caa a22 4500 445819405 CHVBK 20180317145239.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00338-011-0755-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00338-011-0755-1 Predictors of the distribution and abundance of a tube sponge and its resident goby [Elektronische Daten] [C. D'Aloia, J. Majoris, P. Buston] Microhabitat specialists offer tractable systems for studying the role of habitat in determining species' distribution and abundance patterns. While factors underlying the distribution patterns of these specialists have been studied for decades, few papers have considered factors influencing both the microhabitat and the inhabitant. On the Belizean barrier reef, the obligate sponge-dwelling goby Elacatinus lori inhabits the yellow tube sponge Aplysina fistularis. We used field data and multivariate analyses to simultaneously consider factors influencing sponge and goby distributions. Sponges were non-randomly distributed across the reef with density peaking at a depth of 10-20m. Sponge morphology also varied with depth: sponges tended to be larger and have fewer tubes with increasing depth. Knowing these patterns of sponge distribution and morphology, we considered how they influenced the distribution of two categories of gobies: residents (≥18mm SL) and settlers (<18mm SL). Maximum tube length, number of sponge tubes, and depth were significant predictors of resident distribution. Residents were most abundant in large sponges with multiple tubes, and were virtually absent from sponges shallower than 10m. Similarly, maximum tube length and number of sponge tubes were significant predictors of settler distribution, with settlers most abundant in large sponges with multiple tubes. The presence or absence of residents in a sponge was not a significant predictor of settler distribution. These results provide us with a clear understanding of where sponges and gobies are found on the reef and support the hypothesis that microhabitat characteristics are good predictors of fish abundance for species that are tightly linked to microhabitat. Springer-Verlag, 2011 Distribution patterns nationallicence Microhabitat specialization nationallicence Settlement nationallicence Recruitment nationallicence Aplysina fistularis nationallicence Elacatinus lori nationallicence D'Aloia C. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut Majoris J. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut Buston P. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/3(2011-09-01), 777-786 0722-4028 30:3<777 2011 30 338 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0755-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0755-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- D'Aloia C. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Majoris J. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Buston P. Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Ave, 02215, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/3(2011-09-01), 777-786 0722-4028 30:3<777 2011 30 338 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer