Ecology Summary - Balistoides conspicillum

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Main Ref.	Matsuura, K., 2001
Remarks	The habitat consists of clear waters of outer reef slopes at depth between about 5 and 75 m. Juveniles are very secretive, mainly confining themselves to caves below 20 m depth on steep drop offs (Ref. 54301). Lives in clear coastal to outer reef habitats (Ref. 48637). A solitary species (Ref. 9710). Uncommon to rare throughout most of its range (Ref. 9770). Adults usually seen along deep drop-offs, swimming about openly and may retreat to caves when approached. Juveniles secretive in small caves with rich invertebrate growth (Ref. 48637). Diet consists of sea urchins, crabs and other crustaceans, mollusks, and tunicates (Ref. 9770).

Main Ref.

Matsuura, K., 2001

Remarks

The habitat consists of clear waters of outer reef slopes at depth between about 5 and 75 m. Juveniles are very secretive, mainly confining themselves to caves below 20 m depth on steep drop offs (Ref. 54301). Lives in clear coastal to outer reef habitats (Ref. 48637). A solitary species (Ref. 9710). Uncommon to rare throughout most of its range (Ref. 9770). Adults usually seen along deep drop-offs, swimming about openly and may retreat to caves when approached. Juveniles secretive in small caves with rich invertebrate growth (Ref. 48637). Diet consists of sea urchins, crabs and other crustaceans, mollusks, and tunicates (Ref. 9770).

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 Balistoides conspicillum may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Soft Bottom: sand; mud; Hard Bottom: rocky;
Substrate Ref.	Letourneur, Y., P. Chabanet, P. Durville, M. Taquet, E. Teissier, M. Parmentier, J.-C. Quéro and K. Pothin, 2004
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 animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Matsuura, K., 2001
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition
From individual food items	3.31	0.39			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.

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