New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean

Christmas Island is situated in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean on a biogeographic border where Indian and Pacific Ocean faunas meet. Detailed field studies in 2004, 2007 and 2008, of the island’s fish fauna revealed 30 new records from 15 families. For six families (Dasyatidae, Chanidae, Bramidae...

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Main Authors: Hobbs, Jean-Paul, Ayling, A., Choat, J., Gilligan, J., McDonald, C., Neilson, J., Newman, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Magnolia Press 2010
Online Access:http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/16911/
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25482
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author Hobbs, Jean-Paul
Ayling, A.
Choat, J.
Gilligan, J.
McDonald, C.
Neilson, J.
Newman, S.
author_facet Hobbs, Jean-Paul
Ayling, A.
Choat, J.
Gilligan, J.
McDonald, C.
Neilson, J.
Newman, S.
author_sort Hobbs, Jean-Paul
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Christmas Island is situated in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean on a biogeographic border where Indian and Pacific Ocean faunas meet. Detailed field studies in 2004, 2007 and 2008, of the island’s fish fauna revealed 30 new records from 15 families. For six families (Dasyatidae, Chanidae, Bramidae, Mugilidae, Siganidae, Molidae) this is the first time a species has been recorded at Christmas Island. Many of the newly recorded fishes appear to have recently colonised the island, and establishing populations will be dependent on the availability of suitable habitat and conspecific mates. These new records illustrate that Christmas Island is important for range expansion because it serves as a critical stepping-stone in the dispersal of Pacific Ocean species into the Indian Ocean and vice versa. Contact between Indian and Pacific Ocean sister species has also resulted in hybridisation at Christmas Island.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:57:14Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Magnolia Press
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-254822017-01-30T12:48:42Z New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean Hobbs, Jean-Paul Ayling, A. Choat, J. Gilligan, J. McDonald, C. Neilson, J. Newman, S. Christmas Island is situated in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean on a biogeographic border where Indian and Pacific Ocean faunas meet. Detailed field studies in 2004, 2007 and 2008, of the island’s fish fauna revealed 30 new records from 15 families. For six families (Dasyatidae, Chanidae, Bramidae, Mugilidae, Siganidae, Molidae) this is the first time a species has been recorded at Christmas Island. Many of the newly recorded fishes appear to have recently colonised the island, and establishing populations will be dependent on the availability of suitable habitat and conspecific mates. These new records illustrate that Christmas Island is important for range expansion because it serves as a critical stepping-stone in the dispersal of Pacific Ocean species into the Indian Ocean and vice versa. Contact between Indian and Pacific Ocean sister species has also resulted in hybridisation at Christmas Island. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25482 http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/16911/ Magnolia Press restricted
spellingShingle Hobbs, Jean-Paul
Ayling, A.
Choat, J.
Gilligan, J.
McDonald, C.
Neilson, J.
Newman, S.
New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title_full New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title_fullStr New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title_full_unstemmed New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title_short New records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
title_sort new records of marine fishes illustrate the biogeographic importance of christmas island, indian ocean
url http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/16911/
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25482