummaries

RATIONALE

ThepurposeofthissectionistoprovideamorecomprehensivesurveyofTCRMPsite

characteristicsthancanbeachievedintheoveralldatacompilations.EachTCRMP

monitoringsiteiseachuniqueandhasexperienceduniqueresponsestolocalandglobal

stressors.Giventheincreaseinsitesincludedunderthisprogramandtheinclusionofmore

informationateachsite,suchasphysicaldata,thissectionisdesignedtoprovidea

summarythathighlightstheeachsite’scharacteristicsandservesasaquickreference

guideformanagers,policymakers,andacademics.Thedurationofsurveysatmostsites

alsonowprovidessufficientdatafromwhichtodrawconclusionsaboutlongertermsite

dynamicsandtheprocessesthatmightbecontributingtorecenttrajectoriesofhealth,

development,anddegradation.

SITE SUMMMARY ELEMENTS

TCRMPsiteinformationispresentedinsixpagesthatprovideabriefdescriptionofthe

settingandthepotentialsusceptibilitytolocalandglobalstressorsanddisturbances.Sub‐

sectionsincludeadescriptionof(1)thephysicalenvironment,(2)thebenthiccommunity

and(3)thefishcommunity.

Benthic community structureispresentedasthemean(±SE)coverofcoral,macroalgae,

cyanobacteria,andepilithicalgae.Epilithicalgalcommunitiesarediminutiveturfand

filamentousalgaethatcoverhardbottomsurfaces,whilstmacroalgaehaveidentifiable

thallusdifferentiationandstructure.Anyopenhardbottomspaceisassumedtohostan

epilithicalgalcommunityevenifalgaecannotberesolvedinvideoimages.Thelossofcoral

coverduetothe2005bleachingeventwascalculatedastherelativechangeincoralcover

from2005to2007,unlessotherwisenotedforsitesnotsampledintheseyears.In

addition,thepercentrecoveryfromthe2005bleachingeventwascalculatedastheamount

ofcoralcoverregainedby2011(Cover2011‐Cover2007)/(Cover2005‐Cover2007).Change

calculationsmustbetreatedwithcautionforsiteswheretransectswherenotmade

permanentuntilafterthe2005bleachingeventorwherepercentcoverislow,sincethe

conditionsintroduceanunknownamountoferror.

SITE SUMMARY

56

Benthiccommunitypiechartswereconstructedfromallyearsofdata.Thesessile

epibenthicanimalcommunityincludesAgariciaspp.,Colpophyllianatans,Diploriastrigosa,

Montastraeaannularis,Montastraeaannularisspeciescomplex(M.faveolata,M.fransksi,+

unidentifiedMACX),Montastraeacavernosa,Poritesastreoides,branchingPoritesspecies,

Siderastreasiderea,othercorals,sponges,gorgonians.Thealgae/non‐livingsubstrata

categoryincludescyanobacteria,epilithicalgae(“DCA”),Lobophoravariegata,Dictyotaspp.,

Halimedaspp.crustosecorallinealgae,andsand/sediment.

Coral Healthispresentedasthemean(±SE)ofcoralbleachingprevalence(proportionof

populationaffected)andextent(proportionofcolonyaffected),diseaseprevalence,and

partialmortalityprevalence.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Temperature.BenthictemperatureswererecordedateachsitewithaHoboTemp™

thermistordatalogger(Onset

ComputerCorporation,Bourne,

Massachusetts).Thermistorswere

affixedwithintransectsandsetto

recordatintervalsof15minutes.

Recordsarepresentedasdailyaveragesacrossmonths,February29thexcluded.Each

temperaturefigureincludestheclimatologicalmonthlymaximummeantemperature

(28.5°C),andthebleachingthresholdtemperature(29.5°C)establishedfortheregion

(NOAA2006).Datafor2005wastakenfromcurrentprofilersorfederaldatasources.

Currents.Watercurrentswererecordedatasubsetofsitesand

timeswithNortekAquadopp™AcousticDopplerCurrent

Profilers(ADCPs).Profilersweresetinbasesontheseafloorand

settorecordcurrentspeedanddirectionwithinpredefined

depthbinsabovethesubstrate.Thebinclosesttothesubstrate

andclosesttothecoralreefwasselectedfordisplay.Compass

rosefiguresweredevelopedthatshowthefrequencyofcurrent

inmagneticdirections0,22.5,45,67.5,90,112.5,135,157.5,

SITE SUMMARIES

57

180,202.5,225,247.5,270,292.5,315,337.5,360°.Withineachdirectionthefrequencyof

currentspeedwithinbinsof0.1ms‐1wereplotted.ForFlatCay,currentdatawasretrieved

withanAandaraa2‐Dcurrentmeterthatmeasuredcurrentspeedanddirectiondirectly

overthesensorhead.

Chlorophyll and Turbidity.Continuousfluorometricmeasurementsofchlorophylland

turbiditywereconductedatsomesitesforshortperiods(BlackPoint,Grammanik,Magens

Bay).WetlabsECOFLNTfluorometerswithantifoulingbio‐wipersweredeployedandsetto

recordforoneminuteathourlyintervals.Watercolumnchlorophyllmeasurementsdetect

phytoplanktonabundance.Fluorometricmeasurementsofchlorophyllareproxiesfortrue

chlorophyllconcentrations.Directchlorophyllmeasurementstocalibratefluorometric

measurementshavenotbeenconductedatthemonitoringsites.

SITE SUMMARIES

59

St.Croix

SITE SUMMARIES

61

BUCK ISLAND, ST. CROIX

Descrip on.TheBuckIsland,St.Croix

siteisseawardextensionofthe

southeastBuckIslandbarrierreef

complexinwaterdepthof15m.The

reefisalowframeworksurroundedby

asandplaintothewestandarolling

reef/hardbottomtotheeast.TheBuck

Island,St.Croixsiteislargelycomposed

oflargelivinganddeadM.annularis

headssurroundedbysand.Thesitehas

beenmonitoredsince2001,withthree

permanentbenthictransectsinstalledin

2001,andthreeadditionaltransects

installedin2003.

Outstanding Feature.TheBuckIsland,St.Croixsiteiswithintheexpanded(2001)Buck

IslandReefNationalMonument.Thereeffishpopulationsmayshowrecoveryduetothe

restrictionoffishing.

Threats.Duetoitsprotectedareastatusandremotenessfromland‐basedpollutionBuck

Island,St.Croixisprimarily

threatenedbychangingclimate

asitspopulationsofM.annularis

wereshowntobesusceptible

duringthe2005bleachingevent.

Figure17.TheBuckIsland,St.Croix.(top)PositionintheBuckIslandReefNationalMonument.(right)Arepresentativephoto.


62

Figure18.BuckIsland,St.Croixbenthictemperatures(14mdepth).DataprovidedbytheNationalParkService(siteBUIS_SFR).

Physical Characteris cs

Current.CurrentshavenotbeenrecordedattheBuckIsland,St.Croixmonitoringsite.

Unidirectionalcurrentshavealwaysbeenlightduringmonitoring.Oscillatorycurrents

occasionallyimpactthesitewhenswellisfromtheeast.

Temperature.TemperaturesattheBuckIsland,St.Croixmonitoringsitescangetvery

warmandsurpassedthebleachingthresholdsignificantlyin2006and2010.Therewere

nositerecordsforthe2005bleachingevent.

J F M A M J J A S O N D24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

63

Benthic Community.TheBuckIsland,St.Croixhardcoralcommunityisdominatedbythe

boulderstarcoralMontastraeaannularis;however,themostabundantsessileepibenthic

animalsaregorgonians.Epilithicalgaedominatethealgalcommunity,withalowcoverof

macroalgaerelativetoothersites.Thereisahighproportionofsand.

Thiscoralcommunitylost65.5%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingeventandhadonly

regained6%ofcoralcoverby2011.Filamentouscyanobacteriashowedverylarge

increasesincoverafterthe2005bleachingevent.

Coral Health.BuckIsland,St.Croixcoralswerelikelyseverelyaffectedduringthe2005

bleachingevent;however,bleachinghealthsurveyswerenotcompleteduntilJan.13,2006

whenrecoveryhadalreadycommenced.Bleachingsurveyswerenotconductedduringthe

2010bleachingevent.TheprevalenceofcoraldiseaseswashighonM.annularis,with

frequentincidenceofyellowbanddiseaseandwhitediseasefollowingthe2005bleaching

event.Oldpartialmortalitywasveryprevalentafterthe2005coralbleachingeventand

thendecreasedto2011.

Figure19.BuckIsland,St.Croix.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.


64

Figure20.BuckIsland,St.Croixbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CoralCyanobacteria Epilithic AlgaeMacroalgae

BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

All diseaseBlack BandLesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

65

Fish Community.BuckIslandisalowpatchyreefcommunitysurroundedbyand

interspersedwithsand.Thefishcommunityislargelydominatedinbiomassbyherbivoreswithaveryhighbiomassofstoplightparrotfish.Closetothemonitoringsiteare“theHaystacks”,largeAcroporapalmataskeletalremainsthatprovideamblegrazingareasforthelargeparrotfish.Inaddition,theBuckIslandsiteiswithintheNationalMonumentandthefishinhabitantsaretheoreticallyprotectedfromspearfishingandnets.Thereisalsoahighbiomassofinvertivorousfishes,whicharedominatedbytheyellowheadwrasse.Invertivoresarediverseonthesiteandincludeseveralspeciesofgrunts(tomtate,French,Spanish,whiteandbluestriped)aswellasmanywrasses(yellowhead,bluehead,clown,yellowcheek,slipperydickandcreolewrasse).Piscivoresareuncommon,andtheonlygroupersobservedduringtransectsin2011includedsmallredhindandgraysby.Snapperwerelimitedtoonemahoganysnapper.


66

Figure21.TheBuckIsland,St.Croixfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

67

CANE BAY

Descrip on.TheCaneBaymonitoring

siteisanearshore/shelfedgefringing

reefonthenorthwestcoastofSt.Croix.

Transectsfollowthetrendofthe

leewardspurandgrooveformations.

CaneBayhasbeenmonitoredsince

2001.

Outstanding Feature.CaneBayisoneof

themostwelldevelopednearshore

reefsonSt.Croix.Itisalsooneofthe

mostheavilyvisiteddivesitesbyboth

touristsandresidentsintheVirgin

Islandsduetoitsproximitytothewall,

consideredbysometobethe

precipitoussubmarinedropoffintheworld.Thereefhasbeenunderscientific

investigationsincethe1970’s.

Threats.AlthoughtheCaneBayreefisasingulartreasurefortheVirginIslands,itis

threatenedbypollution,fishing,climatechange,andrecreationaloveruse.Thewatershed

aboveCaneBayhasbeenplannedforresidentialdevelopmentwithpotentialfortheinflux

ofterrestrialsediment.Thereefisalso

fishedcommercially,andteamsof

spearfishersonSCUBAhavebeen

observed.Thisreefalsolosthalfits

coralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,

suggestingitisvulnerabletowarming

oceantemperatures.

Figure22.CaneBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

CANE BAY

68

Figure23.CaneBaybenthictemperatures(8mdepth)


Current.CaneBaycurrentshavenotbeendirectlymeasuredbytheTCRMP.However,this

sitetypicallyhasmoderateunidirectionalcurrentswiththeoccasionalexposuretostrong

northswell.Thecurrentatthesitemaybepartofaneddyformedbythedominant

westwardflowingcurrentwrappingaroundtheeasternpoint.Itsdownstreamlocation

fromtheentirenorthcoastofStCroixmayalsomakethissitearecruitmentsinkforlarvae,

potentiallyaddingtothediversity.

Temperature.CaneBayisarelativelyopenandclearenvironment,andthetemperatures

tendtostaycooler,butthepropensityforbleachingmaybeincreasedbythehighlight

transmission.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

69

Benthic Community.CaneBaysupportsaverydiversecoralcommunity,withdominanceby

theMontastraeaannularisspp.complex.Opensubstratesweremostlyepilithicalgal

community;however,epilithicalgaecoverhasdeclinedsincethe2005bleachingeventwith

increasesinthecoverofmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria.Thisindicatesthatthe

residentherbivorecommunitywasnotabletoeffectivelygrazesubstratesopenedbycoral

mortality.Thiscoralcommunitylost46.8%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent

andlost6%moreasof2011,atroublingsign.

Coral Health.CaneBaycoralswereseverelyaffectedduringthe2005bleachingeventwith

nearlyallcoloniesbleachedover80%ofthecolonysurface.Theprevalenceofbleaching

wasalsohighin2010,yetatalowextent.Theprevalenceofcoraldiseaseswaslowbefore

2005,butoutbreaksofwhite,yellowband,anddarkspotsdiseasehaveoccurredmore

recently,anotherindicationofdeclininghealthatthisreef.Oldandrecentpartialmortality

becameveryprevalentafterthe2005coralbleachingeventandhaveremainednearly

steadyorincreasedsince.

Figure24.CaneBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

CANE BAY

70

Figure25.CaneBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

All diseaseBlack Band

Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White DiseaseYellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

71

Fish Community.CaneBayhasahighdiversity,abundanceandbiomassoffish,reflecting

thebenthicdiversityandhighcoralcoverofthesite.Themostdominantfishspeciesin

termsofbothabundanceandbiomassarecreolewrasse,zooplanktonfeeders.Alsovery

commonareotherplanktivorousfishes,theblackdurgeon,yellowtailsnapper,andblueand

brownchromis.SeverallargeparrotfishescanregularlybeobservedontheCaneBaysite,

includingadultqueenandstoplightparrotfish.Avarietyofotherherbivoresarevery

common,includingtheprincessandredbandparrotfish,aswellasthebluetang.

Schoolmasterandmahoganysnapperdominatespiscivores.Veryfewserranidsare

typicallycountedontheCaneBayreef;in2011onlyonegraysbyandonesmallredhind

wereobservedontransects.Nonethelessthesitehasahighdiversityoffish,withseveral

butterflyfishandsquirrelfishspeciespresent,aswellassomedeeperwaterspecies

(sunshinefish,longsnoutbutterflyfishandfairybasslet)duetothesite’scloseproximityto

thedeepwalldrop.

CANE BAY

72

Figure26.TheCaneBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

73

CANE BAY DEEP

Descrip on.TheCaneBayDeep

monitoringsiteisamesophoticwall

coralreefenvironmentjustdownslope

fromtheCaneBaysite.Thereefis

composedofdeepspursofcoral

interspersedwithsediment.CaneBay

Deepwasfirstsurveyedduringthe

2005coralbleachingevent,buta

permanentmonitoringsitewasnot

establisheduntil2009.

Outstanding Feature.CaneBayDeepis

oneofthemostimpressivewall

environmentsintheCaribbeanandis

thecrownjewelforSt.Croixdive

tourismandbiodiversity.

Threats.AlthoughCaneBayiseconomicallyimportantviadivetourism,itisunderno

specialprotection.CaneBayDeepis

threatenedbysediment,fishing,climate

change,andrecreationaloveruse.Sediment

cascadesdownfortheshallowreef.Fishing

occursevenatthedeepreefandthisisshown

bythepresenceoflostgear(monofilamentand

traplines).

Figure27.CaneBayDeep.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005bleachingevent.Bleachedcoloniesare0.5–3mwide.

CANE BAY DEEP

74

Figure28.CaneBayDeeptemperature(39mdepth).


Current.CaneBaydeepisacalmwallenvironmentthatisbufferedfromwatermotion.

However,itdoesreceivesedimentcascadesfromparticlesresuspendedfromtheupper

reefterrace.Theseflowsaredirectedinthedepressionsbetweenspurs.

Temperature.CaneBayDeeptemperaturesarebufferedinthewarmestmonthsbythe

presenceofthethermocline.However,internaltideactivityatthissiteisnotasstrongin

deep(~40m)sitesonthesouthshelfofSt.Thomas,leadingtolessdiurnalvariabilityin

temperatures.Thismaymakethemesophoticwallenvironmentsmoresusceptibleto

bleachingthanothermesophoticsitesonthesouthernPuertoRicanshelf.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2007 2010 2008 2011 2009

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

75

Benthic Community.CaneBaydeepisamesophoticplatingcoralcommunitydominatedby

lettucecorals(Agariciaspp.),sponges,gorgonians,andblackcoral.Thealgalcommunityis

mostlyepilithicalgae,buttherearealsoquantitiesofDictyotaspp.andLobophora

variegata.Ahighproportionofthesubstrateissoftsedimentthatflowsfromtheupper

shelftodepositingrooves.Benthiccoverwasnotmeasureduntil2009.

Coral Health.Surprisinglyforadimandcoolermesophoticreef,CaneBayDeepcorals

bleachedheavilyinthe2005coralbleachingeventbybothprevalenceandextent.Low‐

extentcoralbleachingisveryprevalenteveninyearwithoutthermalstress,alikelyresult

ofsedimentdeposition.Unknownanddarkspotsdiseasesareprevalentinsomeyears.Old

partialmortalityincreasedafter2005,andremainedhighandsteadyfrom2009‐2011.

Figure29.CaneBayDeep.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

CANE BAY DEEP

76

Figure30.CaneBayDeepbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

200

5 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

77

Fish Community. CaneBayDeephasmaintainedaverylowfishbiomassoverthethreeyear

samplingperiodcomparedtobothothermesophoticsitesandshallowandmidshelfsitesof

St.Croix.Thesiteisdominatedbyinvertivores,primarilyplanktivorouscreolewrasseand

bluechromis.ThisplanktivorouscommunityisdepauperatecomparedtothatofSaltRiver

Deep,thereefwallsiteslightlyeast,probablyduetolesswatermovementandsediment

deposition.Herbivoresareprimarilybenthicfeeders:sub‐adultprincessparrotfish,

redbandparrotfish,anddoctorfish.Thereisverylowpiscivorousbiomassonthereef,

madeupin2011ofbarracuda,graysby,andpeacockflounder.Deepwaterspeciessuchas

thebantumbass,fairlybassletandsunshinefisharecommon.

CANE BAY DEEP

78

Figure31.TheCaneBayDeepfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

79

CASTLE

Descrip on.Castle(aka.WestIndies

Lab)ispartoftheseawardnortheastern

St.Croixbarrierreefcomplexoutside

TeagueBay.Thereefstartsatsealevel

asarelictelkhorncoralreefandis

dominatedbyboulderstarcoralsalong

theseawardedge.Theareaaroundthe

Castlesitewasmonitoredinitiallyin

2003,butpermanenttransectwerenot

installed.Permanentbenthictransects

wereinstalledin2008.

Outstanding Feature.Castleispartof

theonceluxuriouslivingelkhorncoral

barrierreefthatprotectsthe

northeasternSt.Croixshoreline.ItwasaresearchareaoftheformerWestIndies

LaboratoryofFarleighDickensonUniversity,

whichwasaseminalareaforglobalcoralreef

researchfromthe1970’sand1980’s.

Threats.ThebarrierreefoutsideTeagueBayis

insidetheSt.CroixEastEndMarinePark,butis

intheopenfishingzone.Thereisrelativelylow

potentialforland‐basedsourcesofpollution

duetothesitesmidshelflocationinfrontofa

lightlypopulatedarea.Clearwaterandwarm

temperaturesmakethisanareaofpotential

concernduringbleachingevents.

Figure32.Castle.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

CASTLE

80

Figure33.Castlebenthictemperatures(9mdepth).


Current.LittleisknowaboutthecurrentattheCastlesite.Itisundertheinfluenceof

wave‐drivenoscillatoryflowintheshallows,butstrongdirectionalcurrentshavenotbeen

experiencedduringmonitoringactivities.

Temperature.Castlehasthepotentialtodevelopverywarmtemperaturesandspent

nearlyamonthabovethebleachingthresholdin2010.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2008 2009 2010 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

81

Benthic Community.TheCastlesiteisunusualoritsdominanceofbranchingPoritescorals

alongtheslopeandconcentrationsofMontastraeaannularisspp.complexcoralsatthe

outerfringeadjacenttosand.Thealgalcommunityisdominatedbyepilithicalgae,with

lesserabundanceofDictyotaspp..Macroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteriaarealso

common.Theimpactsofthe2005bleachingeventarenotknownsincemonitoringin2003

wasnotnecessarilyinexactlythesamespotandthesitewasnotmonitoredin2005.

Coral Health.Bleachingismildatthesite.Coralswereassessedpriortobutnotduringthe

2010coralbleachingevent.Oldpartialmortalityishighinprevalenceandsteady.Recent

partialmortalityisparticularlyhighatthesite,andthismaybeaconsequenceofnumerous

damselfish(Stegastesspp.)andpredatorysnails(Coralliophilaspp.)onlargeMontastraea

annularisspp.colonies.

