Typescript (photocopy) / Bibliography: leaves 212-223. / Microfiche. / xxii, 276 leaves, bound ill. 28 cm

I studied the behaviour and ecology of social organization in a Caribbean surgeonfish, the blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus). In chapter 1,1 identify and describe the social modes exhibited by adult blue tangs and include the first description of adult territoriality in this species. Adults in the population were either territorial or nonterritorial. Non-territorial fish formed schools and wandered, while territorial fish never schooled but sometimes wandered from their territory. In chapter 2,1 explore potential determinants of the variation in the social organization in an attempt to explain the coexistence of the territorial and non-territorial modes. I examine the distribution of territorial, schooling and wandering tangs in relation to life history stage, habitat, time of day, competitor density, food abundance and population density. Life history stage, density of competitor damselfishes and conspecific population density appear to be key determinants of this social organization.

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