Figure 6

Barplot of the year-round abundances of adult LDF Schindleria (y-axis) from the Red Sea (Thuwal, Saudi Arabia) caught with LED powered light traps (monthly, during five days around the new moon, from February 2015 to January 2016) at three different reefs along a cross-shelf gradient: one inshore (“yellow”), one at the mid-shelf (“green”), and one at the shelf edge (“blue”). Panel A: adult LDF Schindleria abundances in relation to sea surface temperatures (SST, in °C). The total number of individuals for each sampling site collected each month is given as vertical bars (values correspond to the y-axis to the left). Temperature (SST) profiles per reef are also color-coded and given as a continuous line (values correspond to y-axis to the right). A “light-blue” shaded box indicates the months with temperature minima (February to April) and an “orange” shaded box indicates the months with temperature maxima (August to October), representing the hottest and coldest seasons, following Robitzch et al.³⁵. Peaks of abundances are observed outside both boxes. Panel (B) to (D): adult LDF Schindleria abundances in relation to the abundance of larval fish recruits from light trap collections³⁵, color-coded per reef site as in Panel (A). The total number of adult LDF Schindleria individuals collected at each sampling site is given by vertical lines and their values correspond to the left y-axis. Profiles of the abundances of larval fish recruits are given by continuous lines and their scale is given by the right y-axis. Dashed boxes indicate the months with peaks in recruitment of coral reef fish larvae (sensu Robitzch et al.³⁵). Peaks of abundances of adult LDF Schindleria do not generally coincide with peaks of larval fish recruitment.