Equilibrial Blenniid Assemblages on Offshore Petroleum Platforms

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2003

Department

Biological Sciences

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

Ecological assemblages may be viewed as lying along a continuum between equilibrium and non-equilibrium. I investigated the position on this continuum of an assemblage of blennies found on offshore petroleum platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I conducted visual censuses of four species of blennies on 13 different platforms. Several species displayed a distinct vertical zonation with Scartella cristata confined to the upper 5 m and Parablennius marmoreus limited to 10–15 m depths. I used Morisita's index (IM) to assess blenniid assemblage similarity and compared values to a null model of randomly generated data. Comparisons indicated that platforms were similar in blenniid assemblage structure. Tropical Storm Danny passed over my study site after data collection had begun in 1997. Pre- and post-storm IM's indicated that this disturbance did not affect these blenniid assemblages.

Publication Title

Environmental Biology of Fishes

Volume

68

Issue

3

First Page

301

Last Page

305

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