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Prevalence and Severity of Cutaneous Pigmented Lesions on Ocean Surgeonfish, Acanthurus bahianus, at Turneffe Atoll and Glover’s Reef of Belize

Laura E. Eierman1,* and Christopher E. Tanner2

1State University of New York Cortland, 32 Graham Avenue, Cortland, NY 13045, USA. 2St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 47645 College Drive, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686, USA. *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 62 (2019)

Abstract
Caribbean coral reefs have declined precipitously since the 1980s, with many shifting to algal-dominated communities due in part to reduced herbivore populations. In 2013, black skin lesions were prevalent on herbivorous Acanthurus bahianus (Ocean Surgeonfish) in the Leeward Antilles but rare on fish in the western Caribbean. Our objective was to quantify the prevalence and severity of cutaneous black-pigmented spots, suggestive of a dermal parasitic infection, on A. bahianus at 2 Belizean atolls from 2014 to 2016. We found 60.1% of A. bahianus were affected with an average severity of 1–5 spots per lateral side, with similar prevalence and severity regardless of reef type, depth, or survey. The prevalence of spots on A. bahianus, observations of 8 other affected fish species, and opportunistic observations of lesions in The Bahamas suggest that the black spots and their causative agent(s) are widespread across the Caribbean basin and among diverse species. Given the important ecological role of herbivorous fish such as A. bahianus, further research on the causative agent(s) and the fitness consequences is necessary. .

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