Territoriality and associated behaviour in three species of the genus Cephalopholis (Pisces: Serranidae) in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Social structure and behavioural mechanisms enabling sympatry in three species of predatory fish in the Gulf of Aqaba (Cephalopholis miniata (Forsskål), Cephalopholis argus Bloch and Schneider, and Cephalopholis henistiktos (Rüppell)) were examined in this study. C. miniata and C. argus formed compound interspecific territories in which they occurred in haremic groups consisting of a dominant male and two to 12 females. C. miniata and C. argus groups occupied territories of up to 475 m², and 2000 m² respectively, subdivided into secondary territories, each inhabited by an individual female. Observations of tagged fish disclosed behaviour patterns of patrolling by males, visiting the females, and antiparallel swimming of sexes. C. hemistiktos, in contrast, was monogamous and each pair jointly defended a common territory of up to 62 m². Among the three species the dominance hierarchy was C. argus > C. miniata > C. hemistiktos.