Functional Groups
709 fishes across 61 species and 16 fish families were processed from our Caribbean field sites and were assigned to one of 12 functional groups (Table 1). Also included in Table 1 are results from Artim et al. (2017), where gnathiid isopods were positively identified in the stomach contents of Caribbean nocturnal microcarnivorous fishes. Two species from that study were also collected in this study but were grouped separately due to the different time of day they were caught. Fish species were separated by functional group rather than Family to cluster species with similar diets and, in some cases, habitat preference (Table 1). The only species in the “dedicated cleaner” group isElacatinus evelynae , and the sole species in the “facultative cleaner” group is Thalassoma bifasciatum . We did not include any other species in this group (such as juvenile haemulids or pomacanthids) because they were rare at our sites. The “planktivore” group included species that primarily feed on invertebrates in the water column. “Roving herbivores” and “scrapers” include Acanthurid surgeonfishes and Labrid parrotfishes, respectively. Both groups are similar in that the species consume material off the substrate and often forage across an entire reef (if not multiple reefs) but differ in what they consume (Randall 1967). Site-attached Pomacentrid damselfishes and Blenneid blennies make up the “territorial herbivores”. Invertivorous species were separated based on habitat. Specifically, Mullid goatfishes, Coryphopterus spp.gobiids, and Gerreid mojarras comprised the “sand invertivores”, while small Labrisomid blennies and coral-associated gobiids and Chaenopsid blennies were grouped together as “benthic invertivores”. The mobile Labrid wrasses and Tetraodontid puffers were placed in the “invertivore” functional group. Carnivorous species were split into the “roving carnivores”, comprised of the Carangid jacks, and the “microcarnivores” which includes small Haemulid grunts, Lutjanid snappers, and Serranid hamlets that eat a variety of invertebrates but can also eat small fishes (Randall 1967). Finally, while many species exhibit omnivorous tendencies, such as benthophagous Pomacentrids that will occasionally consume invertebrates (Ceccarelli 2007), the Chaetodontid butterflyfishes and Pomacanthid angelfishes had the most even balance of algal and animal material and were thus the only fishes included as “omnivores”. Individuals from the Balistoid filefishes, Sciaenid croakers, and Scorpaenid scorpionfishes were not included because very few were encountered/collected. Additionally, 3 species were only identified to the Family level, but this did not impact the functional group they were assigned to.