Patterns of community structure in fishes: summary and overview

Synopsis This paper constitutes a review of topics and controversies that arose during and since the Cornell mini-symposium. A table of publications on fish community types not covered during the mini-symposium is presented, followed by discussions of three aspects of community structure in fishes. First, the general topic of temporal structure in fish communities is discussed, with emphasis on diel activity patterns, twilight changeover phenomena and the influence of predators on temporal behavior. This is followed by a section on the importance of ontogenetic changes in trophic, spatial and social activities of fish in a variety of communities. Finally, the topic of stochastic and deterministic processes in coral reef fish communities is reviewed, and methods of testing hypotheses and resolving differences of opinion are suggested. This section is concluded with a discussion of the possible influence of ecological interactions between larval fishes on reef fish community structure.This paper forms part of the proceedings of a mini-symposium convened at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 18–19 May 1976, entitled Patterns of Community Structure in Fishes (G. S. Helfman, ed.).