Page:Biodiversity Assessment of the Fishes of Saba Bank Atoll, Netherlands Antilles.pdf/32

 Monacanthus ciliatus (Mitchill, 1818)—fringed filefish; USNM, I, V; Figure 193

Monacanthus tuckeri Bean, 1906—slender filefish; USNM, I; Figure 194

Ostraciidae—boxfishes

Acanthostracion polygonia Poey, 1876—honeycomb cowfish; USNM, F, O, V

Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)—scrawled cowfish; USNM, F, O

Lactophrys bicaudalis (Linnaeus, 1758)—spotted trunkfish; F

Lactophrys trigonus (Linnaeus, 1758)—trunkfish; USNM, I, V; Figure 195

Lactophrys triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)—smooth trunkfish; USNM, F, OBS, VIS; Figure 196

Tetraodontidae—puffers

Canthigaster rostrata (Bloch, 1786)—sharpnose puffer; USNM, I, O, V; Figure 197

Sphoeroides spengleri (Bloch, 1785)—bandtail puffer; USNM, I, O; Figure 198

Diodontidae—porcupinefishes

Chilomycterus antillarum Jordan & Rutter, 1897—web burrfish; USNM, F; Figure 199

Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758—balloonfish; USNM, I, V; Figure 200

Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758—porcupinefish; O











Discussion

We document the occurrence of 270 species of fishes at Saba Bank. The diversity of fishes at Saba Bank is comparable (Table 1) to that of the oceanic atolls of Colombia (273 species), the islands in the Mona Passage of Puerto Rico (261 species) and Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM; 262 species). The relatively high diversity of fishes at Saba Bank exists despite the lack of emergent land at the bank. There is no shallow-water shore-fish fauna represented on the bank due to the absence of a high-energy shoreline. These habitats typically add significantly to the fish diversity of Caribbean habitats. For example, the tube blennies (family Chaenopsidae) are a group of shorefishes typically found in fairly shallow coastal waters. According to Williams, there are approximately 22 recognized species of tube blennies known to