Figure34.Castle.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

CASTLE

82

Figure35.Castlebenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark SpotsIntercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

83

Fish Community.TheCastlefishcommunityistypicallylowerinoverallabundanceand

biomassthanmostoftheSt.Croixoffshoresites.Itisdominatedbyherbivoresinbiomass,

drivenbyafewlargestoplightparrotfish.Sub‐adultandjuvenileredband,stripedand

princessparrotfisharehowevernumericallymuchmostcommonthanstoplight.Allthree

Acanthurids(oceansurgeonfish,bluetanganddoctorfish)arecommon,asaremany

speciesofdamselfish.Invertivoresarealsofairlyhighinbiomassandareadiversegroup;

dominatedin2011bybenthicfeederssuchasspottedgoatfish,Caesargrunts,graysnapper

andyellowfinmojarra.Piscivoresin2011wereheavilydominatedbythebarjack,withfew

piscivoroussnapperandnogrouperobserved.Aredlionfishwaspresentonatransect

surveyin2011representingthefirstobservationofthatspeciesontheCastlesite.

CASTLE

84

Figure36.TheCastlefishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivores

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

hbl

ue ta

ng

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

yello

wta

il da

mse

l

stri

ped

parr

otfis

hdo

ctor

fish

thre

espo

t dam

sel

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

dusk

y da

mse

lco

coa

dam

sel

Bea

ugre

gory

oran

gesp

otte

d fil

efis

h

gree

nblo

tch

parr

otfis

h

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Invertivores

spot

ted

goat

fish

Cae

sar

grun

t

gray

sna

pper

yello

wfin

moj

arra

brow

n ch

rom

is

blue

chr

omis

yello

whe

ad w

rass

ere

d hi

nd

slip

pery

dic

k

Fren

ch g

runt

quee

n tr

igge

r

clow

n w

rass

e

yello

w g

oatf

ish

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

creo

le w

rass

e

Spa

nish

gru

nt

indi

go h

amle

t

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

fair

y ba

ssel

et

yello

wch

eek

wra

sse

suns

hine

fish

harl

equi

n ba

ss

barr

ed h

amle

t

Spa

nish

hog

fish

butt

er h

amle

t

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

scra

wle

d fil

efis

hsm

ooth

trun

kfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

er

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Piscivores

bar

jack

scho

olm

aste

rre

d lio

nfis

hm

ahog

any

snap

per

trum

petf

ish

blac

k ha

mle

tsa

nd d

iver

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

SITE SUMMARIES

85

EAGLE RAY

Descrip on.TheEagleRaysiteisa

shallowseawardbarrierreeflocatedat

westdivebuoy1outsidethemain

Christianstedaccesschannel.The

monitoringsiteiscolonizedhardbottom

tocoralreef,withmoreextensive

developmentofreefattheseaward

edge.EagleRayhasbeenmonitored

since2001.

Outstanding Feature.EagleRayisoneof

themostvisiteddivesitesduetoits

proximitytoChristiansted.

Threats.ProximitytoChristiansted

increasesthepotentialforland‐basedsourcesofpollution,suchassewage,run‐off,and

marinedebris.Thesiteisfrequentedbysmallfishingcraftthatventurejustoutofport,

likelyincreasingthefishingpressure.

Figure37.EagleRay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

EAGLE RAY

86

Figure38.EagleRaybenthictemperatureat9mdepth


Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasuredatEagleRay,howeverstrongunidirectional

currentsseemrare.Thereareincreasedoscillatorycurrentneartheshallowportionofthe

site.

Temperature.EagleRayisshallowbutneardeepwaterontwosides,whichmay

potentiallyhelptoreducethermalstress.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2007 2010 2008 2011 2009

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

87

Benthic Community.EagleRaysupportsadiversecommunityofsmallcoralcolonies,but

spongesandgorgonianscomposehalfthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.Coral

coverhasbeenlowandlessthan10%throughoutthemonitoringperiod.Coralcover

decreasedonlyslightlywiththe2005coralbleachingevent,11.7%,butcoverhascome

backandactuallyincreasedabovepre‐bleachingvalues.Thelimitedresponsemaybe

partlyduetothehighrelativeabundanceofmorethermallyresistantcoralspecies.The

sitewasdominatedwithepilithicalgae;however,thishasdeclinedafterthe2005bleaching

eventwithaconcomitantincreaseinmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria.

Coral Health.EagleRaycoralswereseverelyaffectedduringthe2005bleachingeventwith

nearlyallcoloniesbleachedoverabout80%ofthecolonysurface.Low‐levelbleachingis

alsocommoninyearswithoutthermalstress.Thesitewasonlymonitoredpriortothe

2010bleachingevent.Diseasesareacommonfeatureofthesite,withblackband,yellow

band,anddarkspotsdiseasehavingoutbreaksincertainyears.Lesionswerealsocommon

duringthe2005coralbleachingevent.Oldpartialmortalitybecameveryprevalentafter

the2005coralbleachingeventandsubsidedinthefollowingyears.

Figure39.EagleRay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

EAGLE RAY

88

Figure40.EagleRaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion


White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

89

Fish Community.EagleRayisafairlydiverseandrichsite,especiallyconsideringthefishing

anddivingpressureitreceives,aswellastheproximityofChristianstedHarbor.Itis

dominatedbyinvertivores,primarilybenthicfeedssuchastheblackbarsoldierfishand

yellowgoatfish.Oceansurgeonfisharealsoveryabundant,leadingtheherbivoretrophic

group.Juvenileandsub‐adultredband,princessandstripedparrotfisharecommon

herbivores.Thepiscivoresaredominatedbymahoganysnapperandschoolmastersnapper.

Graysbyarealsocommon.In2011noothergrouperwereobservedontheEagleRaysite.

Proximitytoopendeepwaterisevidencedbytheoccurrenceoffairlyhighnumbersof

planktivorouscreolewrasseandblackdurgeon,whicharerareorabsentonshallow,

nearshoresites.

EAGLE RAY

90

Figure41.TheEagleRayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresoc

ean

surg

eonf

ish

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

dusk

y da

mse

lbl

ue ta

ng

thre

espo

t dam

sel

yello

wta

il da

mse

ldo

ctor

fish

oran

gesp

otte

d fil

efis

hbl

ack

durg

on

stri

ped

parr

otfis

hB

eaug

rego

ry

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Invertivores

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

yello

w g

oatf

ish

brow

n ch

rom

is

spot

ted

goat

fish

creo

le w

rass

e

Fren

ch g

runt

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

blue

chr

omis

blue

head

wra

sse

smal

lmou

th g

runt

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

Spa

nish

hog

fish

harl

equi

n ba

ss

slip

pery

dic

k

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

fair

y ba

ssel

etre

d hi

nd

clow

n w

rass

e

sout

hern

stin

gray

chal

k ba

ss

butt

er h

amle

t

barr

ed h

amle

t

Spa

nish

gru

nt

suns

hine

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

band

ed b

utte

rfly

fish

scra

wle

d fil

efis

hsm

ooth

trun

kfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

er

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Piscivores

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rsc

hool

mas

ter

gray

sby

glas

seye

sna

pper

bar

jack

trum

petf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

SITE SUMMARIES

91

GREAT POND

Descrip on.TheGreatPondMonitoringsite

isawave‐washedshallowbarrierreefthat

wasformerlyanelkhorncoralreefindepths

of5‐7m.Thereefispartofthebarrierreef

frontsurroundedbypatchreefsandsand.

GreatPondhasbeenmonitoredsince2003.

Outstanding Feature.GreatPondhoststhe

largestpopulationoftheblackspinyurchin

DiademaantillarumofanyTCRMP

monitoringsite,likelybecauseofitsshallow

depth.Italsohostsanabundanceoflarge‐

bodiedstoplight(Sparisomavirde)and

yellowfinparrotfish(Sparisomarubripinne)

thatlikelyspawnnearthesite.

Threats.TheGreatPondmonitoringsiteis

locatedintheSt.CroixEastEndMarineParkbutoutsidetheno‐takefisheryzone.Ifpark

rulesareenforcedthissitecouldseeareturnoffisheriesspeciesbyspilloverfromadjacent

protectedareas.Becauseofhighturbulenceandlowwatersheddevelopmentsedimentis

notconsideredaproblem;

however,largeindustrialsites

operatewithin10km,including

theHovensaRefinery,andcould

contributetopollution.

Figure42.GreatPond.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

GREAT POND

92

Figure43.GreatPondbenthictemperature(5mdepth).


Current.GreatPondcurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly.Wave‐generated

oscillatorycurrentsdominateandthisisthemostregularlyswell‐influencedsiteinthe

TCRMPmakingworkconditionsdifficultonallbutthecalmestday.Strongunidirectional

currentshavenotbeenexperienced.

Temperature.GreatPondtypicallyexperiencesveryhightemperaturesinAugustto

October,withtemperaturesnearlypeakingat31°Cin2010.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

93

Benthic Community.TheGreatPondsiteisunusuallydominatedwiththemustardhillcoral

(Poritesastreoides)andDiploriastrigosa.Itisalsotheonlysitewithhighabundanceof

Diploriaclivosa.Thesitelost55.9%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,buthas

regainedabouthalfofthecoverasof2011.Thesiteisdominatedbyepilithicalgae,with

occasionalyearswheremacroalgaeblooms(2007and2011).

Coral Health.GreatPondcoralsweremoderatelyaffectedduringthe2005coralbleaching

event,whichmaybeareflectionofthishighcompositionofresistantcoralspeciesandthe

regularexposuretohightemperatures.Thesitewasnotmonitoredduringtheheightofthe

2010coralbleachingevent.Patchy,low‐levelbleachingiscommoninsomeyears.Diseases

werealmostnon‐existentatthemonitoringsite.Partialmortalityisvariableandhasnot

shownconsistenttrendsoveryears.

Figure44.GreatPond(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

GREAT POND

94

Figure45.GreatPondbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

95

Fish Community.TheGreatPondfishcommunityisdominatedbyherbivores,bothbenthic

andplanktonic.Theprimarybenthicherbivoreatthesiteisthebluetang,whichswimsinforagingschoolsfeedingonalgaecoveringtherelictelkhorncoral.Alsopresentarelargequeenandstoplightparrotfish,whichcanalsobeseeninlargegroups,probablyspawninginthelateafternoonandeveninghours.Thesefishconcentratearoundthe“piles”ofskeletalremainsofAcroporaacrossthesite.Betweentheseareas,fishbiomassislowandisprimarilymadeupofwrasses,brownchromisandjuvenileparrotfish.PiscivoresatGreatPondarelimitednearlyentirelytomahoganysnapperandbarjacks.Benthicinvertivoresaredominatedbybluestripedgrunts.Gruntsandmahoganysnapperarealsoassociatedwiththerelictelkhornstructuresandareverypatchyacrossthereef.

GREAT POND

96

Figure46.TheGreatPondfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresbl

ue ta

ng

yello

wta

il da

mse

l

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

doct

orfis

hbl

ack

durg

on

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

h

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

redf

in p

arro

tfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

dusk

y da

mse

l

thre

espo

t dam

sel

stri

ped

parr

otfis

hre

dlip

ble

nny

oran

gesp

otte

d fil

efis

h

gree

nblo

tch

parr

otfis

h

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Invertivores

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

brow

n ch

rom

is

Fren

ch g

runt

slip

pery

dic

k

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

Spa

nish

gru

nt

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

blue

head

wra

sse

Spa

nish

hog

fish

blue

chr

omis

pudd

ingw

ife

creo

le w

rass

e

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

spot

ted

goat

fish

clow

n w

rass

esa

nd ti

lefis

h

smal

lmou

th g

runt

barr

ed h

amle

t

fair

y ba

ssel

et

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Omnivores and Spongivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

quee

n an

gel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Piscivores

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

r

bar

jack

gray

sby

trum

petf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

SITE SUMMARIES

97

JACKS BAY

Descrip on.TheJacksBaymonitoringsite

(akaJacks/IsaacsBay)ispartoffringing

reef,colonizedhardbottomonthe

southeastpointofSt.Croixinwater

depthsof13‐16m.Themonitoringsiteis

justinwardfromtheshelfbreakand

seawardreefslope,whichterminatesina

sandplainatabout20mdepth.JacksBay

islargelyacarbonatehardbottomwith

scatteredhardcoral,althoughthereare

somelargecoralheadsseawardofthe

transects.Permanenttransectswere

installedatJacksBayin2001.

Outstanding Feature.JacksBayhostsa

uniquefishcommunitywithhigh

abundanceofsmallwrassesandtheoccasionaloccurrenceofredhind(Epinephelus

guttatus).

Threats.JacksBayiswithintheSt.CroixEastEndMarineParkbutliesjustoutsidethe

restrictedfisheriesareaandis

opentofishing.Highturbulence

andnowatersheddevelopment

meanthereislowthreatofland‐

basedsourcesofpollutionatthis

nearshoresite.

Figure47.JacksBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

JACKS BAY

98

Figure48.JacksBaybenthictemperatureat12mdepth


Current.JacksBaycurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly.Thereareweak

unidirectionalcurrents,butapropensityforstrongwave‐generatedoscillatorycurrents

duetheopencoastsoutheastexposure.

Temperature.JacksBaycanexperiencehightemperaturesduringAugusttoOctober.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

99

Benthic Community.TheJacksBaysitehaslowcoralcover(<10%)andistheonlyTCRMP

sitedominatedbythegreatstarcoralMontastraeacavernosa.JacksBaylost44.7%ofits

coralcoverinthe2005coralbleachingevent,buthadregainedabout32%ofthelossby

2011.Overhalfofthesessileepibenthiccommunityiscomposedofgorgoniansand

sponges.Thedirectareaofthesitemightbeconsideredmoreacolonizedhardbottomthan

truecoralreef.Thealgalcommunityiscomposedofhighproportionseachofepilithic

algae,macroalgae,andfilamentouscyanobacteria.Thesealgalgroupsshowhighinter‐

annualvariability.

Coral Health.TheJacksBaysitewasstronglyaffectedduringthe2005bleachingeventand

wasmoderatelyaffectedduringthe2010bleachingevent.Diseaseprevalencewaslowand

onlydarkspotsdiseasewaspresent.Recentpartialmortalitywashighduringthe2005

bleachingevent,likelyreflectingthefactthatsurveyswereconductedinNovember2005

whenmortalityhadbegun.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedgreatlyafterthe2005bleaching

andthendeclinedtostablelevelsin2009‐2011.

Figure49.JacksBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

JACKS BAY

100

Figure50.JacksBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

200

5 B

L

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

101

Fish Community.TheJacksBayfishcommunityischaracterizedbyverylowfishbiomass

andabundancebutrelativelyhighdiversity.Thesiteisprimarilyhardbottom,adjacenttomoredevelopedcoralreefontheseawardedge,overwhichlargerfishesareobserved.Thehardbottomcommunityishighlydominatednumericallybybluechromis,yellowheadwrasseandbicolordamselfish.Juvenilewrassesandparrotfishswimandhoverinmixedschoolsamongtherubbleandgorgonians.Slipperydicks,clownwrasse,rainbowwrasseandblackearwrassecanbeobserved.Angelfishesarecommonacrossthehardbottom,asarejuvenileredhind.Piscivoresarerareandlimitedtopeacockflounder,redspottedhawkfish,juvenilegraysby,andtrumpetfish.Mediumtolargersizedfishesareveryrare,andnearlyallofthesespeciesareseenatJacksBayinthejuvenilelifehistorystage.

JACKS BAY

102

Figure51.TheJacksBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

103

KINGS CORNER

Descrip on.TheKingsCorner

monitoringsiteisapartofapatchyreef

complexalongthesteeplyslopingwest

coastofSt.Croixindepthsof15‐25m.

Thereefcontainsahighdiversityof

coralsandspongesonmounds

surroundedbysand.KingsCornerhas

beenmonitoredsince2006,with

permanenttransectsinstalledin2007.

Outstanding Feature.KingsCornerisa

commerciallyimportantrecreational

divesite.Thesitesupportsahigh

diversityanddensityoffishes.Italsoa

veryaestheticallypleasingsitewithhigh

topographicrelief.

Threats.KingsCornerisopentofishingandiseasilyaccessibleaspartofthecalmleeof

westernSt.CroixnearFrederiksted.Derelictfishinglines,fishtraps,fishweights,andother

marinedebrisareinevidenceinandaroundthesite.Largeplumesofsedimentthatwrap

aroundSandyPointfromthe

southcoastofSt.Croixalso

periodicallyaffectthesite.

Plumescandropvisibilityto

nearzeroandleadtohigh

incidenceofsedimentoncoral

andspottybleaching.

Figure52.KingsCorner.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefwithaschooloflanesnapper(Lutjaussynagris).

KINGS CORNER

104

Figure53.KingsCornerbenthictemperature(17mdepth)


Current.KingsCornercurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly.Thesiteisvery

protectedfromwaveaction,butcanexperiencestrongunidirectionalcurrentsattimes,

particularlyatshallowerdepths.

Temperature.KingsCornerhasmoderatelyhightemperatures.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

105

Benthic Community.TheKingsCornersitesupportsadiversecommunityofhardcorals

dominatedbytheMontastraeaannularisspp.complex.Thesitealsohadaveryabundant

populationofsponges.Thissitewasnotmonitoreduntilafterthe2005bleachingevent,so

theimpactsoncoralcoverarenotknown.Epilithicalgaedominatethealgalcommunityat

KingsCorner,withverylowabundanceofmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria.Sand

isprominentlyinterspersedamongthecoralbanks.

Coral Health.Non‐thermalbleachingwithmoderateprevalencebutlowextentoncolonies

isacommonfeatureatthissite,likelyastheresultofchronicsedimentation.The

prevalenceofcoraldiseaseswaslowwithdarkspotsdiseasepredominating.Oldpartial

mortalityhasbeenveryhighatthissitesincemonitoringstartedandmaybeanindication

ofimpactsfromthe2005coralbleachingevent.

Figure54.KingsCorner(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

KINGS CORNER

106

Figure55.KingsCornerbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ext

en

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

200

5 B

L

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

107

Fish Community.KingsCornerrepresentsthemostdiversefishcommunitywiththehighest

fishbiomassintheStCroixmonitoringprogram.Thesiteisdominatedbyinvertivores,influencedhighlybythelargenumbersofadultblackbarsoldierfishandtomtategrunts.Althoughtheblackbarsoldierfishisanocturnalzooplanktivore,thetomtateismoreopportunisticandfeedsonbenthicinvertebratesaswellassomezooplanktonandbenthicalgae.ThisillustratesthevarietyofresourcesavailabletothefishesatKingsCorner.Othercommonplanktonicfeedersincludethecommonblackdurgeon,creolewrasse,barjackandyellowtailsnapper,aswellasthelesscommonrainbowrunner.Commonbenthicherbivoresincludeprincess,redband,stoplight,queen,stripedandredfinparrotfish,aswellasbluetangandoceansurgeonfish.Sevenspeciesofgruntswereincludedintransectsduringthe2011census,aswellasthreespeciesofsquirrelfishandfourspeciesofbutterflyfish.Piscivoreswerealsoinrelativelyhighbiomass,representedprimarilyasbarjacks,graysbyandmahoganysnapper.

KINGS CORNER

108

Figure56.TheKingsCornerfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

109

LANG BANK EAST END MARINE PARK

Descrip on.TheLangBankEEMPsiteis

ashelfedgemesophoticcoralreef

locatedatadepthof27–30m.The

monitoringsitesitsjustaboveasteep

shelfbreakandiscomposedofrolling

coralknollsdominatedbyboulderstar

corals(Montastraeaannularisspp.

complex).Thissitewasestablishedin

2009.

Outstanding Feature.TheLangBank

EEMPsiteappearstobeawell‐

developedmesophoticboulderstar

coralreefonSt.Croix,wherethesesreef

arerarerthanthenorthernUSVirgin

Islands.

Threats.TheLangBankEEMPisintheouterparkareaandisopentofishingyear‐round.

Thereforefisheriespressureispresent.Itsoffshorelocationprotectsitfromland‐based

sourcesofpollution.

Figure57.LangBankEEMP.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

LANG BANK EEMP

110

Figure58.LangBankEEMPbenthictemperature(28mdepth)


Current.DirectcurrentmeasurementshavenotbeentakenatLangBankEEMP.The

depthbuffersthesitefromwave‐drivenoscillatorycurrents.Onlyweakunidirectional

benthiccurrentshavebeenexperiencedatthesiteduringmonitoring;however,midwater

andsurfacecurrentscanbemoderatetostrong(>10cms‐1).

Temperature.LangBankEEMPhastemperaturethatisreducedrelativetoshallowwater

sites,asshownbytherelativelymildtemperaturesexperiencedduringthewarmwater

eventofAugusttoSeptember2010.Thismaybeprotectiveduringmassbleachingevents,

buttemperaturesarenotasreducedatothermesophoticsites.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2010 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

111

Benthic Community.LangBankEEMPsupportsmanycoralspeciesbutisdominatedbythe

Montastraeaannularisspp.complex.Spongesarealsoquiteprominentandmakeupa

quarterofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.Epilithicalgae,Lobophoravariegata,

andfilamentouscyanobacterianearequallyrepresentthealgalcommunity.The

prominenceoffilamentouscyanobacteriaisquitestrikingandhasreachedalmost40%of

thesubstrateinsomeyears.

