Ten individuals of Cephalopholis cruentata, a marine serranid common on Caribbean coral reefs and important to artisanal reef fisheries, were implanted with acoustic transmitters on two reefs within the Soufriere Marine Management Area, St. Lucia. The mean home range area determined was 2120m2. Home range shape was non-circular, with a mean aspect ratio of 0.72. Neither home range size nor home range shape differed between the study sites or as a function of fish size. However, more active fish, as determined by movement per hour and displacement per hour, had larger home ranges. / Use of space within the home range was characterised as activity rates (movement per hour), displacement rates (maximum distance between fish locations per hour), and preferential use of specific areas (% of position fixes in different areas). All fish demonstrated a clear preference for specific areas in their home range. Activity, displacement and % time spent in the preferred reef area were not correlated with fish size. Activity and displacement were higher by night than by day, and consistent with this, fish spent less time in their preferred home range area by night than by day. Given the home range size and movement patterns of C. cruentata determined in the study, the effectiveness of the marine reserve zones in the Soufriere Marine Management Area in protecting C. cruentata is assessed.

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Predator satiation and prey-size preference were determined for locally caught lionfish, schoolmaster, and graysby, all co-occurring predatory fishes in the Florida coral reef ecosystem. Individuals were evaluated by exposing them to wild-caught killifish over a gradient of four size classes (20 mm to 60 mm, in 10 mm increments). Preference trials extended over a 2 hr time period and were filmed to determine the order in which each prey item was consumed. Satiation was evaluated by exposing the predators to an equal number of excess prey items for 24 hrs and evaluating consumed prey weight. Lionfish and schoolmaster showed a significant preference for the smallest size class (20-30 mm) while the graysby preferred the largest (50-60 mm) and smallest equally. Graysby were shown to consume the least amount of food per gram by biomass (0.034g/gram predator-1) while lionfish consumed the most (0.079g/gram predator-1). A significant difference was also found between consumption rates of lionfish and schoolmaster (0.053g/gram predator-1). If consumption is compared by length between species, lionfish ( = 0.051g/mm predator-1) and schoolmaster ( = 0.061g/mm predator-1) consumption was not significantly different. These results suggest that lionfish success may stem from its ability to target prey sizes not preferred by the graysby while able to outcompete schoolmaster for the same prey size class. However, if the lionfish is compared on an individual level to schoolmaster by individual or length, consumption is similar, suggesting lionfish consumption is not significantly greater on the reef than the native species on an individual basis.