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Abstract

Proximity and size of the nearest market (market gravity) have been shown to have strong negative effects on coral reef fish communities that can be mitigated by the establishment of closed areas. However, moray eels are functionally unique predators that are generally not subject to targeted fishing and should therefore not directly be affected by these factors. We used baited remote underwater video systems to investigate associations between morays and anthropogenic, habitat, and ecological factors in the Caribbean region. Market gravity had a positive effect on morays, while the opposite pattern was observed in a predator group subject to exploitation (sharks). Environmental DNA analyses corroborated the positive effect of market gravity on morays. We hypothesize that the observed pattern could be the indirect result of the depletion of moray competitors and predators near humans.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Clementi, GM and Bakker, J and Flowers, KI and Postaire, BD and Babcock, EA and Bond, ME and Buddo, D and Cardenosa, D and Currey-Randall, LM and Goetze, JS and Harvey, ES and Heupel, M and Kiszka, JJ and Kyne, F and MacNeil, MA and Meekan, MG and Rees, MJ and Simpfendorfer, CA and Speed, CW and Heithaus, MR and Chapman, DD
Keywords:	moray eel. environmental science, ecology, biological sciences, zoology, animals, ethology
Journal or Publication Title:	iScience
Publisher:	Cell Press
ISSN:	2589-0042
DOI / ID Number:	10.1016/j.isci. 2021.102097
Copyright Information:	Copyright 2021 The Author(s)Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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