Coral Health.Background,non‐thermalbleachingprevalenceisquitehighatLangBank

EEMP.Whitediseaseshowedanoutbreakin2011.LangBankEEMPwasnotinitially

monitoreduntilwellafterthe2005coralbleachingevent;however,ahighprevalenceofold

partialmortalitysuggeststhatcoralswereimpacted.Manyofthelargefaviidsshowlesion

patternsthatareconsistentwiththelargelunatedeadareascausedbywhitediseases

followingbleachingin2005.

Figure59.LangBankEastEndMarinePark(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

LANG BANK EEMP

112

Figure60.LangBankEEMPbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

113

Fish Community.TheLangBankEastEndMarineParksiterepresentsamesophoticreef

communitythatischaracterizedbylargenumbersofplanktonicfeedersincludingherbivores,invertivoresandomnivores.Theplanktivorousoceantriggerfish,blackdurgeon,andblackbarsoldierfisharethethreefishcomprisingthehighestbiomassatthesite.Otherdeepwaterplanktivorescommontothesiteincludetheyellowtailsnapperandcreolewrasse.Benthicherbivoresaredominatednumericallyandinbiomassbytheredbandparrotfish,andbenthicinvertivoresbythesmallmouthandFrenchgrunts.Piscivoresarehighlydominatedbythegraysby.Thegraysbywastheonlygrouperobservedduringtransectsin2011,althoughconeyswereoccasionallyobservedduringrovingdives.Otherpiscivoresincludedthebarracudaandceromackerel,alsoindicatorsofadeepwatercommunity.TwolionfishwereobservedontheEastEndMarineParksitein2011duringrovingdives.

LANG BANK EEMP

114

Figure61.TheLangBankEEMPfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

115

LANG BANK RED HIND FISH SPAWNING AGGREGATION

Descrip on.TheLangBankRedHind

FishSpawningAggregation(LangHind)

monitoringsiteisamesophoticreefof

relictspurandgroovestructureata

depthof30–35m.Thesiteisperched

onthesoutheastsideofthespur,which

isalargefingerthatrisesto24mtothe

westanddropsonallothersidestoa

rhodolith/sandplainatabout50m.

LangHindwasinitiallymonitoredin

2001atasiteontheshallower(24m)

portionofthebanktothewest.

Monitoringin2004‐2007occurred

alongrandomtransectsinadeeperportionofthereef(~33mdepth)andbenthictransects

weremadepermanentinthisareain2009

Outstanding Feature.LangHindsupportsanannualfishspawningaggregationofthered

hind(Epinephelusguttatus).Thissitealsopossesseshighwaterclarityandanabundance

offishes,includingsharks.

Threats.TheLangHindsiteis

removedfromland‐based

stressors.Fishingoftheredhind

aggregationwascommonpriorto

closureoftheareatofishingin

1993.However,theaggregationis

neartheclosureboundary.

Figure62.LangBankEEMP.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

LANG BANK RED HIND FSA

116

Figure63.LangBankHindcurrentspeed(left)andbenthictemperature(right;33mdepth)


Current.LangHindhadbenthiccurrentsrecordedwithADCPevery30minutesfrom

11/20/05to8/20/06,and12/11/06to3/10/07.Bottomcurrentsmosttypicallyalternate

betweennorthandsoutheastandcanattainstrongspeedsperiodicallyexceeding0.4ms‐1.

Temperature.LangHindhastemperaturesthatarereducedduetothedeepdepthand

proximityofthewarmseasonthermocline.However,temperaturesarenotascoolor

variableassitesonthesouthernPuertoRicanshelf,indicatingthatthissitemaybemore

susceptibletowarmingoceantemperatures.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010

2011

Tem

per

atu

re (

o C)

Month

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW

Current Speed (m s-1)

0.5 - 0.6 0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1

SITE SUMMARIES

117

Benthic Community.LangHindhasadiversesessileepibenthiccommunitydominatedby

hardcorals,predominantlyMontastraeaannularisspp.complex,gorgoniansandsponges.

Coralcoveractuallyincreasedby110%betweenthecoralbleachingeventandre‐

monitoringin2006,butthismayreflectthefactthattransectswerelaidinrandom,rather

thanpermanent,locationspriorto2009.Thealgalcommunityislargelyopenepilithic

algalcommunities,butalsocontainslargeproportionsofLobophoravariegataand

filamentouscyanobacteria.Thealgalcommunityshowshighinter‐annualvariability.

Coral Health.LangHindwasheavilyaffectedduringthe2005coralbleachingevent,witha

veryhighprevalenceofcoralsthatwere100%bleachedoverthecolonysurface.Non‐

thermalbleachingwithmoderateprevalenceandlowextentoncoloniesalsooccurredin

lateryears.Thesitewasheavilyaffectedwithwhitediseasesafterthecoralbleachingevent

andhashadhighdiseaseprevalenceinallyearsofmonitoring.Oldpartialmortality

jumpedafterthe2005bleachingeventandwasvariableinlateryears.Recentpartial

mortalityisunusuallyhighatLangHind,largelyastheresultoffishbitesandpredationby

thecorallivoroussnailCoralliophilaspp.

Figure64.LangBankRedHindFSA(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.


118

Figure65.LangBankRedHindFSAbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

119

Fish Community.ThefishcommunityatLangHindisindicativeofamesophoticreefsystem.

Highwatercolumnplanktonicfeedersareabundantandincludetheblackdurgeon,creolewrasse,yellowtailsnapperandcreolefish.Bicolordamselfisharenumerouswhileherbivorousdamselfishesuncommon.Benthicherbivoresarerelativelylowindiversity,abundanceandbiomasscomparedtonearshoresites.Invertivoresarediverseandincludemanyplanktivoresaswellasbenthicfeeders,utilizingthevariedresourcesofthebank.Fourspeciesofangelfishwereobservedduringtransectsreflectingthehighspongecover.LangHindsupportsaredhindspawningsite,activeduringDecemberthroughFebruaryeachyear,andseveralredhindwereobservedin2011onbothrovingdivesandtransects.InadditiononeNassaugrouperwasobservedin2011;afirstobservationacrossallSt.Croixmonitoringsites.ThereisreportedlyahistoricNassaugrouperspawningsiteneartheLangHindmonitoringsite,andwiththebanknowclosedtotrapfishingthereishopeofsomere‐establishmentofthespeciesonSt.Croix.MahoganysnapperdominatedpiscivorousfishonLangHind.NootherlargegroupersorsnapperswereobservedalthoughaCaribbeanreefsharkwasseen.Sharksarecommonlyobservedwhiledivingthedeepbank.


120

Figure66.TheLangBankRedHindFSAfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

121

MUTTON SNAPPER

Descrip on.TheMuttonSnappersiteis

locatedonthelandwardsideofashelf

edgespurandgroovereefonthe

southwestshelfofStCroixindepthsof

22‐24m.Thereefwasdominatedby

boulderstarcoral(primarily

Montastraeafranksi)untilamasscoral

die‐offfollowingthe2005bleaching

event.MuttonSnapperhasbeen

monitoredsince2003.

Outstanding Feature.TheMutton

Snappersitewaslocatedinconjunction

withthepossibleproximityofamutton

snapper(Lutjanusanalis)spawning

aggregation.Itisseasonallyclosedtofishing.Thesitewasdevastatedbythe2005coral

bleachingevent,witha87%dropincoralcoverandaconcomitantincreaseinalgae.

Threats.TheMuttonSnappersiteisthreatenedbyfishingpressureasevidencedbythe

abundanceoffishinglineandfishingtrapdebris.Thissiteisoffshoreandlesslikely

threatenedbyland‐based

stressors.Theclearwatersand

warmtemperaturesmakethis

sitevulnerabletolong‐term

seawaterwarming.

Figure67.MuttonSnapper.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

MUTTON SNAPPER

122

Figure68.MuttonSnapperbenthictemperaturerecordat23m(left)and39mdepth(right).

Physical Characteris cs.

Current.CurrentrecordshavenotbeentakenatMuttonSnapper.Thereseemstobelittle

wave‐drivenoscillatoryflow.Thereareoftenstrongunidirectionalcurrentsinawestward

directionthatpenetratetonearbottom.

Temperature.BenthictemperaturesattheMuttonSnappersite(23m)showwarming

abovethebleachingthresholdduringthe2010bleachingevent,whereasbenthic

temperaturesjustoff‐shelffromthesite(40m)showfewexcursionsabovethebleaching

threshold.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2008 2009 2010 2011

Tem

per

atur

e (o

C)

Month


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

per

atur

e (

oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

123

Benthic Community.TheMuttonSnappersitesessileepibenthicanimalcommunityis

dominatedtheboulderstarcoral(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex),withsub‐

dominanceofsponges.Thissitelostanextremeaboutofcoralcover(87.0%)inthe2005

coralbleachingeventandhasnotregainedanycover(‐2.3%)asof2011.Lobophora

variegata,epilithicalgae,andfilamentouscyanobacteriadominatethealgalcommunity.

Apparentistheriseintheabundanceofmacroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteriaafter

2005.Filamentouscyanobacteriareachedextremecovervalues(57.7%)in2009.Current

levelsofherbivorynolongerappearabletocontrolalgalabundance.

Coral Health.MuttonSnapperbleachedheavilyinthe2005,with100%ofcoralsbleaching

over90%ofthecolonysurface.Bleachingprevalencehasremainedhighformostyears

since2005,butatlowcolonyextent,indicatingcontinuedimpairmentofcorals.White

diseasehasbeenatconsistentlyhighvaluesthroughmanyyearsofmonitoring.Oldpartial

mortalityincreasedafter2005,andthensubsidedaswholecolonieswerelostfromthe

system.Impairmentofthissiteispuzzlingasstressorsbesidesfishingappeartobelow.

Clearwaterandlowgeneticdiversityofcoralsmayincreasesusceptibilitytoenvironmental

stressandwhitedisease.

Figure69.MuttonSnapper(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

MUTTON SNAPPER

124

Figure70.MuttonSnapperbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

IntercostalWhite Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2005

BL

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

125

Fish Community.TheMuttonSnappersiteisanoffshelfsitewithafairlydiverseandrich

fishcommunity.Itisreportedlyinanareathatmuttonsnapperspawn,howevermuttonsnapperhavebeenveryrareinsurveysconductedatthesiteoverthepast4years.MuttonSnapperisveryhighlydominatedinbiomassbytheblackdurgeon,aphytoplanktonfeeder,andnumericallydominatedbythecreolewrasse,azooplanktonfeeder.Princessparrotfishandoceansurgeonfishcontributemostbiomasstothebenthicherbivoregroup,andalthoughseveralparrotfishspeciescanbefoundonthereef,sub‐adultandjuvenilesarebyfarthemajorityencountered.Theinvertivoregroupisdiverse,indicativeofthevarietyofresourcesavailableonthereef.Queentriggerarefairlycommon.PiscivoresarenotcommononMuttonSnapper.In2011thegroupwasdominatedontransectsnumericallybythegraysby,andinbiomassbyasingularmediumsizedbarracuda.OneredhindwasobservedonMuttonSnapperin2011,howevernoothergrouperswereencountered,andnolargesnappers.

MUTTON SNAPPER

126

Figure71.TheMuttonSnapperfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

SITE SUMMARIES

127

SALT RIVER WEST

Descrip on.SaltRiverWestliesjust

atoptheSaltRiverCanyonwestwallina

depthof9m.Thereefisaflatcolonized

hardbottom/coralcommunityatop

ancientcarbonates.SaltRiverWesthas

beenmonitoredsince2001.

Outstanding Feature.SaltRiverWestisa

populartouristdivesitewithaunique

sharpdroptothewallenvironment.

Threats.SaltRiverWestisexposedto

theoutflowfromtheSaltRiverCanyon

andresuspensionofsedimentfromthe

SaltRivereasternflats.Thesiteisnow

withinintheSaltRiverNationalHistoric

ParkandEcologicalPreserve.

Figure72.SaltRiver.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

SALT RIVER WEST

128

Figure73.SaltRiverWestsurface‐benthictemperaturerecord(1and5mdepths).DataprovidedbytheNOAAICONmonitoringnetwork.


Current.CurrentshavenotbeendirectlymeasuredbytheTCRMP.Duetothenorthern

exposureandshallowdepth,SaltRiverWestexperienceswave‐drivenoscillatoryflow,

whichcanbestrong.Unidirectionalbenthiccurrentsaretypicallyweaktomoderate

(<15cms‐1).

Temperature.ThetemperatureatSaltRiverWestcanbeverywarmandin2005

surpassedthebleachingthreshold(29.5°C)forapproximately2.5monthsbetweenAugust

andOctober.Therecordalsoshowshow2010wasactuallywarmerthan2005untilthe

passageofHurricaneEarlinlateAugustdroppedtemperaturesprecipitously.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2002 2007 2003 2008 2004 2009 2005 2010 2006 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

129

Benthic Community.TheSaltRiverWestepibenthicsessileanimalcommunityhasadiverse

hardcoralcommunityofsmallmassiveheadcoralsandlargeproportionsofspongesand

gorgonians.Thesitelostanimperceptibleamountofcoralcoverinthe2005coral

bleachingevent(‐13.6%)andhadregainednearlyhalfofthatcoverby2011(37.1%).The

algalcommunityshowsextremedominancebyepilithicalgaeandlowabundanceof

macroalgaeandfilamentouscyanobacteria.However,filamentouscyanobacteriahave

increasedslightlysince2005.

Coral Health.Coralswereseverelybleachedduringthe2005coralbleachingevent,with

over90%ofcoralsbleachedover80%ofthecolonysurface.Coralswereassessedjust

priortothe2010bleachingeventinAugust,butwereshowingincreasedprevalenceoflow

colonyextentbleachingbythen.Diseasesaretypicallylow,withtheoutstandingcaseof

darkspotsdisease,whichattainssomeofthehighestvaluesseeninTCRMPsites.Ofnote,

isthefactthatdarkspotsdiseaseactuallydecreasedfollowingseverebleachingand

recoveryin2005and2006.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedrapidlyafterthe2005

bleachingandthensubsidedsomewhatby2011.Recentpartialmortalitycanbehighand

isprimarilycausedbyfishbiting,suchasfromparrotfish.However,extentisquitelow

(datanotshown).

Figure74.SaltRiverWest(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SALT RIVER WEST

130

Figure75.SaltRiverWestbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

131

Fish Community.FishbiomassisrelativelylowontheSaltRiverWestsite,andspecies

compositionincludesprimarilysmallfishesandjuvenilesofthelargerspecies.Largerfishescanbeseenclosertotheedgeofthesite,neartheSaltRiverwall,howeverthetopofthereefhaslittlestructureforlargerfishes,withlowlyingcoralheads,gorgoniansandsponges.Numericallythemostdominantspeciesistheblueheadwrasse,followedcloselybybicolordamselfish.Thesetwospeciesmadeup67%ofthenumerictotaloffishonSaltRiverWestin2011.Oceansurgeonfishdominatedthesiteinbiomass,followedbyprincessparrotfish,bluetang,doctorfishandredbandparrotfish.Thisdominancebybenthicherbivoresisconsistentwithcharacteristicsfornearshorecoralreef.Piscivoresweredominatedinbothbiomassandnumberbythegraysby.Othergrouperswereobservedontherovingdives,includingtworedhindandseveralconey.Onemuttonsnapperwasencounteredonabelttransect,howevernootherlargesnapperswereobservedineitherbelttransectsorrovingdives.

SALT RIVER WEST

132

Figure76.TheSaltRiverWestfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresoc

ean

surg

eonf

ish

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

blue

tang

doct

orfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

hbl

ack

durg

on

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

yello

wta

il da

mse

ldu

sky

dam

sel

Bea

ugre

gory

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Invertivores

blue

head

wra

sse

Fren

ch g

runt

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

yello

w g

oatf

ish

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

mut

ton

snap

per

harl

equi

n ba

ssw

hite

gru

ntbl

ue c

hrom

is

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

yello

wfin

moj

arra

squi

rrel

fish

Spa

nish

hog

fish

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

hst

ripe

d gr

unt

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Omnivores and Spongivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

band

ed b

utte

rfly

fish

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Piscivores

gray

sby

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

r

bar

jack

scho

olm

aste

r

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

SITE SUMMARIES

133

SALT RIVER DEEP

Descrip on.TheSaltRiverDeepsiteis

locatedonthesteepcanyonwalljust

belowtheSaltRiverWestmonitoring

site.Thereefconsistsofvertical

buttressessurroundedbyextensive

sanddeposits.Thereefislargelyformed

ofplatingcoralatthesedeep,

mesophoticdepths.Theinitialsitewas

deployedin2009withtwotransectsat

30mdepthand4transectsat40m.

Duetolowcoralcoverat40mtransects

weremovedto30min2010.

Outstanding Feature.SaltRiverDeepis

aheavilyvisitedrecreationaldivesite.

Thesitehasbeenunderscientificinvestigationsincethe1970’s.Theunderwater

HYDROLABhabitatwasmaintainednearthesitefrom1977to1985andtheAquarius

habitatfrom1986to1989.

Threats.SaltRiverDeepis

threatenedbyland‐based

sourcesofpollutiondue

toitsproximitytotheSalt

RiverCanyonoutflow.

Thesitemayalsobe

susceptibletowarming

temperatures.

Figure77.SaltRiverDeep.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

SALT RIVER DEEP

134

Figure78.SaltRiverDeepbenthictemperatureat30mdepth(left)and40mdepth(right).


Current.SaltRiverdeepcurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectlybytheTCRMP.Only

veryweakoscillatoryandunidirectionalcurrentshavebeenexperiencedatthesite.

Temperature.Temperaturesonthewallhavebeenmeasuredattwodepthlevelsat30m

and40m.Bothsiteshavetemperaturesthataremuchcoolerthantheshallowsite.The

40msiteexperiencesevengreatercoolingandexperiencesmoredielvariability(not

shown)andday‐to‐dayvariabilityduetotheinfluenceofinternalwaves.Despitesome

interactionwiththethermocline,coolingisnotasgreatasatthemesophoticreefsat

similardepthsonthesouthernPuertoRicanShelf.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2007 2008 2010 2011

Te

mp

erat

ure

(oC

)

Month


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2009 2010 2011

Te

mp

erat

ure

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

135

Benthic Community.HardcoralcommunityoftheSaltRiverDeepmonitoringsiteis

dominatedbyplatinglettucecorals(Agariciaspp.);however,sponges,gorgonians,and

blackcoralsdominatetheoverallsessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.Thesitewasnot

monitoredduringthe2005bleachingevent,butaswiththeCaneBayDeepsite,severe

bleachingwasobserveddowntodepthsof40m.Thealgalcommunityisdominatedby

epilithicalgaeandunidentifieddiminutivemacroalgae.Thesiteisnotableforthehigh

compositionofsediment,whichcascadesfromtheupperreefbetweenspursand

buttresses.

Coral Health.Lowextentcoralbleachingistypicallyinmoderatetohighprevalenceatthe

SaltRiverDeepsite.Interactiondata(notshown)indicatesthatsedimentandLobophora

variegataovergrowthareresponsibleformuchofthebleaching.Diseaseshavenotbeen

observed.Oldpartialmortalityishighoncorals,whichmaybeareflectionofthe2005

bleachingeventandcumulativeimpactsfrominteractionwithsedimentandalgae.

Figure79.SaltRiverDeep(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SALT RIVER DEEP

136

Figure80.SaltRiverDeepbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion


White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

200

5 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

137

Fish Community.Therelativelyhighturbidityandhighcompositionofsandandsiltbottom,

asaconsequenceofriverdischarge,influencesthefishcommunityofSaltRiverDeep.The

mesophoticreefwallsiteischaracterizedbyaprimarilyinvertivorefishcommunity,

leadinginbothbiomassandspeciesrichness.Invertivoresaredominatednumericallyby

thefunctionallyplantivorousbluechromisandcreolewrasse.Thebenthicfeedinggoatfish,

bothyellowandspotted,aswellasthreegrunts(balckmargate,tomtateandFrenchgrunt)

contributesignificantlytofishbiomass.Picsivoresaredominatednumericallybymahogany

andschoolmastersnapper,andherbivoresbyadultandsub‐adultprincessandredband

parrotfish.Juvenileparrotfishareveryuncommon,andlargeparrotfishabsent.

CharacteristicdeepwaterfishesobservedcommonlyonSaltWaterDeepincludethe

sunshinefish,bantumbass,fairybassletandlongsnoutbutterflyfish.AsontheCaneBay

Deepsite,ocassionalcuberasnapper(Lutjanuscyanopterus),muttonsnapper(L.analis)or

southernstingrays(Dasyatisamericana)areobservedduringrovingdivesonthewall,and

commonlyoneortwoCaribbeanreefsharks(Carcharhinusperezi)arepresent.

