The Role of Isopod Crustaceans in the Reef Crest Community at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Abstract. The species composition and numbers of specimens of isopod crustaceans from the rubble of a Belizean reef crest were obtained. Four sets of 30 samples were taken from three rubble zones (rubble with algal turf, rubble between Thalassia plants, and pure rubble), in four different collecting periods. Twenty-four species of isopods were identified, sexed and counted. By means of a Likelihood Ratio Chi-square Contingency Table Analysis the presence of 13 species was shown to be positively correlated with habitat, 15 species with season, and nine species with habitat and season combined. From the spread of total numbers and of ovigerous females it is proposed that the isopods may be grouped into three patterns: a) those present and breeding in the reef crest rubble throughout the year, i. e. stress-tolerant species; b) those showing a breeding peak in summer and a population decrease in winter-spring, i. e. opportunist species; and c) those showing a breeding peak in the fall, and a second peak in spring, and a decrease or complete avoidance of the habitat, especially by ovigerous females, in the summer. The diversity of the Belizean reef crest isopod fauna is compared with the published report of the isopod fauna of a coral reef in Madagascar. Several similarities in composition are noted. The multiplicity of microhabitats is invoked as a possible explanation for the relatively high diversity of anthuridean isopods in coral reefs.