Saba Bank is relatively free of the problems that are degrading many Caribbean reef systems, and the few problems it faces include anchoring and abrasion by oil tankers maneuvering off the petroleum transshipment facilities on St. Except for the fact that it does not break the water surface, Saba Bank is a classic atoll consisting of a submerged mountain crowned at the summit with a ring of actively growing coral reefs. Located in the Dutch Windward Islands about 250 km east of Puerto Rico, it is a flat-topped seamount rising 1800 m from the surrounding sea floor. Saba Bank is the largest atoll in the Atlantic Ocean Basin and one of the three largest atolls on earth. Preliminary analysis indicates that at least six undescribed new species were collected during the survey and these are indicated in the annotated list. Coloration of some species is shown for the first time. Species richness was highest on the fore reef, but 11 species were found only at lagoonal sites.Ī comprehensive, annotated list of the fishes currently known to occur on Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles, is provided and color photographs of freshly collected specimens are presented for 165 of the listed species of Saba Bank fishes to facilitate identification and taxonomic comparison with similar taxa at other localities. Fish assemblages were significantly different between habitats. Fore-reef, patch-reef, and lagoonal habitats were sampled. Some degree of habitat heterogeneity was evident. Despite the absence of shallow or emergent shore habitats like mangroves, Saba Bank ranks as having the eighth highest ichthyofaunal richness of surveyed localities in the Greater Caribbean. ![]() The Saba Bank ichthyofaunal assemblage is compared to fish assemblages found elsewhere in the Caribbean. ![]() The total expected fish-species richness may be somewhere between 320 and 411 species. Expected species-accumulation curves demonstrate that the current estimate of species richness of fishes for Saba Bank under represents the actual richness, and our knowledge of the ichthyofauna has not plateaued. A variety of sampling techniques was utilized to survey the fish species of both the visually accessible megafauna and the camouflaged and small-sized species comprising the cryptic ichthyofauna.īased on results presented herein, the number of species known on Saba Bank is increased from 42 previously known species to 270 species. The primary objective was to estimate the total species richness of the Saba Bank ichthyofauna. Biodiversity surveys were conducted on Saba Bank, Netherlands Antilles, to assess ichthyofaunal richness and to compare with published surveys of other Caribbean localities.
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