SALT RIVER DEEP

138

Figure81.TheSaltRiverDeepfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivorespr

ince

ss p

arro

tfis

hre

dban

d pa

rrot

fish

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

hst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

h

blue

tang

doct

orfis

hst

ripe

d pa

rrot

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Invertivores

blue

chr

omis

yello

w g

oatf

ish

creo

le w

rass

e

spot

ted

goat

fish

tom

tate

blac

k m

arga

te

Fren

ch g

runt

Spa

nish

hog

fish

fair

y ba

ssel

etsq

uirr

elfis

h

yello

whe

ad w

rass

ech

alk

bass

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

hsh

y ha

mle

t

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

barr

ed h

amle

t

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

suns

hine

fish

Spa

nish

gru

nt

spot

ted

drum

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Omnivores

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

bico

lor

dam

sel

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

serg

eant

maj

or

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Piscivores

cube

ra s

napp

erm

ahog

any

snap

per

scho

olm

aste

r

gray

sby

trum

petf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

SITE SUMMARIES

139

SPRAT HOLE

Descrip on.TheSpratHolesiteisa

nearshore/shelf‐edgefringingreefin

depthsof7–10m.Thesitesisarolling

boulderstarcoral(Montastraea

annularis)reef.Theslopetothewest

dropsofftoanattractivemixedcoral

communitywithabundantfish.Sprat

Holehasbeenmonitoredsince2001.

Outstanding Feature.SpratHoleisa

heavilyvisitedreefforsnorkelanddive

tours.

Threats.TheSpratHolereefis

vulnerabletolandbasedsourcesof

pollutionifthereisincreaseddevelopmentofthewatershed.Lowwaveactionandlight

currentsfavorsettlingofsmallparticlesofterrestrialsedimentthatinjurecorals.Thesite

isalsofrequentlyfishedandthereisderelictfishinggearinabundance.Recreational

overusemayalsobeathreat.

Figure82.SpratHole.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

SPRAT HOLE

140

Figure83.SpratHolebenthictemperature(7mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasuredatSpratHole.Oscillatorycurrentsaretypically

weakonthewesternleeofSt.Croix.Unidirectionalcurrentsduringmonitoringhave

alwaysbeenweak(<10cms‐1).

Temperature.SpratHoletemperaturehasnotbeenmonitoredovermanyyearsdueto

lossofprobes.Thisislikelyduetothehighexposuretorecreationalandcommercial

fishingdivers.IngeneralSpratHoleappearstobeawarmsite.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2007 2008 2009

Tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

141

Benthic Community.SpratHoleisafringingMontastraeaannularisdominatedreef,witha

gooddiversityofothercoralspecies.Therewasa62.3%declineincoralcoverduetothe

2005coralbleachingevent,witharegainof11.9%ofcoverby2011.Epilithicalgae

dominatethealgalcommunity,withsmalleramountsofadiversegroupofmacroalgae,

includingDictyotaspp.andHalimedaspp.Therehasvariable,butincreasingcoverof

filamentouscyanobacteriasince2005.

Coral Health.ThecoralcommunityatSpratHolewasheavilyaffectedduringthe2005coral

bleachingevent,withahighprevalenceofbleachingataveryhighextent.Bleaching

prevalencehastendedtobehighersincetheevent.Diseaseprevalencecanbequitehigh,

particularlyforwhitedisease.Darkspotsdiseasehasalsobeeninhighprevalencein

certainyears.Oldpartialmortalitywashighoncoloniesfrom2005to2011,andlowwhen

recordedin2002.Inthiscase,oldpartialmortalityisaverycommonfeatureofM.

annularisanditislikelythatlowvaluesareduetoaobserverbiasandadifferentmethod

forestimatingpartialmortality.RecentpartialmortalityisconsistentlyveryhighatSprat

Holeandthisisduetoinlargeparttothehighabundanceofterritorialdamselfish

(Stegastesspp.)formingalgallawnsonM.annularis.

Figure84.SpratHole(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SPRAT HOLE

142

Figure85.SpratHolebenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

20

05 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

143

Fish Community.SpratHoleexhibitsafairlytypicalfishcommunitystructurefornearshore

coralreefecosystemreceivingmoderateamountsofterrestrialrunofffromthewatershed.Fishbiomassismoderate,andthesiteisdramaticallydominatedbothnumericallyandinbiomassbythebluechromis,aplanktivorousinvertivore.Benthicherbivoresarecommonandincludesmallparrotfishandallthreeacanthuridspecies(doctorfish).Invertivoresaremorediverseandincludebothplanktivoresandbenthicfeeders,mostlyinsmallnumbers.Numericallythepiscivoresweredominatedbythemahoganysnapper,howeveronecuberasnapperwasobservedonatransect.Schoolmastersnapperandgraysbywerealsocommononthereefandtworedhindwereobservedontherovingdives.

SPRAT HOLE

144

Figure86.TheSpratHolefishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivorespr

ince

ss p

arro

tfis

hre

dban

d pa

rrot

fish

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

hst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

h

blue

tang

doct

orfis

hst

ripe

d pa

rrot

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Invertivores

blue

chr

omis

yello

w g

oatf

ish

creo

le w

rass

e

spot

ted

goat

fish

tom

tate

blac

k m

arga

te

Fren

ch g

runt

Spa

nish

hog

fish

fair

y ba

ssel

etsq

uirr

elfis

h

yello

whe

ad w

rass

ech

alk

bass

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

hsh

y ha

mle

t

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

barr

ed h

amle

t

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

suns

hine

fish

Spa

nish

gru

nt

spot

ted

drum

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Omnivores

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

bico

lor

dam

sel

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

serg

eant

maj

or

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Piscivores

cube

ra s

napp

erm

ahog

any

snap

per

scho

olm

aste

r

gray

sby

trum

petf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

SITE SUMMARIES

145

St.John

ST. JOHN

146

SITE SUMMARIES

147

CORAL BAY

Descrip on.TheCoralBaysiteisatopa

patchreefcomplexatthesoutheast

mouthofCoralHarbor.Thereefisalow

carbonatebuildupwithhighcoral

diversity.BlackPointappearstobea

truereefwithawell‐developed

carbonateframeworkoverbedrock.

CoralBaymonitoringwasinitiatedin

2011withtwosamplingperiods.

Outstanding Feature.CoralBaysupports

ahighdiversityofcoralandanapparent

highrateofcoralrecruitment.

Threats.CoralBayissubjecttoland‐

basedsourcesofpollution,primarilyassedimentinfluxfromthelargeandsteepCoralBay

watershed.Recentrestorationactivitiesinthewatershedareexpectedtodecreasethe

sedimentinflux.CoralBaymayalsobethreatenedbymaritimeactivitieswithinCoral

Harbor.Proximitytolandmakesthissiteinterritorialwaterspotentiallyvulnerableto

fishing.

Figure87.CoralBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

CORAL BAY

148

Figure88.CoralBaybenthictemperature(9mdepth)


Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasuredbytheTCRMP,however,Dr.SarahGray

(UniversityofSanDiego)hasmeasured2‐Dnearbottommeasurementsforsomeyears

between2009‐2011.Oscillatorycurrentsareexpectedtobelightandonlyweak

unidirectionalcurrentshavebeenexperienced.

Temperature.CoralBaymayhaverestrictedwatercirculationandhadveryhigh

temperaturesduringthe2010bleachingevent.

Other.ThissiteandthewiderCoralBayareahavebeenunderinvestigationforland‐based

sourcesofpollutionimpactssince2009.Projectshavebeeninvolvedterrestrialsediment

measurement/modeling,marinesedimentflux,coraldemographicplots,andbiological

monitoring.Theareahasalsobeeninvolvedinwaterqualitymonitoring.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2010 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

149

Benthic Community.CoralBayhasaverydiversecoralcommunity,withnocleardominance

ofcover.Incontrasttomostsites,themustardhillcoralPoritesastreoideshasthegreatest

coveramongcoralspecies.Spongesandgorgoniansarealsoverycommonatthissite.The

algalcommunityisdominatedbyepilithicalgaeandahighabundanceofcrustosecoralline

algae,withverylowabundanceofmacroalgae.Thisissurprisingatthisturbidreefsitethat

likelyreceiveshighinputsofparticulateanddissolvednutrientsources,andindicatesthat

grazingisquitehigh.Althoughfishcommunitieswillnotbeassesseduntil2012,thereis

notahighabundanceofherbivorousfishandonlytheoccasionaloccurrenceofDiadema

antillarum.However,thereisagreatabundanceoftherockboringurchinEchinometraspp.

thatappearstobethedominantgrazer.ThisgenusisnotmonitoredinTCRMPprotocols,

butperhapsshouldbeincludedinfutureyears.

Coral Health.Itisnotknownhowcoralswereaffectedbybleachingin2005.Therewasa

lowprevalenceoflowextentbleachingin2011.Diseaseswerenotrecordedin2011.Old

partialmortalityprevalencewaslowin2011,butthismaypartlybeexplainedbythehigh

abundanceofsmallcoralcoloniesthatarelessproneoldpartialmortality.Recent

mortalityhadlowprevalencein2011.

Figure89.CoralBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

CORAL BAY

150

Figure90.CoralBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealthin2011(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

151

FISH BAY

Descrip on.FishBayisa

nearshoreFringingReefin

territorialwaters.The

monitoringsiteisasharpedgeof

ashallowwatercoralcommunity

droppingtosandat7mdepth.

Thesitehasbeenmonitored

since2001.

Outstanding Feature.FishBay

innertransects(1–3)are

heavilysedimentimpacted,

whichoutertransects(4‐6)

supportlargeboulderstarcorals

(Montastraeafaveolata).

Threats.FishBaysubjectedto

land‐basedsourcesofpollutionandtendstohaveturbidwaterandovergrowthby

macroalgaeoninner

transects.Thissitemay

alsobevulnerableto

fishingimpacts.

Figure91.CoralBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

FISH BAY

152

Figure92.FishBaybenthictemperaturerecord(6mdepth).


Current.FishBaycurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectlybytheTCRMP.Unidirectional

currentsaremildtoslack.Becauseofthesoutheastexposure,wavedrivenoscillatory

currentscanbequiteintense,particularlyontheoutertransects.

Temperature.FishBayhasrelativelyhighmeantemperaturesandwasveryfaroverthe

localbleachingthresholdin2010.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

153

Benthic Community.ThecoralcommunityofFishBayisdominatedbytheboulderstarcoral

Montastraeaannularisspp.complex.Inparticular,large(>2mwide)coloniesofM.

faveolataarecommonontheseawardtransects(4‐6).Theinnertransects(1‐3)aremostly

depauperateofcoral(<4%coverasof2011).Thesitelost37.1%ofitscoverduetothe

2005coralbleachingevent,buthadregained136.1%ofcoverby2011.Gorgoniansare

alsoverycommononthewave‐washedoutertransects.Thealgalcommunityisdominated

byequalpartsepilithicalgaeandthemacroalgaeDictyotaspp.Thesitealsohasahigh

abundanceofHalimedaopuntia,whichcanbeveryabundantoninnertransectsclosestto

land‐basedsourcesofpollution.

Coral Health.FishBaycoralswereveryseverelyaffectedinthe2005with100%ofcorals

showingalmost100%bleaching.Bleachingisalsonormallyhighatthissiteeveninyears

withoutthermalstress,alikelyconsequenceofsedimentandmacroalgalinteractions.

Diseases,particularlydarkspotsdiseaseandwhitediseasecanhaveveryhighprevalence

atFishBay.Oldpartialmortalitydidincreaseafterthe2005coralbleachingevent,witha

declinein2010andresurgencein2011.Recentpartialmortalitycanalsoberelativelyhigh

comparedwithothersites,largelyastheresultsofbitesfromsite‐attacheddamselfish

(Stegastesspp.).

Figure93.FishBay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

FISH BAY

154

Figure94.FishBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

155

MERI SHOAL

Descrip on.MeriShoalisanoffshore

mesophoticcoralbank30mdepth.The

reefislocatedfourmilessouthofSt.

Johnandisonthesouthernmostoftwo

impressivemidshelfcoralbanks.The

reefisdominatedbyinterlocking

coloniesofboulderstarcorals

(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex).

Thereeftopisveryflatcoralplain.The

siteisnamedforDr.MeriWhitaker,

formerdirectoroftheVIEPSCoR

Programwhopassedawayin2009.

MeriShoalhasbeenmonitoredsince

2005.

Outstanding Feature.MeriShoalhasthehigheststarcoralabundanceofanysiteinthe

TCRMPandisbathedinclear,cleanwater.

Threats.MeriShoalisvulnerabletofishingimpacts,asitisoutsideanymarineprotected

area.Thehighdensityofcorals

maymakethissightvulnerable

todiseaseimpacts..

Figure95.MeriShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005coralbleachingevent(Oct.6,2005).Thebraincoralintheforegroundis1.8mwide.

MERI SHOAL

156

Figure96.MeriShoalbenthictemperaturerecord(30mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectlyattheMeriShoalsite,althoughthe

CaribbeanRegionalAssociationbuoyVI1islocatedwithin700manditsdownward

focusedADCPhasbeenrecordingdatasinceApril2011.

Temperature.BlackPointhaslowcirculationandrelativelyhighmeantemperatureswith

verylowdaytodayvariability.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

157

Benthic Community.TheMeriShoalsiteisexceptionalforitsdominationbyboulderstar

corals(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex).Coverofthisandothercoralspecieswas

exceptionallyhighwhenthesitewasfirstmonitoredduringthe2005coralbleachingevent,

butdeclinedby36.0%afterbleachingandhadnotrecoveredanycoverasof2011(‐9.6%).

Surprisinglygiventhehighcoralcover,thealgalcommunityisdominatedbyLobophora

variegataandnotepilithicalgaeandtherehasbeenatrendofincreasingmacroalgalcover

since2008.

Coral Health.Coralbleachingwasrelativelyhighforamesophoticsiteduringthecoral

bleachingeventin2005.Bleachingwasagainathighprevalence,butlowextentinthe

thermalstressof2010.However,low‐extentbleachingatmoderateprevalenceisa

persistentfeatureofMeriShoal.Disease,particularlywhitediseaseandlesionsthatare

likelytheremnantsofwhitedisease,arehighlyprevalent,particularlyinyearsfollowing

highthermalanomalies,suchas2006and2011.Oldpartialmortalityclimbedsteeplyfrom

the2005coralbleachingeventonwardsandreachedveryhighlevelsby2006.Recent

partialmortalityhasalsobeenconsistentlyhighastheresultofwhitediseaseanddisease

lesions.

Figure97.MeriShoal(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

MERI SHOAL

158

Figure98.MeriShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


LesionDark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

159

St.Thomas

SITE SUMMARIES

161

BLACK POINT

Descrip on.BlackPointisanearshore

fringingreeflocatedatthemouthof

BrewersBayalongthesouthwestcoast

ofSt.Thomasinwaterdepthsof7–17

m.Thereefhasasharpbreakinslope

leadingtoasteepescarpmentthat

terminatesinasedimentplainatthe

reefbase.BlackPointappearstobea

truereefwithawell‐developed

carbonateframeworkoverbedrock.

BlackPointhasbeenmonitoredsince

2003,withpermanentbenthictransects

installedin2007.Aciguaterafish

poisoningstudywithmonthlysampling

hasbeenongoingsince2009.

Outstanding Feature.BlackPointsupportsafishspawningaggregationofstripedparrotfish

(Scarusiserti)thatengageindailyafternoonmatingattheedgeoftheupperreefbreak.

Threats.BrewersBaysubjectedtoland‐basedsourcesofpollutionandtendstohaveturbid

waterandovergrowthby

heterotrophicorganisms,suchas

sponges.Recreational/artisanal

fisherswithhandlineandspear

frequentlyfishthissite.

Figure99.BlackPoint.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

BLACK POINT

162

Figure100.Blackpointcurrentspeedandbenthictemperaturerecord(8mdepth).

Physical Characteris cs.Current.BlackPointhasrestrictedwaterflowdominatedbyweak

currentsrunningcounterororthogonallytotheleftofthedominantwinddirection.This

mayindicatethatthereisacounterflowingeddyfromPerseveranceBaytothewestthat

impingesontheheadland.Currentdataarebasedonaveragedatatakenevery30min.

(11/29/06to3/1/2007)andhourly(4/19/07to9/5/07).Temperature.BlackPointhas

lowcirculationandrelativelyhighmeantemperatureswithverylowday‐to‐dayvariability.

Chlorophyll&Turbidity.ChlorophylltendstobehighatBlackPoint,likelyduetoinputs

ofland‐basednutrientsthatfuelpelagicproductivity.Therearealsoexistsavery

prominenttidalsignaturethatreflectsswitchingsourcecurrentsatthereef.

Figure101.BlackPointchlorophyll(left)andturbidity(right)record(16mdepth)

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW


0.5 - 0.6 0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1

Nov 2 Nov 5 Nov 8 Nov 11 Nov 14

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Tur

bid

ity (

NT

U)

2006

Nov 2 Nov 5 Nov 8 Nov 11 Nov 140.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Ch

loro

ph

yll (

µg

L-1)

2006


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

163

Benthic Community.BlackPointsupportsaverydiversecoralcommunitywithveryequal

representationbymanycoralspecies.However,largecolonies(>100cmdiameter)of

MontastraeaannularisandMontastraeafaveolataoccurontheeasternedgeofthesite,with

afewoccurringwithintransects.Thiscoralcommunitylost40.5%ofitscoralcoverinthe

2005bleachingevent;however,by2011ithadregained103.5%ofitscoralcover.Thealgal

communityatBlackPointisco‐dominatedbyepilithicalgaeandthemacroalgaDictyota

spp..

Coral Health.Blackpointcoralswereseverelyaffectedduringthe2005bleachingevent

withnearlyallcoloniesbleachedover100%ofthecolonysurface.Theprevalenceofcoral

diseaseswasmoderatewithdarkspotsdiseasepredominating.However,whitedisease

outbreaksoccurredatleasttwiceoverthesamplingperiod.Oldpartialmortalitybecame

veryprevalentafterthe2005coralbleachingeventandsubsidedinthefollowingtwo

years.

Figure102.BlackPoint.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

BLACK POINT

164

Figure103.BlackPointbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ext

ent

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

165

Fish Community.BlackPointishighlydominatedbyherbivores.Juvenileparrotfishand

damselfisharenumerous.Brownchromisareequallyabundant.Thesiteisturbidand

holdsveryfewlargefish,althoughtheoccasionalcuberasnapper,Nassaugrouper,and

yellowfingrouperarespotted.Aresidentmuttonsnapperisregularlyobservedcruising

thesandlineatthebottomofthereef.Hamletsarediverseandcommon.Theblackhamlet

isespeciallyabundantamongthehamlets.Inthemidtolateafternoonstripedparrotfish

(Scarusiserti)spawnatBlackPoint.Theycanbeseenswimmingalongthereefedgein

largegroupsbeginningintheearlyafternoon.Spawninggoesintothelateafternoonand

involvestensoffish.BlackPointisclosetoshoreandisnottrappedoften;however,divers

canswimtothereeffromthebeachtospearfish.Itisnotablyabsentoflargeediblefish.

BLACK POINT

166

Figure104.TheBlackPointfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivores

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

ocea

n su

rgeo

nbl

ue ta

ng

thre

espo

t dam

sel

redt

ail p

arro

tfis

h

redf

in p

arro

tfis

h

yello

wta

il da

mse

ldu

sky

dam

sel

beau

greg

ory

whi

te-s

pott

ed fi

lefis

hdo

ctor

fish

coco

a da

mse

l

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Invertivores

tom

tate

porg

y

brow

n ch

rom

is

Spa

nish

hog

fish

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

creo

le w

rass

e

Fren

ch g

runt

whi

te g

runt

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

spot

ted

goat

fish

blue

chr

omis

blue

head

wra

sse

slip

pery

dic

k

barr

ed h

amle

t

taba

ccof

ish

shy

ham

let

sand

tile

fish

squi

relfi

sh

Indi

go h

amle

t

butt

er5

ham

let

clow

n w

rass

e

harl

equi

n ba

ss

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

shar

pnos

e pu

ffer

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Piscivores

gray

sby

bar

jack

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rtr

umpe

tfis

hsa

nd d

iver

scho

olm

aste

rbl

ack

ham

let

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

SITE SUMMARIES

167

BOTANY BAY

Descrip on.TheBotanyBaysiteis

locatedontheforeslopeofanearshore

fringingreefinwaterdepthsof5–17

m.Thereefcrestisadistinctspur‐and‐

groove,withasharpbreakinslope

leadingtoanescarpmentthat

terminatesinasand/sedimentplainat

thereefbase.BotanyBayhasbeen

monitoredsince2002.

Outstanding Feature.BotanyBay

supportsadiverseandproductivereef

thatisoneoftheprettiestnearshore

reefsintheVirginIslandsandis

surroundedbyoneofthemost

aestheticallypleasinglocalesonSt.Thomas.

