Patterns of cohort decline are key demographic traits that provide a unique temporal perspective vital to understanding population dynamics. The discovery of multidecadal lifespans in tropical surgeonfishes in the 1990s created a paradigm shift to the notion that they are highly vulnerable species with low population recovery rates; however, research into the mortality patterns of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) has been sparse u...

Biological feedbacks generated through patterns of disturbance are vital for sustaining ecosystem states. Recent ocean warming and thermal anomalies have caused pantropical episodes of coral bleaching, which has led to widespread coral mortality and a range of subsequent effects on coral reef communities. Although the response of many reef‐associated fishes to major disturbance events on coral reefs is negative (e.g., reduced...

Aim Herbivorous reef fishes are considered to have difficulty digesting plant material at extratropical temperatures and are thus largely restricted to tropical waters where they are thought to have evolved. However, the herbivorous Kyphosidae, with both temperate and tropical species, provides an ideal opportunity to test this view. Previous studies have resolved the taxonomy and distribution patterns of all species. Here, we...

Ectotherms exhibit considerable plasticity in their life‐history traits. This plasticity can reflect variability in environmental and social factors, but the causes of observed patterns are often obscured with increasing spatial scales. We surveyed dichromatic parrotfishes across the northern Great Barrier Reef to examine variation in body size distributions and concomitant size at sex change ( L ∆50 ) against hypotheses of di...

Aim The Red Sea is characterised by a unique fauna and historical periods of desiccation, hypersalinity and intermittent isolation. The origin and contemporary composition of reef‐associated taxa in this region can illuminate biogeographical principles about vicariance and the establishment (or local extirpation) of existing species. Here we aim to: (1) outline the distribution of shallow water fauna between the Red Sea and ad...

Aim The geological and palaeo‐climatic forces that produced the unique biodiversity in the Red Sea are a subject of vigorous debate. Here, we review evidence for and against the hypotheses that: (1) Red Sea fauna was extirpated during glacial cycles of the Pleistocene and (2) coral reef fauna found refuge within or just outside the Red Sea during low sea level stands when conditions were inhospitable. Location Red Sea and West...

High‐throughput sequencing approaches have enabled characterizations of the community composition of numerous gut microbial communities, which in turn has enhanced interest in their diversity and functional relationships in different groups of vertebrates. Although fishes represent the greatest taxonomic and ecological diversity of vertebrates, our understanding of their gut microbiota and its functional significance has lagge...

Aim The R ed S ea is a biodiversity hotspot characterized by a unique marine fauna and high endemism. This sea began forming c . 24 million years ago with the separation of the A frican and A rabian plates, and has been characterized by periods of desiccation, hypersalinity and intermittent connection to the I ndian O cean. We aim to evaluate the impact of these events on the genetic architecture of the R ed S ea reef fish fau...

Biodiversity is frequently associated with functional redundancy. Indo‐Pacific coral reefs incorporate some of the most diverse ecosystems on the globe with over 3000 species of fishes recorded from the region. Despite this diversity, we document changes in ecosystem function on coral reefs at regional biogeographical scales as a result of overfishing of just one species, the giant humphead parrotfish ( Bolbometopon muricatum...

Algal turf assemblages of the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, were sampled to determine the nutritional value of detritus and algae. Samples were collected with a suction apparatus across an exposure gradient from (1) the reef crest at highly exposed outer barrier reefs, (2) the reef crest of moderately exposed midshelf reefs, and (3) the reef slope of sheltered midshelf reefs. The biomass of algae and detritus decreas...