REEF member Peter Leahy has been conducting REEF surveys since 1994, and since then, he has contributed more than 4,700 surveys to the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project database. He enjoys exploring the REEF database and sharing how anyone can use this resource to gain their own insights. Peter recently looked at data comparing two similar species, Web Burrfish and Striped Burrfish, in Florida. He shares his thoughts and process below.

Web Burrfish vs Striped Burrfish in Florida and the Caribbean - text and photos contributed by Peter Leahy

There are many citizen scientists contributing data in the form of fish surveys to the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project. These contributions add up to more than 296,000 surveys over a thirty-one-year period worldwide. Of these, 192,000 surveys have been conducted in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) region. These data have been used by scientists and researchers, and are also accessible to the public, so anyone can gain insights about marine species.

Several types of reports are available on the REEF website, including Distribution Reports and Geographic Area Reports. Distribution Reports give sightings locations for a selected species or family, while Geographic Area Reports provide a species list and sighting data for a selected area or site. Click here to see a video on how to access a Geographic Area Report.

Using REEF Distribution Reports for both Web Burrfish and Striped Burrfish, and a REEF Geographic Area Report for Blue Heron Bridge, we can see if any patterns exist. We can then access another database, iNaturalist to hopefully affirm our findings. iNaturalist is a database where citizen scientists contribute images of species and corresponding locations. Other contributors on the site will agree with species identification or disagree and give another suggestion on the species. It produces good maps of where a given species has been observed, similar to a REEF Distribution Report with a map.

Using REEF Distribution Reports:

Webbed Burrfish Occurrence
Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) - 0.6% of all surveys, 1/160 surveys submitted, 1200 total times sighted. Most observations in the NW Caribbean, Lesser Antilles, and Continental Caribbean and Brazil. Rarely observed in Florida and Gulf of Mexico.
South Atlantic States (SAS) - 0.34% of all surveys, approximately 1/295 surveys submitted.
North Atlantic States (NAS) - Not Reported.

Striped Burrfish Occurrence
Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) - 0.36% of all surveys, approximately 1/280 surveys submitted, 685 total times sighted. Most observations are in Florida and Gulf of Mexico. Rarely in the Caribbean.
South Atlantic States (SAS) - 1.75% of all surveys, approximately 1/57 surveys submitted.
North Atlantic States (NAS) - 0.08% of all surveys, approximately 1/1250.

Using Geographic Area Report for Blue Heron Bridge:

Webbed Burrfish Occurrence
Occurs in 0.45% of surveys, 1/220 surveys, 12 times. One percent of Total Observations for this species have been at Blue Heron Bridge.

Striped Burrfish Occurrence
8.3% of surveys, 1/12 surveys, 220 times. 0.32% of Total Observations for this species have been at Blue Heron Bridge for this species.

Using iNaturalist Maps:

The REEF Distribution Reports for Web Burrfish and Striped Burrfish indicate that REEF surveyors rarely observe either of these species. The southern limit of the Web Burrfish's range is Venezuela, and Florida is the northern limit. The range for the Striped Burrfish extends from the Yucatan Peninsula in the south to Massachusetts in the north. This is in high concurrence with the iNaturalist Map of observations for each species.

Blue Heron Bridge has a greater than normal number of observations for both species than can be expected for any given site. One explanation is the substantial number of surveys recorded there. Another explanation is average survey length at this site is 72 minutes, compared to 51 minutes for other south Florida sites (from Jupiter Inlet to Key Biscayne, FL.) Another possibility is that Blue Heron Bridge has a unique geographic location, less than a mile from the easternmost point in Florida.

Peter Leahy grew up in Long Island, New York, where he developed a profound appreciation for inhabitants and nearby inhabitants of the surrounding water, especially fish. A thirty-five-year career as a marine engineer allowed him to travel the world and visit more than 60 countries. He has a B.A. in mathematics from Southern New Hampshire University, an M.S. in Data Analytics from Southern New Hampshire University, and an M.S. in Marine Science and Oceanography from Florida Atlantic University. He learned to scuba dive in 1989 in St. Croix and started conducting REEF surveys in 1994. He is now among the most prolific REEF surveyors, having conducted more than 4,700 REEF surveys to date. In addition to contributing surveys to REEF, he regularly contributes to Ebird.org and iNaturalist.org. He has been a PADI scuba instructor for thirty years and is a published underwater photographer. He can be frequently found at Lauderdale by the Sea and Blue Heron Bridge where he offers guided tours, Underwater Naturalist classes, and Fish ID courses. Tiger Gobies, Atlantic Spadefish, and all hamlet species are some of his favorite fishes.