Threats.BotanyBayisthreatenedbydevelopmentofthepreviouslyfullyvegetated

watershedandincreasedland‐basedsourcesofpollution.Theareaisopentofishing.

Increasedresidentialdevelopmentinthewatershedmayleadtoincreasedrecreationaluse

ofthereef,includingfishingand

collecting.Theareaisalso

occasionallyimpactedbylarge

Atlanticswells,causingbreakage

ofcorals.

Figure105.BotanyBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

BOTANY BAY

168

Figure106.BotanyBaybenthictemperaturerecord(11mdepth).

Physical Characteris cs.Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasuredatdirectlyatBotany

Bay.Unidirectionalcurrentsdonottendtobestrong.Wave‐drivenoscillatorycurrentscan

impactthereefcrestandforereef.ThesiteisvulnerabletoimpactsfromlargeAtlantic

swells.Manycoralswerebrokenandtoppledduringthe2009Marchswelleventwhen

offshoreswellsreachedheightsto4m.Temperature.BotanyBaytendstohaveslightly

coolertemperaturesthanothernearshoresites,likelyowingtoitsopenpositionfacingthe

Atlantic.

Figure107.Alargecolonyofpillarcoral(Dendrogyracylindricus)dislodge,toppled,anddiseasedafterthe2009swellevent(BotanyBay,June25,2009).


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

169

Benthic Community.TheBotanyBaysitecoralcommunityisuniqueforthedominanceof

branchingPoritesspp.,particularlyPoritesporites.Thesitelost38.9%ofitscoralcoverin

the2005bleachingeventandhadregained10.6%by2011.Thereisahighabundanceof

gorgoniansontheseawardslopeexposedtowaveswell.TheBotanyBayalgalcommunity

isco‐dominatedbyepilithicalgaeandthemacroalgaDictyotaspp.,whichtendtonegatively

covary.

Coral Health.Bleachingwasextremelysevereduring2005,withnearly100%ofcorals

bleachedorpaleover100%oftheirsurface.Therewasalsoahighprevalenceofbleaching

in2002atanunknownextentandin2010atalowextent.Non‐thermalstressyearshave

seenvariablebleaching.CoraldiseasescanbehighatBotanyBay,withapreponderanceof

whiteanddarkspotsdiseases,andlesionsthatarelikelyrelatedtowhitedisease.Old

partialmortalityshowsapatternthatisdifficulttoexplainbefore2005.Duringbleaching

andafterwardsconsistentobservershavedonepartialmortalityassessmentsandthisdata

isvalid.Therewasalargeincreaseinoldpartialmortalityafterthe2005bleachingevent,

thensomesubsidenceandlevelingoffafter2008.Recentpartialmortalitywashigh

throughmostyearsofmonitoring,largelyduetobitingbyterritorialdamselfish(Stegastes

spp.;datanotshown).

Figure108.BotanyBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

BOTANY BAY

170

Figure109.BotanyBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

171

BREWERS BAY

Descrip on.BrewersBayisanearshore

fringingreeflocatedatthemouthof

BrewersBayalongthesouthwestcoast

ofSt.Thomasinwaterdepthsof7–17

m.BrewersBayisaverywelldevelop

boulderstarcoral(Montastraea

annularis)dominatedreef.BrewersBay

wasinitiallymonitoredin2002/2003,

butwasabandonedduetoitsproximity

totheBlackPointsite.Itwaspicked‐up

againin2008duetheexcellentcoral

developmentandresistanceto

bleachingimpacts.

Outstanding Feature.BrewersBayis

verygoodexampleofanearshoreboulderstarcoralfringingreefandhasfaredbetterthan

otherreefsofthistypeoverthe2005masscoralbleachingevent.

Threats.BrewersBayissubjectedtoland‐basedsourcesofpollution,islocateddirectly

belowatrashdumpstercollectionarea,andtendstohaveturbidwaterandovergrowthby

heterotrophicorganisms,suchas

sponges.Recreational/artisanal

fishersfrequentlyfishBrewers

Baywithhandlineandspear.

Thesitehasagreatdealof

marinedebris,includingboat

hulls,rope,andmetalpieces.

Figure110.BrewersBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

BREWERS BAY

172


Current.BrewersBaycurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly,butbothunidirectional

andoscillatorycurrentsareusuallyverylowinmagnitude.SeealsotheBlackPoint

physicaldata,whichwastakenwithin500mdistance.

Temperature.BrewersBaytemperatureshavenotbeenrecordeddirectly,butseethe

BlackPointtemperaturedata.Thesitehasrestrictedflowandshoulddevelophighwarm

seasontemperatures.

SITE SUMMARIES

173

Benthic Community.TheBrewersBaysiteishighlydominatedbythebouldercoral

Montastraeaannularisandexhibitsthehighestcoralcoverofanynearshoresiteinthe

TCRMP,withacoralcoverof32%in2011.Coralcoverwasnotmonitoredbetween2003

and2008;howevertherewasa28.4%declineincoverthatcouldlargelybeattributedto

the2005coralbleachingevent.ThealgalcommunityatBrewersBayisdominatedby

epilithicalgae,withlesseramountsofthemacroalgaDictyotaspp..

Coral Health.CoralsattheBrewersBaysitewerenotmonitoredforhealthoverthe2005

bleachingevent.However,coralsexhibitedsomeofthehighestprevalenceofbleaching

duringthe2010coralbleachingevent,albeitatalowextent.Inotheryearsbleaching

prevalenceremainedhigh,withalowextent.Yellowbanddiseaseoutbreaksweresevere

andaffectedtheM.annulariscommunityin2002and2003.Oldpartialmortalityisa

prominentandpersistentfeatureofthelargeM.annulariscolonies.Recentmortalityis

veryhighandlargelyattributabletothebitingoflargepopulationsoftheterritorialthree‐

spotdamselfish(Stegastesplanifrons;datanotshown).

Figure111.BrewersBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

BREWERS BAY

174

Figure112.BrewersBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE)

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

175

Fish Community.BrewersBayischaracterizedbyahighfishabundancedominatedby

herbivores.Thesiteholdslargenumbersofparrotfish.Numericallytheherbivoresare

dominatedbyjuvenilestripedparrotfishthatswimoverthereefingroupsofmixed

parrotfishandwrasse.Bothyellowheadandblueheadwrasseareprolificandschoolwith

thejuvenileparrotfish.Piscivoresarelimitedinbiomassbutarefairlydiverseand

generallyincludeinshorepelagicssuchasceromackerelandbarjacksoryellowjacks.

Hamlets(Hypoplectrus)areverycommonanddiverse,representedby6to7speciesineach

annualsurvey.

BREWERS BAY

176

Figure113.TheBrewersBayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresst

ripe

d pa

rrot

fish

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

ocea

n su

rgeo

nbl

ue ta

ng

thre

espo

t dam

sel

redt

ail p

arro

tfis

h

redf

in p

arro

tfis

h

yello

wta

il da

mse

ldu

sky

dam

sel

beau

greg

ory

whi

te-s

pott

ed fi

lefis

hdo

ctor

fish

coco

a da

mse

l

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Invertivores

tom

tate

porg

y

brow

n ch

rom

is

Spa

nish

hog

fish

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

creo

le w

rass

e

Fren

ch g

runt

whi

te g

runt

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

spot

ted

goat

fish

blue

chr

omis

blue

head

wra

sse

slip

pery

dic

k

barr

ed h

amle

t

taba

ccof

ish

shy

ham

let

sand

tile

fish

squi

relfi

sh

Indi

go h

amle

t

butt

er5

ham

let

clow

n w

rass

e

harl

equi

n ba

ss

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

shar

pnos

e pu

ffer

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Piscivores

gray

sby

bar

jack

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rtr

umpe

tfis

hsa

nd d

iver

scho

olm

aste

rbl

ack

ham

let

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

SITE SUMMARIES

177

BUCK ISLAND, ST. THOMAS

Descrip on.BuckIsland,St.Thomasisa

midshelfreeffringingthenorthwest

coastofanuninhabitedoffshoreisland

inwaterdepthsof7–20m.Thereef

hasasharpbreakinslopeleadingtoa

steepescarpmentthatterminatesina

sand/sedimentplainatthereefbase.

Themonitoringsiteislocatedonthat

slope.BuckIsland,St.Thomashasbeen

monitoredsince2005,withpermanent

benthictransectsinstalledin2007.

Outstanding Feature.BuckIsland,St.

Thomasisoneofthemostimportant

touristsitesintheVirginIslands,with

frequentvisitationbycruiseshippassengersondayboats.

Threats.BuckIsland,St.Thomasisveryheavilyusedasarecreationaldivesitewiththe

potentialforcumulativeimpacts.ThewatersurroundingBuckIsland,St.Thomasisopento

fishing.Commercialtrapfishermenfrequentlytargetthissite,andtrapstringshavebeen

laidoverthemonitoring

transects.Federallyprotected

NassauGrouper(Epinephelus

striatus)havebeenobserved

withintraps.Inaddition,derelict

trapsarecommonaroundthe

site.

Figure114.BuckIsland,St.Thomas.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

BREWERS BAY

178

Figure115.BuckIsland,St.Thomasbenthictemperaturerecord(12mdepth).


Current.BuckIsland,St.Thomascurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly.Moderately

strongunidirectionalcurrentsoccasionallyinfluencethesite,however,ingeneralcurrents

areveryweak.

Temperature.BuckIsland,St.Thomasmaydevelophightemperatures.Unfortunatelythe

temperatureprobeplacedduringthe2010coralbleachingeventwaslost.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

179

Benthic Community.TheBuckIsland,St.Thomassitecoralcommunityisdominatedbythe

boulderstarcoral(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex),butshowshighandeven

representationofotherspecies.Coralcoverdeclinedby23.4%duetothe2005coral

bleachingeventandthesitehadregained13.4%ofthiscoverby2011.Amongsessile

epibenthicanimalsahighproportionofthecommunityiscomposedofsponges.Thealgal

communityisco‐dominatedbyepilithicalgaeandthemacroalgaeDictyotaspp.and

Lobophoravariegata.Filamentouscyanobacteriawerealsoabundantin2008.

Coral Health.TheBuckIsland,St.Thomassitewasseverelybleachedinthe2005coral

bleachingevent,withover80%ofcoloniesbleachedover100%ofthecolonysurface.

Bleachingwasalsohighduringthe2010bleachingevent,butatalowextentoncolonies.

Lowprevalenceoflow‐extentbleachingwascommoninotheryearsofstudy.Coral

diseaseswereusuallylow,inprevalencewiththestrikingexceptionof2006,whenwhite

diseasesandlesionsconsistentwithrecentwhitediseasereachedextremelyhigh

prevalence.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedrapidlyafterthe2005bleachingeventandthen

declinedsteadilyinfollowingyears.

Figure116.BuckIsland,St.Thomas.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

BREWERS BAY

180

Figure117.BuckIsland,St.Thomasbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

181

COCULUS ROCK

Descrip on.TheCoculusRocksiteisa

coralcommunityonbedrockand

pavementindepthsof4–7m.Thereef

isformedbetweenemergentrocksand

asandplainat7m.CoculusRockhas

beenmonitoredsince2001,withfish

communityassessmentstartingin

2009.Aciguaterafishpoisoningstudy

withmonthlysamplinghasbeen

ongoingsince2009.

Outstanding Feature.CoculusRockis

locatedintheSt.ThomasEastEnd

Reserveandisclosedtotakingofreef

fishes.Thesitesupportsafish

spawningaggregationofyellowtailparrotfish(Sparisomarubripinne).These100+fish

engageindailyafternoonmatingatsoutheastreefcorner.Aciguaterastudywithmonthly

samplinghasbeenongoingsince2009.

Threats.CoculusRockissubjecttoland‐basedsourcesofpollutionfromthelarge

TurpentineGutdrainageofthe

Tutuwatershedandthe

numerousindustrialmaritime

activitiesinBennerBay.

Figure118.CoculusRock.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefshowingtheaggregationofyellowtailparrotfish.

COCULUS ROCK

182

Figure119.CoculusRockbenthictemperaturerecord(7mdepth).


Current.CoculusRockcurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectly.Onlyweak

unidirectionalcurrentshavebeenexperienced.Wave‐drivenoscillatorycurrentscanbe

intensefromswellscomingfromthesoutheast.

Temperature.CoculusRockcanexperienceveryhightemperaturesduringthepeakwarm

season.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mpe

ratu

re (

oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

183

Benthic Community.TheCoculusRocksiteisacoralcommunityonbedrockandthin

carbonatepavementthatsupportsaverydiversecoralcommunitywithnodominanceby

anyspecies.Thesitelost10.7%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,buthad

regained76.0%ofthislostcoverby2011.Spongesareaveryprominentcomponentofthe

sessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.Thealgalcommunityisco‐dominatedbyepilithic

algaeandthemacroalgaDictyotaspp.,whichtendtocovary.

Coral Health.CoralsatCoculusRockwererelativelymoderatelyimpactedbythe2005coral

bleachingeventinbothprevalenceandextentoncolonies.Thismaybeduetoacoral

speciesassemblagecomposedofsmallmassivespeciesthattendtobelesssusceptibleto

bleaching(Smithetal.,unpublishedmanuscript).Amodestprevalenceoflowextent

bleachingwasalsoevidentinthe2010coralbleachingevent.Inyearswithouthigh

thermalstresstheretendstobearelativelyhighprevalenceofbleachingrelativetoother

sites,andpriorto2004thiswasathighextentovercolonies.Coraldiseases,represented

almostexclusivelybydarkspotsdisease,canbequitehighinsomeyears.Oldpartial

mortalityhasbeenfairlyhighandconsistentovertime,withaslightincreaseafterthe2005

and2010bleachingevents.Recentpartialmortalitytendstobequitelowinprevalence.

Figure120.CoculusRock.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

COCULUS ROCK

184

Figure121.CoculusRockbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ext

ent

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2005

BL

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

185

COLLEGE SHOAL

Descrip on.CollegeShoalispartofa

mesophoticbanklocatedintheRed

HindMarineConservationDistrict(est.

1999)indepthsof28–33m.The

denselypopulatedcoralreefis

surroundedbycontinuousreef

structuredominatedbyboulderstar

corals(Montastraeaannularisspp.).

CollegeShoalhasbeenmonitoredsince


installedin2007.

Outstanding Feature.CollegeShoalis

notableforpossessinghighwater

clarity,relativelystrongcurrents,ahighdensityofcorals(>30%coralcover),andagreat

abundanceoffishes,includingcommerciallyimportantgroupersandsnappers.College

Shoalisoneofthemostaestheticallypleasingreefsfordivingduetoitsrelativelypristine

condition.

Threats.CollegeShoalhasexperiencedcoralwhitediseasesatchronicallyhighlevels(>1%

prevalence).Thisreefalso

supportsahighabundanceofthe

invasiveIndo‐PacificLionfish

(Pteroisvolitans).

Figure122.CollegeShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

COLLEGE SHOAL

186

Figure123.CollegeShoalbenthictemperaturerecord(29mdepth).


Currents.Althoughnotmeasureddirectly,CollegeShoalhasstrongunidirectionaldriven

currentsthatseemtobetidallydrivenandfollowapatternofincreasingstrengthduring

springtides.

Temperature.Benthictemperaturesareamelioratedinthewarmseasonbytheproximity

ofthethermocline.Thepresenceofthethermoclinecausestemperaturesthatarecooland

diurnallyvariablefromMaytoOctober.Unfortunatelythethermistorre‐initialized

improperlyin2009andthe2010coralbleachingeventtemperatureswheremissedatthis

site.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

187

Benthic Community.CollegeShoalisamongtheTCRMPsiteswiththehighestcoralcover

(38.2%in2011)and,similartootherbankmesophoticsitessouthoftheSt.Thomas,is

dominatedbytheboulderstarcoral(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex).Thissitelost

only10.1%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,buthadnotregainedcoversince

then(‐1.3%);however,theseestimateshavesomeadditionalerrorsincetransectswerenot

madepermanentuntil2007.Spongesandgorgoniansareinverylowrelativeabundance.

ThealgalcommunityisdominatedbythemacroalgaLobophoravariegataandlesser

representationbyepilithicalgae.Thereisalsoarelativelyhighproportionofcrustose

corallinealgae.

Coral Health.CollegeShoalbleachedatarelativelylowprevalenceduringthe2005mass

coralbleachingevent,althoughcoralsthatwerebleachedtendedtolosecolorovertheir

entiresurface.The2010coralbleachingeventhadnoapparenteffectabovebackground

bleachinglevels.Bleachinginyearswithoutthermalstresstendstobemoderate.Diseases

weredominatedbywhitedisease,whichreachedveryhighprevalenceafterthe2005

bleachingevent,withanoutbreakthatlastedfortwoyearsin2006and2007.Thisdisease

wasagainveryprevalentin2011afterthe2010bleachingevent,evenwithoutapparent

thermalbleaching.Oldpartialmortalitywaselevatedoncoralsafterthemortalityfromthe

2005bleachingevent,andthislevelhasremainedstablethrough2011.Recentpartial

mortalityisalwaysrelativelyhigh,muchofitattributabletofishbites.

Figure124.CollegeShoal(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

COLLEGE SHOAL

188

Figure125.CollegeShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

189

Fish Community.CollegeShoalischaracterizedbyahighfishbiomassandhighspecies

diversity.LargeplanktivoresarealsocharacteristicofCollegeShoal,includingocean

triggerfish,Atlanticspadefish,blackjacksandyellowtailsnapper.Numerically,thesiteis

dominatedbycreolewrasse;howeverlargejacks,snappers,oceantriggerfishandblack

durgeonarecommon.CollegeShoallieswithintheMarineConservationDistrict(MCD)

andisprotectedyearroundfromallfishing.Nassau,yellowfin,yellowmouthandtiger

grouperareoccasionallyobservedonthesite.Themesophotic,highcoralcoverreef

supportslessherbivoresthanthemoreshallownearandoffshoresites,howevermore

herbivores(oceansurgeonfish)arepresentthanonthesignificantlydeeperHindBankand

GrammanikBank.Diversityishighinalltrophicguildsindicatingahighvarietyofmicro‐

nichesavailableforfishes.

COLLEGE SHOAL

190

Figure126.TheCollegeShoalfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresoc

ean

surg

eonf

ish

blac

k du

rgon

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

hdo

ctor

fish

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

blue

tang

thre

espo

t dam

sel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

Invertivores

creo

le w

rass

e

yello

w g

oatf

ish

quee

n tr

igge

rcr

eole

fish

blue

chr

omis

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

hre

d hi

nd

pork

fish

Spa

nish

hog

fish

brow

n ch

rom

is

blue

head

wra

sse

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

spot

ted

goat

fish

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

Fren

ch g

runt

fair

y ba

ssel

et

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

butt

er h

amle

t

rain

bow

run

ner

harl

equi

n ba

ssho

gfis

h

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0.0

2.0e+4

4.0e+4

6.0e+4

8.0e+4

1.0e+5

1.2e+5

1.4e+5

Omnivores

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

bico

lor

dam

sel

spot

fin b

utte

rfly

fish

band

ed b

utte

rfly

fish

reef

but

terf

lyfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

er

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Piscivores

hors

e-ey

e ja

ckdo

g sn

appe

r

cero

red

lionf

ish

scho

olm

aste

rba

r ja

ckgr

eat b

arra

cuda

gray

sby

sand

div

er

reds

pott

ed h

awkf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

SITE SUMMARIES

191

FLAT CAY

Descrip on.Thismonitoringsitewraps

aroundthenorthwestcornerdepthsof

FlatCayindepthsof10–17m.Black

Pointhasbeenmonitoredsince2003,

withpermanentbenthictransects

installedin2007.Aciguaterafish

poisoningstudywithmonthlysampling

hasbeenongoingsince2009.

Outstanding Feature.FlatCaysupports

alushcoralcommunity,includingdense

populationsoftheendangeredelkhorn

andstaghorncorals(Acroporaspp.)

outsidetheTCRMPmonitoringsite.The

siteisapopulartouristdivesiteandis

animportantsiteforresearchbylocaland

internationalinvestigators.

Threats.FlatCayisdowncurrentofindustrial

portactivitiesandamajorsewageoutfall.

Mollusks,includingthecommercially

importantqueenconch(Strombusgigas)show

sterility(imposex)asalikelyresultofexposure

tohormonemimicsreleasedfromboathulls

coatedwithmarineantifoulingpaint

containingTributyltin(Strandetal.2009).The

areaexperiencesheavyfishinganddamage

fromanchoringwithinthereef.

Figure127.FlatCay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

FLAT CAY

192

Figure128.FlatCaybenthiccurrentspeed(left)andtemperaturerecord(right)(14mdepth).


Current.ThebenthiccurrentattheFlatCaysiteisweakanddominatedbyasouth‐

southwesterlyflow.Thismaybeaneffectofthewrappingofthegenerallywestwardand

occasionallystrongsurfacecurrent.CurrentsweremeasuredwithanAandaraa2‐D

currentmetermeasuring1mabovetheseafloor.

