Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems remain largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine how the acoustic fish biodiversity varied depending on the depth and the type of island in six Polynesian islands. The link between benthic cover and fish sound diversity was established. In most islands, acoustic fish α-diversity decreased between 20 and 60 m but not between 60 and 120 m. Fish sound types community composition was more driven by depth, likely due to benthic coral cover differences, than by the type of island. These results show fish sounds exhibit a bathymetric stratification and can reflect different habitat features. It opens perspectives in the monitoring of mesophotic coral ecosystems using passive acoustics.

Depth range
20- 120 m

Mesophotic “mentions”
25 x (total of 6431 words)

Classification
* Presents original data
* Focused on 'mesophotic' depth range
* Focused on 'mesophotic coral ecosystem'

Fields
Acoustics
Biodiversity

Focusgroups
Fishes

Locations
French Polynesia

Platforms
In-situ instrumentation