Creole wrasse, coral reef mass spawnings

[Welch, Leanne (DERM)]

Regarding Creole Wrasse schools:
I don't know why they exhibit this behavior, but I do know that every time I
see Creole Wrasse on the reefs off of South Florida (Miami and the Keys),
they are in large schools (>100 fish) hovering over the reef.  Most of the
diving I do is in the middle of the day, so I can't say if they are
schooling more at other times of the day (you mentioned dusk).  Most times
I've observed this behavior, they seem to be feeding and the group is very
mixed  - males, females, many sizes and phases.
Sorry I don't have any more information, but I hope this helps...

Leanne Welch


-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Ekstrom [mailto:jekstrom at coral.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 8:17 PM
To: coral-list-daily at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: creole wrasse, coral reef mass spawnings



Hi Coral list,



I have two questions:


1. Does anyone know why the Creole wrasse (Clepticus parrae) school over the
reefs at dusk in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean? I haven't been able to find the
reason for this behavior (feeding I assume but if that is the case then why
don't all wrasses do this everywhere?) and, as far as I know, it does not
happen everywhere in the Caribbean.


2. I am looking for specific mass spawning dates for coral reefs around the
world. I would like to know whether synchronized coral spawning occurs in
the following places and if so, when it occurs:

        Great Barrier Reef

        Caribbean

        Indian Ocean

        Red Sea

        Southeast Asia/Indonesia

        Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia

        Hawaii

        Cocos Island


I would really appreciate any help or guidance in finding my answers.


Thank you,


Julie









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