Temperature.FlatCayexperiencesmoderatewarmingforashallowwatersiteandrapid

coolingwiththepassageoftropicalstorms.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW

Current velocity (m s-1)

0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1

SITE SUMMARIES

193

Benthic Community.FlatCaysupportsadiversecoralcommunitywithdominanceof

boulderstarcorals(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex).Thesessileepibenthicanimal

communityalsoshowsahighabundanceofsponges.Thesitelostamoderate21.9%of

coverinthe2005bleachingeventandhadregained159.3%ofthiscoverby2011.Acaveat

isthattransectswerenotmadepermanentuntil2007.Epilithicalgaeandthemacroalga

Dictyotaspp.,withlesseramountsofLobophoravariegata,dominatethealgalcommunity.

Sandinpocketsbetweencoralalsomakesupafairamountofthenon‐livingsubstrate.

Coral Health.Coralswereseverelyaffectedduringthe2005coralbleachingevent,with

over90%ofcoralsbleachedat100%extentofthecolonysurface.Bleachingwasalso

moderatelyprevalentinthe2010bleachingevent,butatlowextent.Coraldiseases,

particularlydarkspotsdiseasecanbeveryprevalentatFlatCay.Therewasanunusual

outbreakofblackbanddiseasein2004.ThisdiseaseisrareatthedepthsofFlatCay.

Whitediseasewassomewhatprevalentafterthe2005bleaching.Oldpartialmortality

increasedrapidlyafterthe2005bleachingeventandhasnotdecreasedintheintervening

years.Recentmortalitycanbemoderateandisduetoavarietyofcauses.

Figure129.FlatCay(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

FLAT CAY

194

Figure130.FlatCaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

All diseaseBlack BandLesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

195

Fish Community.FlatCayischaracterizedbyalargediversityoffishevenlydistributed

acrosstropicguilds.Thereisahigherbiomassofinvertivoresthanothergroupsduetothe

regularoccurrenceoflargeschoolsofcreolewrasse.Herbivoresaredominatedbyredband

andstripedparrotfish;however,thereisadiversityofparrotfishspecies.Juvenile

parrotfishareprevalent.Carangidsfrequentthereefanddominatethepiscivoretrophic

group.Occasionallargegroupers(Nassau,yellowfin,black)havebeenobservedonFlatCay

overthepasteightyears.Theoccasionaloccurrenceofblackgrouperisnotable,sincethis

speciesisabsentthroughoutthemajorityofmonitoringsites.Thereefishighlyusedasa

recreationaldivesiteandspearfishingoccursregularly.Wherethereefmeetsthesand

offshore,schoolsofgrunts,graysnapper,andgoatfishoccur.Smallreefsharksareseenout

overthesandregularly.Chromis,especiallybrown,arequirenumerous.

FLAT CAY

196

Figure131.TheFlatCayfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Invertivores

creo

le w

rass

e

yello

w g

oatf

ish

brow

n ch

rom

is

blue

chr

omis

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

spot

ted

goat

fish

Fren

ch g

runt

sauc

erey

e po

rgy

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

blue

head

wra

sse

tom

tate

barr

ed h

amle

t

clow

n w

rass

e

yello

wta

il ha

mle

tsh

y ha

mle

t

chec

kere

d pu

ffer

toba

ccof

ish

butt

er h

amle

tha

mle

t sp.

fair

y ba

ssel

et

yello

wbe

lly h

amle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Piscivores

bar

jack

gray

sby

trum

petf

ish

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rsa

nd d

iver

scho

olm

aste

rbl

ack

ham

let

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

redban

d par

rotfi

sh

strip

ed p

arro

tfish

blue

tang

stoplig

ht par

rotfi

sh

thre

espot d

amse

l

redta

il par

rotfi

sh

prince

ss p

arro

tfish

Beaugre

gory

doctorfi

sh

dusky

damse

l

ocean

surg

eonfis

h

yello

wta

il dam

sel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000 Herbivores

SITE SUMMARIES

197

GINSBURGS FRINGE

Descrip on.GinsburgsFringeisa

mesophoticlettucecoral(Agariciaspp.)

reefatdepthsof60‐75m.Thereefisona

steepescarpmentdroppingintothe

abyssalVirginIslandstrough.Ginsburgs

Fringehasbeenmonitoredsince2011and

permanenttransectshavebeeninstalled.

Outstanding Feature.GinsburgsFringehad

thehighest2011coralcoveramongall

TCRMPmonitoringsites(44%),with

livingcoloniesoflettucecoralsover6m

(20’)wide.Thissiteistheepicenterofa

multispeciesfishspawningaggregation,

includingthethreatenedNassaugrouper(Epinephelusstriatus).Thesitenamehonorsthe

fatherofcomparativesedimentologyandmesophoticcoralstudies,Dr.RobertN.Ginsburg.

Threats.Althoughlittleisknownaboutconditionsindeepmesophoticlettucecoralreefs,

GinsburgsFringeappearstobealmostunscathedbyrecentmasscoralbleachingevents.

Lettucecoralsatthesedepthsarepotatochipthinandfragile,makingthemvulnerableto

damage,suchasthelayingof

benthiccables.Thesiteisbeing

heavilyinvadedbytheIndo‐

Pacificlionfish(Pteroisvolitans).

Figure132.GinsburgsFringe.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefshowingwhorledlettucecoralcoloniesupto7minwidth.

GINSBURGS FRINGE

198

Figure133.GinsburgsFringecurrentspeed(50mdepth).


Current.Currentshavebeenmeasuredabovethesitein50mdepth.Thereisastrong

offshelfdownwelling(southward)thatoccursjustabovethesite,potentiallycarryinglarvae

andheterotrophicfoodsuppliestothesite.

Temperature.Temperatureloggershavenotyetbeenretrievedfromthesite,buta

thermistorstringisinplaceatandabovethesite,withloggersat30,40,50,and63m

depth.

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW


0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1

SITE SUMMARIES

199

Benthic Community.ThecoralcommunityatGinsburgsFringeisalmostexclusivelylettuce

coralsofthegenusAgaricia.Amongtheagariciidgenus,therankabundanceofspeciesisA.

undata(30.8%absolutecover),A.grahamae(8.2%),andA.lamarcki(2.3%),withno

coloniesofA.agaricitesandA.fragilisoccurringintransects.Althoughnotwell

representedincover,individualcoloniesofMontastraeacavernosaandSiderastreasiderea

alsooccuratthesite.ThealgalcommunityisdominatedbythemacroalgaLobophora

variegata,whichissurprisingforthesedepths,andepilithicalgae.Crustosecorallinealgae

arealsoinhighabundance,aswellasavarietyofunidentifiedalgalspecies.

Coral Health.CoralhealthisnotdirectlymonitoredatGinsburgsFringeduetothedepth

anddifficultiesassessingcoloniesgreaterthan3mwidth.However,someobservations

havebeenmade.Whatappearstobewarmseasonbleachingappearstooccur.Colonies

haveafairdegreeofpartialmortalityandrecentmortalityisverycommon.Insomecases

itappearsthatshadedcolonyportionsdiebackduetolackoflight.Thecorallivoroussnail,

Coralliophilaabbreviata,hasbeenobservedfeedingonlettucecorals.

Figure134.GinsburgsFringe.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

GINSBURGS FRINGE

200

Figure135.GinsburgsFringebenthiccoverthroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

200

5 B

L

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SITE SUMMARIES

201

GRAMMANIK TIGER

Descrip on.TheGrammanikTiger

monitoringsiteisaprimarybank

mesophoticreefindepthsof37–

41m.Boulderstarcorals(Montastraea

annularisspp.)dominatethereef

structure.GrammanikTigerhasbeen

monitoredsince2003,withpermanent

transectsinstalledin2007.

Outstanding Feature.TheGrammanik

Tigermonitoringsitesupportsadense

coralcommunitythatisastagingarea

forannualmulti‐speciesfishspawning

events,includingthethreatenedNassau

grouper(Epinephelusstriatus).

Threats.AlthoughtheGrammanikTigersiteandsurroundingdensereefsaresomewhat

bufferedfromhighthermalstress,buttheyaresusceptibletochroniccoralwhitediseases.

Periodicdisease

outbreaksfollowcoral

bleachingevents.The

Indo‐Pacificlionfish

(Pteroisvolitans)has

formeddensepopulations

withinthestudyareaand

maybeaffectingnative

fishpopulations.

Figure136.GrammanikTiger(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

GRAMMANIK TIGER

202

Figure137.GrammanikTigerbenthiccurrentsspeedandtemperaturerecord(38mdepth).


Current.UnidirectionalbenthiccurrentsattheGrammanikTigersitearegenerallynorth‐

south,withthestrongestcurrentfromthenorth‐northeasttothenorthwest.Currentsare

typicallyweaktomoderate,butoccasionallyreachstrengthsgreaterthan30cms‐1.Current

speedsarebasedonnear‐continuousADCPdeploymentsfromFebruary2005toApril

2009,withmeasurementsat30or60minuteintervals.Oscillatorycurrentsarenilatthis

depth,withthepossibleexceptionoflongperiodswellsgeneratedbytropicalstorms,

althoughthishasnotbeenmeasured.

Temperature.BenthictemperaturesatGrammanikTigerareamelioratedbythepassage

oftidallydriveninternaltidesinthewarmseason(May‐November).Evenin2005and

2010whenshallowwatersweretherewarmestduringmonitoring,temperaturesatthis

sitewerelessthantheshallowwaterbleachingthreshold.However,themonthlymaximum

meanofsurfacewatersestablishedfortheregionisroutinelysurpassed.Inter‐annual

variabilitycreatestemperaturesthatcanbeupto2°CdifferentforthesameJulianDay.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mp

era

ture

(oC

)

Month

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW


0.6 - 0.7 0.5 - 0.6 0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1

SITE SUMMARIES

203

Benthic Community.Boulderstarcorals(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex)dominated

thecoralcommunityoftheGrammanikTigersite;however,thereisrepresentationbya

highnumberofotherspeciesthatarealsopresentinshallowwaterreefs.Grammanik

Tigerlostonly5.4%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,buthadnotregainedany

cover(‐129.6%)by2011.Acaveatisthattransectswerenotmadepermanentuntil2007.

Otherprominentmembersofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunityaresponges.The

macroalgaLobophoravariegataandepilithicalgaedominatethealgalcommunity.There

arealsoarelativelyhighproportionofcrustosecorallinealgaeandvariousother

macroalgaespecies.

Coral Health.CoralsatGrammanikTigerwereveryweaklyaffectedbybleachingin2005,

withonlyabout10%ofcoralsexhibitingbleaching;however,thosethatbleachedhad

nearly70%ofthecolonysurfaceaffected.The2010bleachingeventwasnotdetectible

abovebackgroundbleachinglevels.Theprevalenceofbelachinginnormalyearsisquite

high,butatlowextent.ThisandothermesophoticreefsdominatedbyM.annularisspp.

complexexhibitatypeofgranularbleaching,wherebypigmentedspotsaresurroundedby

bleachedareas.Coraldiseasesareveryprevalentwithhighrepresentationofwhite

disease.Yellowbanddiseasewasreportedathighprevalenceinthefirstyearsof

monitoring.Oldpartialmortalitywaslow,butincreasedrapidlyafterthe2005coral

bleachingevent.Recentpartialmortalityistypicallyveryhighandiscausedbydisease

lesions,predations,andfishbites.

Figure138.GrammanikTigerFSA.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

GRAMMANIK TIGER

204

Figure139.GrammanikTigerbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

205

Fish Community.TheGrammanikTigersitesupportslessherbivoresandagreaternumber

ofpiscivoresthanthemoreshallowsitesintheTCRMP.Itiswithinthestagingareaand

nearthespawningsiteofanaggregationofseveralspeciesofgrouperandsnapper.Given

therangeofspawningspeciesencountered,surveysoftencoincidewiththeoccurrenceof

aggregations,particularlyinthosespecieswithprotractedspawningseasons(e.g.,cubera

andschoolmastersnapper).Thisdrivesuptherelativepiscivorebiomass;however,onthe

GrammanikBanktherealsocommonlyoccurmembersofthepelagicjackfamily

(Carangidae)aswellasoccasionalotherlargenon‐spawninggrouperandsnapperthatare

rarelyorneverfoundonthenearandoffshorereefs.Nassau,yellowfin,yellowmouthand

tigergrouperarepresentduringnon‐spawningperiods.Thisreefisprotectedfromtraps

yearround,andfromallfishinggearfromMarchthroughMay.Creolewrassedominatethe

invertivoresandadultstoplightparrotfishdominatesherbivores.Juvenileparrotfishand

doctorfisharerelativelyuncommononthisandallmesophoticsites.Yellowheadand

blueheadwrassearealsonotablymuchlesscommonontheGrammanikBankthanother

sites.InrecentyearstheinvasiveIndo‐Pacificlionfish(Pteroisvolitans)hasbecomevery

common,withtensofindividualcommonlyobservedonanygivendive.

GRAMMANIK TIGER

206

Figure140.TheGrammanikTigerfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

hbl

ack

durg

on

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

blue

tang

doct

orfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

h

stri

ped

parr

otfis

hdu

sky

dam

sel

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

beau

greg

ory

thre

espo

t dam

sel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Invertivores

creo

le w

rass

e

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

Nas

sau

grou

per

red

hind

Fren

ch g

runt

creo

lefis

h

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

yello

w g

oatf

ish

pork

fish

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

whi

te g

runt

spot

ted

goat

fish

sauc

erey

e po

rgy

blue

chr

omis

hogf

ish

Spa

nish

hog

fish

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

squi

rrel

fish

blue

head

wra

sse

brow

n ch

rom

is

smal

lmou

th g

runt

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

fair

y ba

ssel

et

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

h

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

suns

hine

fish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

Omnivores

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

bico

lor

dam

sel

band

ed b

utte

rfly

fish

smoo

th tr

unkf

ish

spot

fin b

utte

rfly

fish

reef

but

terf

lyfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

erpe

pper

min

t bas

s

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

100

200

300

400

Piscivores

cube

ra s

napp

ersc

hool

mas

ter

bar

jack

gray

sby

cero

alam

aco

jack

dog

snap

per

red

lionf

ish

tiger

gro

uper

gree

n m

oray

yello

wm

outh

gro

uper

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rsa

nd d

iver

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

SITE SUMMARIES

207

HIND BANK

Descrip on.TheHindBankisa

mesophotictertiarybankindepthsof

38–42m.Thereefispartofapatchy

complexofboulderstarcoral

(Montastraeaannularisspp.)dominated

reefsthatstretchacrosstheeasternRed

HindMarineConservationDistrict.The

HindBankhasbeenmonitoredsince


installedin2007.

Outstanding Feature.TheHindBankis

withinano‐takemarinereserveandfish

populationsarerecoveringandrobust.

TheHindBankmonitoringsitehostsa

multispeciesspawningaggregation,includingarecoveringmatingpopulationofthe

commerciallyimportantredhindgrouper(Epinephelusguttatus).

Threats.TheHindBankandsurroundingdensereefsaresomewhatbufferedfromhigh

thermalstress,buttheyaresusceptibletochroniccoralwhitediseases.Periodicdisease

outbreaksfollowhighthermal

stress.TheIndo‐Pacificlionfish

(Pteroisvolitans)hasformed

densepopulationswithinthe

studyareaandmaybeaffecting

nativefishpopulations.

Figure141.HindBank(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

HIND BANK

208

Figure142.HindBankbenthiccurrentspeed(40mdepth).Benthictemperaturerecordat20,30,and40mdepth.


Current.HindBankhasmoderatelystrong

unidirectionalnear‐benthiccurrentsthatare

dominatedbyanorthtosouthcomponents.

Currentscanbemoderatetostrong(>20cms‐1).

Currentspeedsarebasedonnear‐continuous

ADCPdeploymentsfromFebruary2005toMay

2012,withmeasurementsat30or60min.

intervals.Oscillatorycurrentsarenotknown

fromtheHindBank.

Temperature.BenthictemperaturesattheHind

Bankwereaugmentedwithasubsurfacebuoyed

thermistorstringcarryingthermistorsat20and30mdepth.Benthictemperaturesshow

stronginter‐annualvariability,butweremuchcoolerthantemperaturesinthemixedlayer

at20mdepth.Thiswasparticularlyevidentin2010,whentemperatureswerewarmestat

20minlateAugustduringcoralbleaching,temperatureswereunseasonablycoolonthe

bottom.The30mthermistorwasintermediate,withwarmingtonearthebleaching

thresholdin2010,butnotsurpassingthethresholdlikethe20mdepth.Onecaveatforthe

accuracyofthe20and30mthermistorsisthattheycanchangedepthtosomedegreeby

bowingofthebuoylinebycurrents.

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW


0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2008 2010 2009 2011

Tem

per

atu

re (

o C)

Month


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2008 2010 2009 2011T

emp

era

ture

(o C

)

Month


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

per

atu

re (

o C)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

209

Benthic Community.TheHindBanksiteisdominatedbyboulderstarcorals(Montastraea

annularisspp.complex),butalsohasahighabundanceoflettucecorals(Agariciaspp.).

TheHindBanksitelost21.8%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent,buthad

regained71.4%ofthiscoverby2011.Thealgalcommunityisco‐dominatedbyepilithic

algaeandthemacroalgaLobophoravariegata.Thereisalsohighrepresentationofcrustose

corallinealgaeandotherunidentifiedmacroalgalspecies.

Coral Health.Bleachingduringthe2005eventwasnearlyindistinguishablefrom

backgroundlevelsofbleachinginbothprevalenceandextent.Theprevalenceofbleaching

wasactuallyhigherduringthe2010coralbleachingevent.Inlateryearsthehigh

prevalenceofmoderateprevalence,lowcolonyextentbleachingwasoftenassociatedwith

granularbleaching.Thisbleachingpatternshowspigmentedspotssurroundedby

bleachedtissue.CoraldiseasesarecommonattheHindBankandmaybeincreasing.

Whitediseasewasthedominantdisease,and2011showedapeakofdiseasesigns.In2009

therewasahighprevalenceofintercostalmortalitysyndrome,whichisonlyknownfrom

mesophoticcoralreefs(Smithetal.2010b).Oldpartialmortalityincreasedafterthe2005

bleachingeventandthehighprevalencewasnotreduceduntil2011.Recentpartial

mortalityprevalenceisoftenhighandreflectstheimpactsofdiseaseandpredation.

Figure143.HindBank.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

HIND BANK

210

Figure144.HindBankbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

2005

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

211

Fish Community.TheHindBankischaracterizedbyahighnumberofpiscivorousfish.The

siteiswithintheMarineConservationDistrict(MCD)andisprotectedyearroundfromall

fishing,exceptsurfacetrolling.Itisthespawningsiteforseveralspeciesincludingredhind,

muttonsnapper,tigergrouperandschoolmastersnapper.Surveysoftencoincidewiththe

occurrenceofschoolmastersnapper.Thisdrivesuptherelativepiscivorebiomass;

however,therealsocommonlyoccursmembersofthepelagicjackfamily(Carangidae)and

largebarracuda.Invertivoresaredominatedbygoatfishasthelikelyresultsofthe

proximityofsandareasaroundreefs.Creolewrassearenotnearlyasdominantasonother

mesophoticsites.Herbivoresarelesscommonthanonnearshoresitesandaredominated

byadultorsemi‐adultprincessparrotfish.Juvenileparrotfishanddoctorfishare

uncommon,asonallmesophoticsites.YellowheadwrassearefairlycommonontheHind

Bank,howeverblueheadwrassearenot.

HIND BANK

212

Figure145.TheHindBankEastfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivorespr

ince

ss p

arro

tfis

hre

dban

d pa

rrot

fish

doct

orfis

hst

ripe

d pa

rrot

fish

stop

light

par

rotf

ish

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

blue

tang

thre

espo

t dam

sel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Invertivores

yello

w g

oatf

ish

pork

fish

creo

le w

rass

e

blue

stri

ped

grun

tre

d hi

nd

blue

chr

omis

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

quee

n tr

igge

r

spot

ted

goat

fish

Spa

nish

hog

fish

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

Fren

ch g

runt

squi

rrel

fish

creo

lefis

h

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

h

smal

lmou

th g

runt

blue

head

wra

sse

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

barr

ed h

amle

t

butt

er h

amle

t

fair

y ba

ssel

et

suns

hine

fish

indi

go h

amle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Omnivores

smoo

th tr

unkf

ish

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

spot

ted

trun

kfis

hba

nded

but

terf

lyfis

hre

ef b

utte

rfly

fish

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Piscivores

scho

olm

aste

rye

llow

jack

grea

t bar

racu

daba

r ja

ck

cero

gray

sby

dog

snap

per

mah

ogan

y sn

appe

rbl

ack

ham

let

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

SITE SUMMARIES

213

LITTLE SAINT JAMES

Descrip on.TheLittleSt.Jamessiteisa

midshelfhardbottomreefindepthsof

16‐22m.Thereefisapatchreef

surroundedbysand/rhodolithplain.

