caa a22 4500 606227733 CHVBK 20210128101200.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10641-014-0339-3 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10641-014-0339-3 High recruitment associated with increased sea temperatures towards the southern range edge of a Western Australian endemic reef fish Choerodon rubescens (family Labridae) [Elektronische Daten] [Katherine Cure, Jean-Paul Hobbs, Euan Harvey] Choerodon rubescens is a subtropical wrasse endemic to Western Australia which has recently recruited in high abundance into lagoonal habitats at the southern end of its distribution. Abundance, size structure and habitat associations of juvenile C. rubescens were assessed during summer and autumn 2013 (January-May) via underwater visual census across available shallow water habitats towards the southern range edge of their distribution (32°S, 115°E). High abundances of juveniles (up to 14 fish/40m2) were found in areas where they were previously absent or in low abundance. Lagoonal habitats presented abundances three to eight times higher than seagrass beds or rocky reef, indicating preference of C. rubescens for mixed lagoonal habitats as settlement grounds. Such habitats contain open sandy areas with small rocks and rubble that are important feeding grounds for juveniles. Based on the size structure of populations encountered, recruitment was estimated to occur during summer 2011-12 and 2012-13. This coincides with water temperatures 1 to 2°C higher than long-term averages in the region, making conditions more favourable for recruits to survive in greater numbers. We conclude that the high abundance of C. rubescens recruits towards the southern end of their distribution together with trends of increasing water temperature and the availability of suitable settlement habitat to the south of their present range, indicate a capacity for the species to shift its distribution southwards. Monitoring of future recruitment events will be crucial to determining range expansion capacity and guiding management efforts for this endemic and important fisheries species. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2014 Range extension nationallicence Recruitment nationallicence Juvenile habitat nationallicence Climate change nationallicence Tuskfish nationallicence Baldchin groper nationallicence Cure Katherine UWA Oceans Institute & School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 6009, Crawley, WA, Australia aut Hobbs Jean-Paul Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University of Technology, 6102, Bentley, WA, Australia aut Harvey Euan Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University of Technology, 6102, Bentley, WA, Australia aut Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/4(2015-04-01), 1059-1067 0378-1909 98:4<1059 2015 98 10641 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0339-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0339-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Cure Katherine UWA Oceans Institute & School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 6009, Crawley, WA, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hobbs Jean-Paul Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University of Technology, 6102, Bentley, WA, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Harvey Euan Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University of Technology, 6102, Bentley, WA, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/4(2015-04-01), 1059-1067 0378-1909 98:4<1059 2015 98 10641