Ecology Summary - Siganus spinus

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Main Ref.	Woodland, D.J., 1990
Remarks	Postlarval & presumably the larval as well, are pelagic, live in dense schools away from the reefs in open water; presumed to feed on plankton. At an average size of 43 mm TL in spring, they perform highly synchronized mass migration onto the shoal areas of coral reefs. These small juveniles feed on finer textured algae (e.g. filamentous). As they mature, they ingest the coarser filamentous & fleshy algae, avoiding the blue-greens. Gross assimilation efficiency low; mean of 36% in juveniles, 16% in adults. This species is the smallest siganid; growth rate considerably low; hence, deemed not suitable for aquaculture.

Main Ref.

Woodland, D.J., 1990

Remarks

Postlarval & presumably the larval as well, are pelagic, live in dense schools away from the reefs in open water; presumed to feed on plankton. At an average size of 43 mm TL in spring, they perform highly synchronized mass migration onto the shoal areas of coral reefs. These small juveniles feed on finer textured algae (e.g. filamentous). As they mature, they ingest the coarser filamentous & fleshy algae, avoiding the blue-greens. Gross assimilation efficiency low; mean of 36% in juveniles, 16% in adults. This species is the smallest siganid; growth rate considerably low; hence, deemed not suitable for aquaculture.

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Siganus spinus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats	Coral Reefs;
Special habitats Ref.	Nguyen, N.T. and V.Q. Nguyen, 2006

Associations

Ref.
Associations
Associated with
Association remarks
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	mainly plants/detritus (troph. 2-2.19)
Feeding type Ref.	Sano, M., M. Shimizu and Y. Nose, 1984
Feeding habit	browsing on substrate
Feeding habit Ref.	Sano, M., M. Shimizu and Y. Nose, 1984

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition			2.00	0.00
From individual food items	2.04	0.03			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Sano, M., M. Shimizu and Y. Nose, 1984

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