LittleSt.Jameshasbeenmonitored

since2005,withpermanentbenthic

transectsinstalledin2007.

Outstanding Feature.TheLittleSt.

JamessiteisjustoutsidetheSt.Thomas

EastEndReserveandsupports

occasionallyhighdensitiesofsnappers,

grunts,andqueentrigger.

Threats.Commercialfishermantarget

theLittleSt.Jamessiteandactiveandderelictfishtrapsareinhighabundance.Thesiteis

down‐currentofdevelopmentonLittleSt.JamesIslandandispotentiallythreatenedby

land‐basedsourceofpollution.

Figure146.LittleSt.James.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

LITTLE SAINT JAMES

214

Figure147.LittleSt.Jamesbenthictemperaturerecord(19mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotbeendirectlymeasuredatSt.James.Unidirectionalbenthic

currentshaveonlybeenweakduringmonitoring.Strongwave‐drivenoscillatorycurrents

maytakeplace,asevidencedbythehighproportionofgorgoniansandSargassumspp.at

thesite.

Temperature.BenthictemperaturesatSt.Jamescanbehighduringwarmyears,suchas

2010.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

215

Benthic Community.ThesparsecoralcommunityoftheLittleSt.Jamessiteisdiverse.

Thereisahighproportionofrarespecies,suchasEusmiliafastigiatum,Madracisspp.,and

Mycetophyllia.Thesitelost16.5%ofcoralcoverinthe2005bleachingeventbuthad

apparentlyregained376.2%ofthislossby2011.Thislargeincreaseabovebleaching

lossesmaybeexplainedbythefactthattransectswerenotmadepermanentuntil2007.

Thesessileepibenthiccommunityoverallislargelycomposedofspongesandgorgonians.

ThealgalcommunityisdominatedbythemacroalgaeDictyotaspp.andtheSargassumspp.

Lobophoravariegataandepilithicalgaearealsoinhighproportionalabundance.

Coral Health.ThecoralcommunityatLittleSt.Jameswashighlyaffectedbythe2005coral

bleachingevent,withallcoralsassessedcompletelybleached.Halfthecoralswereaffected

bylowextentbleachingin2010.Low‐levelbleachingisacommonfeatureofthesite.

Diseasesarelesscommon,withtheexceptionofawhitediseaseoutbreakthatprecededthe

coralbleachingeventinJune2005.Darkspotsdiseasecanalsobecommon.Oldpartial

mortalityincreasedrapidlyafterthe2005bleachingevent.Recentpartialmortalityisnot

veryprominent.

Figure148.LittleSt.James.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

LITTLE SAINT JAMES

216

Figure149.LittleSt.Jamesbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/

Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

20

05 B

L

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

217

MAGENS BAY

Descrip on.TheMagensBaysiteisa

nearshorefringingreeflocatedalong

PeterborgPointindepthsof4–14m.

Thereefhasasharpbreakinslope

leadingtoasteepescarpmentthat

terminatesinasand/sedimentplainat

thereefbase.MagensBayhasbeen

monitoredsince2001.

Outstanding Feature.TheMagensBay

siteiswellprotectednorthsidereefnear

oneofthemostpopulartouristbeaches

intheCaribbean.

Threats.MagensBayisinahighly

enclosedembaymentreceivingaverylargeanddevelopedwatershed.Sedimentrun‐offis

highanddepositiononreefsisfavoredbyslowcurrentspeeds.Inaddition,leakyseptic

systemsmayimpairbaywaters.Recreational/artisanalfishersfrequentlyfishthissitewith

handlineandspear.

Figure150.MagensBay.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

MAGENS BAY

218

Figure151.MagensBaycurrentspeedandbenthictemperaturerecord(9mdepth).

Physical Characteris cs.Current.MagensBayhasrestrictedwaterflowdominatedbyweak

currentsrunningcounterororthogonallytotheleftofthedominantwinddirection.This

mayindicatethatthereisacounterflowingeddy.Currentdataarebasedonaveragedata

fromDec.2006‐Oct.20077.5mabovethesensorhead.Temperature.BlackPointhaslow

circulation,buttemperaturesarekeptcoolerbyexposuretotheAtlantic.Chlorophyll&

Turbidity.MagensBayissusceptibletoveryhighchlorophyllandturbidityvalues

indicatingveryhighproductivitythatislikelyfueledbyterrestrialrun‐off.Byblockinglight

thisshallowsthedepthlimitsforcoralgrowthandwatercolumnproductivityfavors

heterotrophicorganisms,suchasspongesandgorgonians.

Figure152.MagensBaychlorophyll(left)andturbidity(right)record(16mdepth).

NNNE

NE

ENE

E

ESE

SE

SSES

SSW

SW

WSW

W

WNW

NW

NNW


0.4 - 0.5 0.3 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.2 0.0 - 0.1


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Te

mpe

ratu

re (

oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

219

Benthic Community.ThesparsecoralcommunityatMagensBayisverydiverse,withnoreal

dominancebyanyonespecies.Thesitelost12.4%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleaching

andhascontinuedtolosecoral,withacoverlossof33.1%from2005pre‐bleachingto

2011.Gorgoniansandthenspongesdominatethesessileepibenthiccommunity.Epilithic

algaeandthemacroalgaDictyotaspp.dominatethealgalcommunity.Filamentous

cyanobacteriaarealsocommon.Thereisahighproportionofsand/sedimentaround

coralsattheMagensBaysite.

Coral Health.Coralswerehighlyaffectedbythe2005bleachingevent,withabout80%of

corals80%affectedacrossthecolonysurface.Thissitealsoshowedastrongresponseto

the2010bleachingeventwithabout60%ofcoralsbleachedatalowextent.Diseasescan

behighandaredominatedbydarkspotsdisease.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedafterthe

2005bleachingeventandthendeclined,withaslightincreasefrom2009to2011.Recent

partialmortalityiscommonattheMagensBaysite,largelyastheresultofbitingby

territorialdamselfish(Stegastesspp.;datanotshown).

Figure153.MagensBay.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

MAGENS BAY

220

Figure154.MagensBaybenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

200

5 B

L

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

221

SAVANA ISLAND

Descrip on.TheSavanaIslandsiteisa

midshelffringingreeffacingtheAtlantic

Oceantothenorthwestindepthsof5–

17m.Thereefisawell‐developedcoral

communityatopbedrock,withsome

insipientcarbonateaccumulation.

Savanahasbeenmonitoredsince2003,


installedin2007.

Outstanding Feature.Savanaharbors

behemothcoloniesofboulderstarcoral

(Montastraeafaveolata)andadiverse

andabundantfishcommunity.

Threats.Savanaisthreatenedby

warmingoceantemperatures,asM.faveolatacanbesusceptibletobleaching,disease,and

partialmortality.

Theareaisalso

opentofishingand

theoccasional

accumulationof

debriscanbeseen.

Figure155.Savana.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereefduringthe2005coralbleachingevent.ThedogsnapperLutjanusjocu)isapproximately50cminlength.

SAVANA ISLAND

222

Figure156.Savanabenthictemperaturerecord(10mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotbeenmeasureddirectlyatSavana.Strongunidirectional

currentscaninfluencethesurfacenearthesite.Wave‐drivenoscillatorycurrentsare

commonandoccasionallystrong.

Temperature.Savanahastemperaturescoolerthanothershallowsites,likelyduetothe

proximityoftheopenAtlanticOcean.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

223

Benthic Community.Boulderstarcorals,predominatelylarge(>2mwide)coloniesof

Montastraeafaveolata,dominatethecoralcommunityattheSavanamonitoringsite.The

sitelosta45.2%ofitscoralcoverinthe2005bleachingevent.Someofthelargestlosses

occurredbetween2010and2011,buttherewasnoindicationofthecause,sincethesite

bleachedmoderatelyandnodiseaseoutbreakswerenoted.Gorgoniansandspongesare

alsoprominentcomponentsofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.

Coral Health.ThecoralcommunityatSavanawashighlyaffectedinthe2005bleaching

event,with80%ofcoralsaffectedonalmost90%ofthecolonysurface.Bleachingwasalso

veryprominentin2006,butatalowerextent.Bleachingwasmoderateduringthe2010

bleachingevent,withover50%ofcoloniesbleachedatalowextent.Coraldiseasescan

reachhighprevalenceandarediverselyrepresented.Particularlynoticeableisthe

dramaticoutbreakofwhitediseasein2006.Darkspotsdiseasehasalsoaffectedahigh

proportionofcoralsfrom2008onwards.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedmarkedlyafterthe

2005coralbleachingeventandhasdeclinedonlyslightly.Recentpartialmortalityafterthe

2005coralbleachingeventwasunprecedentedforanysite.Recentmortalityhasalsobeen

commonafter2007andislargelycausedbybitesfromterritorialdamselfish(Stegastes

spp.).

Figure157.SavanaIsland.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SAVANA ISLAND

224

Figure158.SavanaIslandbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xte

nt

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

200

5 B

L

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

225

SEAHORSE COTTAGE SHOAL

Descrip on.TheSeahorseCottageShoal

siteisalargepatchreefsurroundedby

sandandrhodolithindepthsof17–

23m.Theisolatedreefisflattopped

anddominatedbytheMontastraea

annularisspp.complex.Seahorsehas

beenmonitoredsince2003,with

permanentbenthictransectsinstalledin

2007.Aciguaterastudywithmonthly

samplinghasbeenongoingsince2009.

Outstanding Feature.Seahorsesupports

adiverseandabundantcoralandfish

communityadjacenttotheSt.Thomas

EastEndReserve.

Threats.Seahorseisbufferedfromland‐basedsourcesofpollution.Thesiteisatargeted

siteintheStThomastrapfisheryandtrapstringshavebeenobservedoverandadjacentto

thesite.

Figure159.SeahorseCottageShoal.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.


226

Figure160.Seahorsebenthictemperaturerecord(21mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotbeendirectlymeasuredatSeahorseCottageShoal.

Unidirectionalbenthiccurrentstendtobeslowandwave‐drivenoscillatorycurrentsonly

occurduringheavystormactivity.

Temperature.Benthictemperaturesaremoderatetohighduringwarmingevents.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

227

Benthic Community.ThecoralcommunityoftheSeahorsesiteisdominatedbytheboulder

starcoral(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex),buthostsahighdiversityofothercoral

species.Thesitelost46.6%ofitscoverinthe2005bleachingeventandhadonlyregained

4.7%ofthislossby2011.Gorgoniansandspongesarealsocommoncomponentsofthe

sessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.Thealgalcommunityisco‐dominatedbyepilithic

algaeandthemacroalgaeLobophoravariegataandDictyotaspp..

Coral Health.Thecoralcommunitybleachedseverelyinthe2005bleachingeventwith

nearly100%ofcoralsbleachingoverabout100%oftheirsurface.Bleachingprevalence

after2005wasslowtodeclineduetodelayedrecoveryinlargeM.annularisspp.complex

colonies.Thesitealsohadahighprevalenceofbleachinginthe2010event,butatalow

extentoncolonies.Bleachingwasalsomoderatelyprevalentin2011.Coraldiseasesare

commonanddiverseatSeahorse.Whitediseasewasalsoprevalentin2004,whichisrare

forasiteatthisdepth.Darkspotsdiseaseisalsoubiquitous.Oldpartialmortality

increasedtoaveryhighprevalenceafterthe2005bleachingevent,buthaddeclinedto

2011.

Figure161.SeahorseCottageShoal.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.


228

Figure162.SeahorseCottageShoalbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce

/Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

200

1

200

2

200

3

200

4

200

5

2005

BL

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

229

Fish Community.SeahorseCottageShoalsupportsalargevarietyofreeffishandhosts

spawningaggregationsofgraysnapperandlanesnapperduringthesummermonths.The

trophicguildsontheoffshorereefaresplitrelativelyevenlybetweenherbivores,

invertivores,andpiscivores.Thisreflectstheheterogeneityofreefsubstratesandthe

availabilityofunconsolidatedsandandrhodolithhabitatsurroundingthereef.Mutton

snapperandqueentriggerfisharerelativelycommon.Adultstoplightandredband

parrotfishdominateherbivores,althoughmostofthelargerparrotfishspeciesdooccur,

includingthejuvenilephase.Glasseyesnapperandgraysbydominatepiscivores.Large

groupersareneverseenonthereef.SeahorseCottageShoaliswellknowntofishermen

andfairlyheavilyfished.Trapsonthereefarecommonduringsurveys.However,

schoolmaster,lane,grayandmahoganysnapperareallcommon.Thismayreflectthe

proximitytonurseryhabitatsintheSt.ThomasEastEndReserve.Planktivoresarelimited

nearlyentirelytoyellowtailsnapper.


230

Figure163.TheSeahorseCottageShoalfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

hbl

ue ta

ng

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

doct

orfis

hB

eaug

rego

ry

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

h

yello

wta

il da

mse

l

thre

espo

t dam

sel

dusk

y da

mse

l

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Invertivores

mut

ton

snap

per

blue

chr

omis

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

tom

tate

quee

n tr

igge

r

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

spot

ted

goat

fish

red

hind

Fren

ch g

runt

creo

le w

rass

e

squi

rrel

fish

gray

sna

pper

hogf

ish

Spa

nish

hog

fish

blue

head

wra

sse

brow

n ch

rom

is

barr

ed h

amle

t

spot

ted

drum

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

harl

equi

n ba

ss

butt

er h

amle

tha

mle

t sp.

indi

go h

amle

t

fair

y ba

ssel

et

clow

n w

rass

e

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

shor

tnos

e pu

ffer

smoo

th tr

unkf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Piscivores

glas

seye

sna

pper

sand

div

er

gray

sby

bar

jack

scho

olm

aste

rm

ahog

any

snap

per

trum

petf

ish

blac

k ha

mle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

SITE SUMMARIES

231

SOUTH CAPELLA

Descrip on.TheSouthCapellasiteis

locatedonariseoftheSt.Thomas‐St.

Johnmidshelfreefcomplexindepthsof

16‐25m.Thereefismadeofrolling

ridgesofcoralandpavement

interspersedwithsandgrooves.South

Capellahasbeenmonitoredsince2003,


installedin2007.

Outstanding Feature.TheSouthCapella

siteispartofanoutstandingshallow

watermidshelfreefsystemthatis

essentialfishhabitat.

Threats.TheSt.ThomastrapfisheryheavilytargetsSouthCapella.Activeandderelicttrap

stringscrisscrossthesiteandaderelicttrapappearedinpermanenttransect1in2008and

hasbeendegradingtheresince.Thetrapwasstillfullyintactasof2012.Thereefwasalso

highlyaffectedbythe

2005coralbleaching

event,suggestinga

susceptibilitytorisingsea

surfacetemperatures.

Figure164.SouthCapella.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

SOUTH CAPELLA

232

Figure165.SouthCapellabenthictemperaturerecord(24mdepth).


Current.CurrentshavenotyetbeendirectlymeasuredatSouthCapella.Wave‐driven

oscillatorycurrentshavenotbeenexperiencedbutarelikelyduringswellsandstorms.

Unidirectionalbenthiccurrentsareusuallyweak,butstrongcurrentscandevelopfromthe

surfacetomidwater.

Temperature.SouthCapellahasrelativelycoolbenthictemperaturesforashallowsite

duringwarmyears,whichmaybeareflectionofitsmoderatelydeepdepthandproximity

todeepwatertothesouth.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

233

Benthic Community.Boulderstarcorals(Montastraeaannularisspp.complex)dominate

thecoralcommunityatSouthCapella.Thesecoralswereveryheavilyaffectedbymortality

duetothe2005coralbleachingevent,andthesitelost56.4%ofitscoverandhadnot

regainedanycoverby2011(‐3.7%recovery).Gorgoniansandspongesarealsocommon

componentsofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.ThemacroalgaLobophora

variegatadominatesthealgalcommunity,withepilithicalgaeandDictyotaspp.comprising

thesecondlargestshares.Therewasalsoahighabundanceofcrustosecorallinealgaeand

filamentouscyanobacteria.

Coral Health.Coralsweremoderately‐heavilyaffectedbythe2005bleachingevent,witha

prevalenceof80%,butanextentoncoloniesofonlyabout50%.Bleachingprevalencealso

increasedduringthe2010bleachingevent,butatalowextent.Bleachingismoderately

prevalentatthissiteeveninyearswithoutnotablethermalstress.Coraldiseasesare

commonanddiverseatSouthCapella.Whitediseasewasprevalentafterthe2005

bleachingeventin2006,andthenagainin2009and2011.Blackbanddiseasewasfound

in2002,whichisunusualforasiteatthesedepths.Darkspotsdiseasewasalsotypically

presentinmostyears.Oldpartialmortalityincreasedafterthe2005bleachingeventand

hasdeclinedto2011.Recentpartialmortalitywasprevalentinmostyearsofmonitoring,

particularlyin2006.Inyearsnotfollowingthermalstressthehighestidentifiablesourceof

recentpartialmortalitywasbitingfromterritorialdamselfish(Stegastesspp.).

Figure166.SouthCapella.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SOUTH CAPELLA

234

Figure167.SouthCapellabenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce

/Ex

ten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

05

BL

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Pre

vale

nc

e

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

235

Fish Community.SouthCapellaischaracterizedbyafairlydiversefishcommunitythatis

usuallyfairlywellsplitbetweentrophiclevels.In2011alargeschoolofschoolmaster

snapperskewedthisbalancetowardpiscivores;however,thiswasprobablyaspawning

event,andnottypicalofthedailyfishcommunity.Thereefisspurandgroovewith

complexreefedgeandsandchannelsthatsupportsalargenumberofinvertivoresand

varietyofomnivores.Planktivoresarelimitednearlyentirelytoyellowtailsnapper.

Herbivoresaredominatedinbiomassbystoplightparrotfishandblackdurgeon.TheSouth

Capellareefishighlyfishedandtrapsarecommonlyseenduringoursurveyevents.The

complexreefisnoticeablybareoflargesnappersandgroupers.Lionfisharemorecommon

thanonothersites.

SOUTH CAPELLA

236

Figure168.TheSouthCapellafishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

hbl

ack

durg

on

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

quee

n pa

rrot

fish

redb

and

parr

otfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

Bea

ugre

gory

doct

orfis

hbl

ue ta

ng

thre

espo

t dam

sel

yello

wta

il da

mse

ldu

sky

dam

sel

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Invertivores

creo

le w

rass

e

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

smal

lmou

th g

runt

blue

chr

omis

quee

n tr

igge

r

Fren

ch g

runt

blue

stri

ped

grun

t

spot

ted

goat

fish

tom

tate

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

brow

n ch

rom

is

blue

head

wra

sse

Spa

nish

gru

nt

sauc

erey

e po

rgy

pork

fish

yello

w g

oatf

ish

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

barr

ed h

amle

t

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

h

fair

y ba

ssel

et

Spa

nish

hog

fish

butt

er h

amle

t

long

jaw

squ

irre

lfish

indi

go h

amle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

reef

but

terf

lyfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

ersm

ooth

trun

kfis

h

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Piscivores

scho

olm

aste

r

bar

jack

red

lionf

ish

gray

sby

glas

seye

sna

pper

trum

petf

ish

grea

t bar

racu

dam

ahog

any

snap

per

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

SITE SUMMARIES

237

SOUTH WATER

Descrip on.SouthWaterisa

hardbottomcoralcommunityalongthe

sharpbreakofamidshelfreefcomplex

indepthsof20–28m.Thereefhasa

sharpbreakinslopeleadingtoasteep

escarpmentthatterminatesina

sand/sedimentplainatthereefbase.

SouthWaterhasbeenmonitoredsince


installedin2007.

Outstanding Feature.SouthWaterisa

commerciallyimportantfishingground

forreeffishesandspinylobster.

Threats.SouthWaterisprimarilythreatenedbyfishingandstringsoffishandlobstertraps

arecommonoverthesite.

Figure169.SouthWater.(top)Location.(right)Arepresentativephotoofthereef.

SOUTH WATER

238

Figure170.SouthWaterbenthictemperaturerecord(24mdepth)


Current.CurrentmeasurementshavenotbeentakenattheSouthWatersite.

Unidirectionalbenthiccurrentscanbemoderateonthehardbottomreeftopandstrong

fromthesurfacetomidwater.Wave‐drivenoscillatorycurrentsarelikelytobefeltonthe

reeftopduringswellsandstorms.

Temperature.SouthWaterhasrelativelymoderatetemperaturescomparedwithother

shallowwatersitesduringwarmyears.Thismaybeduetothedeeperdepthsofthesite

andtheproximityofdeepwater.


25

26

27

28

29

30

31

2006 2009 2007 2010 2008 2011

Tem

pera

ture

(oC

)

Month

SITE SUMMARIES

239

Benthic Community.ThesparsecoralcommunityatSouthWaterisverydiverse.Coral

coverincreasedby21.3%overthe2005bleachingeventandhadincreasedby42.6%

between2005and2011.However,permanenttransectswerenotinstalleduntil2007and

thelowcoralcovermeansthatsmallvariationsindetectionofcoralscanleadtolarge

apparentyear‐to‐yeardifferencesincover.Spongesandgorgoniansdominatethesessile

epibenthicanimalcommunity.Thealgalcommunityisnearlyequallydividedbetween

Lobophoravariegata,Dictyotaspp.,andepilithicalgae.Crustosecorallinealgaeand

filamentouscyanobacteriaarealsoverycommon.

Coral Health.Coralswereseverelyaffectedbythe2005coralbleachingevent,withover

80%ofcoralsbleachingovernearlytheentirecoralsurface.Coralsweremoderately

affectedinthe2010bleachingevent,withjustlessthan50%ofcoralsbleachingatalow

extent.Bleachingtendstobemoderatelyprevalenteveninnon‐thermalstressyears.Coral

diseasesarenotcommon,althoughthereisatrendofincreasingdarkspotsdisease.Old

partialmortalityincreasedinprevalenceafterthe2005bleachingevent,butata

prevalencelowerthanmostothersites.Recentpartialmortalityisrare.

Figure171.SouthWater.(left)Relativecompositionofthesessileepibenthicanimalcommunity.(right)Relativecompositionofthealgalcommunityandunconsolidatedsediment.

SOUTH WATER

240

Figure172.SouthWaterbenthiccoverandcoralhealththroughtime(mean±SE).

Benthic Community

Co

ver

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


BleachingP

reva

len

ce/E

xten

t

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prevalence Extent

Disease

Pre

vale

nce

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Lesion

Dark Spots

Intercostal

White Disease

Yellow Band

Unknown

Partial Mortality

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2005

BL

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Pre

vale

nce

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Old Recent

SITE SUMMARIES

241

Fish Community. SouthWaterIslandisalowlyingreefwithhardbottomthatsupports

primarilyinvertivores.FishbiomassisloweronthissitethanotheroffshoreSt.Thomas

sites.Invertivorebiomassisdominatedbyqueentriggerandredhind.Muttonsnapperare

occasional.Stoplightandprincessparrotfishdominateherbivores,andmanyjuvenileand

sub‐adultsofthesespeciesoccuronthesite.Piscivoresmakeuponly5%ofthebiomasson

theSouthWaterIslandsite,andisprimarilycomposedofthegraysby.SouthWaterIsland

ishighlyfishedandtrapsarecommonlyseenduringoursurveyevents.Exceptformutton,

thereefisbareoflargesnappersandgroupers.Lionfish(Pteroisvolitans)aremore

commononthissite.

SOUTH WATER

242

Figure173.TheSouthWaterfishcommunitybyabsoluteandrelativebiomass.

Herbivoresst

oplig

ht p

arro

tfis

h

prin

cess

par

rotf

ish

doct

orfis

h

redb

and

parr

otfis

hbl

ue ta

ng

stri

ped

parr

otfis

h

ocea

n su

rgeo

nfis

hre

dfin

par

rotf

ish

Bea

ugre

gory

thre

espo

t dam

sel

yello

wta

il da

mse

l

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Invertivores

quee

n tr

igge

rre

d hi

nd

long

spin

e sq

uirr

elfis

h

Fren

ch g

runt

gray

sna

pper

mut

ton

snap

per

blue

head

wra

sse

blue

chr

omis

sauc

erey

e po

rgy

spot

ted

goat

fish

yello

whe

ad w

rass

e

squi

rrel

fish

creo

le w

rass

e

lane

sna

pper

blac

kbar

sol

dier

fish

sout

hern

stin

gray

Spa

nish

hog

fish

yello

wta

il ha

mle

t

barr

ed h

amle

t

brow

n ch

rom

is

long

snou

t but

terf

lyfis

h

stri

ped

grun

t

indi

go h

amle

t

clow

n w

rass

e

harl

equi

n ba

ss

butt

er h

amle

t

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Omnivores

bico

lor

dam

sel

four

eye

butt

erfly

fish

smoo

th tr

unkf

ish

spot

fin b

utte

rfly

fish

reef

but

terf

lyfis

hsh

ortn

ose

puff

er

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

100

200

300

400

Piscivores

gray

sby

bar

jack

spot

ted

mor

ay

red

lionf

ish

Fis

h B

iom

ass

0

200

400

600

800

1000

LITERATURE CITED

243

LiteratureCited

Acevedo,R.,andJ.Morelock.1988.EffectsofterrigenoussedimentinfluxoncoralzonationinsouthwesternPuertoRico.Pages189‐194inProceedingsoftheSixthInternationalCoralReefSymposium.JamesCookUniversity,Townsville,AU.

Albins,M.,andM.Hixon.2011.Worstcasescenario:potentiallong‐termeffectsofinvasivepredatorylionfish(Pteroisvolitans)onAtlanticandCaribbeancoral‐reefcommunities.EnvironmentalBiologyofFishes:1‐7.

Anderson,D.,andL.Macdonald.1998.Modellingroadsurfacesedimentproductionusingavectorgeographicinformationsystem.EarthSurfaceProcessesandLandforms23:95‐107.

Armstrong,R.,H.Singh,andJ.Torres.2002.BenthicsurveyofinsularslopecoralreefsusingtheSeabedAUV.Backscatter13:22‐25.

Armstrong,R.A.2007.DeepzooxanthellatecoralreefsofthePuertoRico:USVirginIslandsinsularplatform.CoralReefs26:945.

Armstrong,R.A.,H.Singh,J.Torres,R.S.Nemeth,A.Can,C.Roman,R.Eustice,L.Riggs,andG.Garcia‐Moliner.2006.CharacterizingthedeepinsularshelfcoralreefhabitatoftheHindBankmarineconservationdistrict(USVirginIslands)usingtheSeabedautonomousunderwatervehicle.ContinentalShelfResearch26:194‐205.

Baker,A.C.,P.W.Glynn,andB.Riegl.2008.Climatechangeandcoralreefbleaching:anecologicalassessmentoflong‐termimpacts,recoverytrendsandfutureoutlook.Estuarine,CoastalandShelfScience80:435‐471.

Brandt,M.E.,andJ.W.McManus.2009.Diseaseincidenceisrelatedtobleachingextentinreef‐buildingcorals.Ecology90:2859‐2867.

Brooks,G.R.,B.Devine,R.A.Larson,andB.P.Rood.2007.SedimentarydevelopmentofCoralBay,St.John,USVI:ashiftfromnaturaltoanthropogenicinfluences.CaribbeanJournalofScience43:226‐243.

Bruckner,A.W.2007.FieldGuidetoWesternAtlanticCoralDiseasesandOtherCausesofCoralMortality.NOAA,UNEP‐WCMC,PADI.

Calnan,J.,T.Smith,R.Nemeth,E.Kadison,andJ.Blondeau.2008.Coraldiseaseprevalenceandhostsusceptibilityonmid‐depthanddeepreefsintheUSVirginIslands.RevistaBiologiaTropical56(suppl.1):223‐224.

Cote,I.M.,andA.Maljkovic.2010.PredationratesofIndo‐PacificlionfishonBahamiancoralreefs.MarineEcologyProgressSeries404:219‐225.

Donner,S.,T.Knutson,andM.Oppenheimer.2007.Model‐basedassessmentoftheroleofhuman‐inducedclimatechangeinthe2005Caribbeancoralbleachingevent.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofScience104:5483‐5488.

Eakin,C.M.,J.A.Morgan,S.F.Heron,T.B.Smith,G.Liu,L.Alvarez‐Filip,B.Baca,E.Bartels,C.Bastidas,C.Bouchon,M.Brandt,A.W.Bruckner,L.Bunkley‐Williams,A.Cameron,B.D.Causey,M.Chiappone,T.R.L.Christensen,M.J.C.Crabbe,O.Day,E.delaGuardia,G.Dıaz‐Pulido,D.DiResta,D.L.Gil‐Agudelo,D.S.Gilliam,R.N.Ginsburg,S.Gore,H.M.Guzman,J.C.Hendee,E.A.Hernandez‐Delgado,E.Husain,C.F.G.Jeffrey,R.J.Jones,E.Jordan‐Dahlgren,L.S.Kaufman,D.I.Kline,P.A.Kramer,J.C.Lang,D.Lirman,

LITERATURE CITED

244

J.Mallela,C.Manfrino,J.‐P.Marechal,K.Marks,J.Mihaly,W.J.Miller,E.M.Mueller,E.M.Muller,C.A.OrozcoToro,H.A.Oxenford,D.Ponce‐Taylor,N.Quinn,K.B.Ritchie,S.Rodrıguez,A.R.Ramırez,S.Romano,J.F.Samhouri,J.A.Sanchez,G.P.Schmahl,B.V.Shank,W.J.Skirving,S.C.C.Steiner,E.Villamizar,S.M.Walsh,C.Walter,E.Weil,E.H.Williams,K.W.Roberson,andY.Yusuf.2010.CaribbeanCoralsinCrisis:RecordThermalStress,Bleaching,andMortalityin2005.PLoSONE5:e13969.

Edmunds,P.J.,andJ.D.Witman.1991.EffectofHurricaneHugoontheprimaryframeworkofareefalongthesouthshoreofSt.John,USVirginIslands.MarineEcologyProgressSeries78:201‐204.

Fabricius,K.2005.Effectsofterrestrialrunoffontheecologyofcoralsandcoralreefs:reviewandsynthesis.MarinePollutionBulletin50:125‐146.

Fong,P.,andV.J.Paul.2011.CoralReefAlgae.Pages241‐272inZ.DubinskyandN.Stambler,editors.CoralReefs:AnEcosysteminTransition.SpringerScience.

Fong,P.,T.B.Smith,andM.J.Wartian.2006.EpiphyticcyanobacteriamaintainshiftstomacroalgaldominanceoncoralreefsfollowingENSOdisturbance.Ecology87:1162‐1168.

Gladfelter,W.B.1982.White‐banddiseaseinAcroporapalmata‐implicationsforthestructureofshallowreefs.BulletinofMarineScience32:639‐643.

Gray,S.C.,K.L.Gobbi,andP.V.Narwold.2008.ComparisonofsedimentationinbaysandreefsbelowdevelopedversusundevelopedwatershedsonSt.John,USVirginIslands.Pages345‐349inProceedingsofthe11thInternationalCoralReefSymposium,Ft.Lauderdale,Florida.

Hatcher,B.G.1984.Amaritimeaccidentprovidesevidenceforalternatestablestatesinbenthiccommunitiesoncoralreefs.CoralReefs3:199‐204.

Hatcher,B.G.,andA.W.D.Larkum.1983.Anexperimentalanalysisoffactorscontrollingthestandingcropoftheepilithicalgalcommunityonacoralreef.JournalofExperimentalMarineBiologyandEcology69:61‐84.

Herzlieb,S.,E.Kadison,J.Blondeau,andR.S.Nemeth.2005.ComparativeassessmentofcoralreefsystemslocatedalongtheinsularplatformsouthofSt.Thomas,USVirginIslandsandtherelativeeffectsofnaturalandhumanimpacts.Pages1144‐1151inProc10thIntCoralReefSymp,Okinawa.

Hinderstein,L.,J.Marr,F.Martinez,M.Dowgiallo,K.Puglise,R.Pyle,D.Zawada,andR.Appeldoorn.2010.ThemesectiononmesophoticcoralEcosystems:Characterization,Ecology,andManagement.CoralReefs29:247‐251.

Kohler,K.,andS.M.Gill.2006.CoralPointCountwithExcelextensions(CPCe):AVisualBasicprogramforthedeterminationofcoralandsubstratecoverageusingrandompointcountmethodology.ComputersandGeosciences32:1259‐1269.

Kramer,P.,J.Lang,K.Marks,R.Garza‐Perez,andR.Ginsburg.2005.AGRRAMethodology,version4.0,June2005.UniversityofMiami,Miami.

Kuffner,I.,B.,L.Walters,J.,M.Becerro,A.,V.Paul,J.,V.Ritson‐Williams,J.,andK.Beach,S.2006.Inhibitionofcoralrecruitmentbymacroalgaeandcyanobacteria.MarineEcologyProgressSeries323:107‐117.

LITERATURE CITED

245

Manzello,D.P.,M.E.Brandt,T.B.Smith,D.Lirman,J.C.Hendee,andR.S.Nemeth.2007.Hurricanesbenefitbleachedcorals.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofScience104:12035‐12039.

Marshall,P.,andH.Schuttenberg.2006.AReefManager'sGuidetoCoralBleaching.GreatBarrierReefMarineParkAuthority,Townsville,Australia.

Menza,C.,M.Kendall,andS.Hile.2008.Thedeeperwegothelessweknow.RevistaBiologiaTropical56:11‐24.

Menza,C.,M.Kendall,C.Rogers,andJ.Miller.2007.Adeepreefindeeptrouble.ContinentalShelfResearch27:2224‐2230.

Miller,J.,E.Muller,C.Rogers,R.Waara,A.Atkinson,K.Whelan,M.Patterson,andB.Witcher.2010.Coraldiseasefollowingmassivebleachingin2005causes60%declineincoralcoveronreefsintheUSVirginIslands.CoralReefs28:925‐937.

Mumby,P.J.2006.Theimpactofexploitinggrazers(Scaridae)onthedynamicsofCaribbeancoralreefs.EcologicalApplications16:747‐769.

Mumby,P.J.,C.P.Dahlgren,A.R.Harborne,C.V.Kappel,F.Micheli,D.R.Brumbaugh,K.E.Holmes,J.M.Mendes,K.Broad,J.N.Sanchirico,K.Buch,S.Box,R.W.Stoffle,andA.B.Gill.2006.Fishing,trophiccascades,andtheprocessofgrazingoncoralreefs.Science311:98‐101.

Mumby,P.J.,andA.R.Harborne.2010.MarineReservesEnhancetheRecoveryofCoralsonCaribbeanReefs.PLoSONE5:e8657.

Nemeth,R.S.2005.PopulationcharacteristicsofarecoveringUSVirginIslandsredhindspawningaggregationfollowingprotection.MarineEcologyProgressSeries286:81‐97.

Nemeth,R.S.,andJ.SladeckNowlis.2001.Monitoringtheeffectsoflanddevelopmentonthenear‐shorereefenvironmentofSt.Thomas,USVI.BulletinofMarineScience69:759‐775.

Nemeth,R.S.,T.B.Smith,J.Blondeau,E.Kadison,J.M.Calnan,andJ.Gass.2008.Characterizationofdeepwaterreefcommunitieswithinthemarineconservationdistrict,St.Thomas,U.S.VirginIslands.SubmittedtotheCaribbeanFisheriesManagementCouncil.,UniversityoftheVirginIslands,St.Thomas.

NOAA.2006.TropicalOceanCoralBleachingIndices,SilverSprings,Maryland,NOAA/NESDIS/OSDPD;26January2007.Availablefrom:http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/CB_indices/coral_bleaching_indices.html.

NOAA.2012.USVirginIsland'sDegreeHeatingWeeksplots.http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/data/cb/time_series/all_USVirgin.txt.

Pastorok,R.,andG.Bilyard.1985.Effectsofsewagepollutiononcoral‐reefcommunities.MarineEcologyProgressSeries21:175‐189.

Ramos‐Scharron,C.E.,andL.H.MacDonald.2007a.Measurementandpredictionofnaturalandanthropogenicsedimentsources,St.John,U.S.VirginIslands.Catena71:250‐266.

Ramos‐Scharron,C.E.,andL.H.MacDonald.2007b.Runoffandsuspendedsedimentyieldsfromanunpavedroadsegment,StJohn,USVirginIslands.HydrologicalProcesses21:35‐50.

LITERATURE CITED

246

Randall,J.E.1963.AnanalysisofthereeffishpopulationsofartificialandnaturalreefsintheVirginIslands.CaribbeanJournalofMarineScience3:31‐47.

Rogers,C.,andV.Garrison.2001.Tenyearsafterthecrime:lastingeffectsofdamagefromacruiseshipanchoronacoralreefinSt.John,U.S.VirginIslandsBulletinofMarineScience69:793‐803.

Rogers,C.S.1982.TheMarineEnvironmentsofBrewersBay,PerserverenceBay,FlatCayandSabaIsland,St.Thomas,U.S.V.I.,withEmphasisonCoralReefsandSeagrassBeds,November1978‐July1981.

Rogers,C.S.1990.Responsesofcoralreefsandreeforganismstosedimentation.MarineEcologyProgressSeries62:185‐202.

Rogers,C.S.,L.N.McLain,andC.R.Tobias.1991.EffectsofHurricaneHugo(1989)onacoralreefinSt.JohnUSVI.MarineEcologyProgressSeries78:189‐199.

Rothenberger,J.,J.Blondeau,C.Cox,S.Curtis,B.Fisher,G.Garrison,Z.Hillis‐Starr,C.Jeffrey,E.Kadison,I.Lundgren,W.Miller,E.Muller,R.S.Nemeth,S.Paterson,C.S.Rogers,T.B.Smith,A.Spitzack,M.Taylor,W.Toller,J.Wright,andD.Wusinich‐Mendez.2008.TheStateofCoralReefEcosystemsoftheU.S.VirginIslands.Page567inJ.E.WaddellandA.M.Clarke,editors.TheStateofCoralReefEcosystemsoftheUnitedStatesandPacificFreelyAssociatedStates:2008.NOAACenterforCoastalMonitoringandAssessment’sBiogeographyTeam,SilverSpring,MD.

Sandin,S.A.,J.E.Smith,E.E.DeMartini,E.A.Dinsdale,S.D.Donner,A.M.Friedlander,T.Konotchick,M.Malay,J.E.Maragos,D.Obura,O.Pantos,G.Paulay,M.Richie,F.Rohwer,R.E.Schroeder,S.Walsh,J.B.C.Jackson,N.Knowlton,andE.Sala.2008.BaselinesandDegradationofCoralReefsintheNorthernLineIslands.PLoSONE3:e1548.

Smith,J.E.,M.Shaw,R.A.Edwards,D.Obura,O.Pantos,E.Sala,S.Sandin,S.Smirga,M.Hatay,andF.L.Rohwer.2006.Indirecteffectsofalgaeoncoral:algae‐mediated,microbe‐inducedcoralmortality.EcologyLetters9:835‐845.

Smith,T.,P.Fong,R.Kennison,andJ.Smith.2010a.SpatialrefugesandassociationaldefensespromoteharmfulbloomsofthealgaCaulerpasertularioidesontocoralreefs.Oecologia164:1039‐1048.

Smith,T.B.,J.Blondeau,R.S.Nemeth,S.J.Pittman,J.M.Calnan,E.Kadison,andJ.Gass.2010b.BenthicstructureandcrypticmortalityinaCaribbeanmesophoticcoralreefbanksystem,theHindBankMarineConservationDistrict,U.S.VirginIslands.CoralReefs29:289‐308.

Smith,T.B.,R.S.Nemeth,J.Blondeau,J.M.Calnan,E.Kadison,andS.Herzlieb.2008.AssessingcoralreefhealthacrossonshoretooffshorestressgradientsintheUSVirginIslands.MarinePollutionBulletin56:1983‐1991.

Strand,J.,A.Jørgensen,andZ.Tairova.2009.TBTpollutionandeffectsinmolluscsatUSVirginIslands,CaribbeanSea.EnvironmentInternational35:707‐711.

Tobias,W.1997.ThreeYearSummaryReport:CooperativeFisheriesStatisticsProgram#SF‐42(NA27FT0301‐01).DepartmentofFishandWildlife,UnitedStatesVirginIslands.

Weber,M.,C.Lott,andK.E.Fabricius.2006.Sedimentationstressinascleractiniancoralexposedtoterrestrialandmarinesedimentswithcontrastingphysical,organicand

LITERATURE CITED

247

geochemicalproperties.JournalofExperimentalMarineBiologyandEcology336:18‐32.

Williams,I.D.,N.V.C.Polunin,andV.J.Hendrick.2001.LimitstograzingbyherbivorousfishesandtheimpactoflowcoralcoveronmacroalgalabundanceonacoralreefinBelize.MarineEcologyProgressSeries222:187‐196.

Woody,K.,A.Atkinson,R.Clark,C.Jeffrey,I.Lundgren,J.Miller,M.Monaco,E.Muller,M.Patterson,C.Rogers,T.B.Smith,T.Spitzack,R.Waara,K.Whelan,B.Witcher,andA.Wright.2008.CoralBleachingintheU.S.VirginIslandsin2005and2006.Page152inC.WilkinsonandD.Souter,editors.StatusofCaribbeanCoralReefsAfterBleachingandHurricanesin2005.GlobalCoralReefMonitoringNetwork,andReefandRainforestResearchCenter,Townsville.

The United States Virgin islands territorial coral reef monitoring program

Documents

Transcript of The United States Virgin islands territorial coral reef monitoring program