2. Methods
2.1. Habitat choice experiment
To determine whether coral condition influences the habitat use
of the corallivorous butterflyfishes (C. aureofasciatus and
C. lunulatus), an aquarium choice experiment was undertaken.
Small juveniles of C. lunulatus were relatively hard to find in late
January, as such C. lunulatus trials consisted of one C. lunulatus
(mean ¼ 24.24 mm TL 0.48 SE) and two C. aureofasciatus. Proportional
habitat use in these trials was only calculated for
C. lunulatus, with the remaining two fish only used to ensure
comparable behaviour to that observed under field conditions
where multiple juveniles frequently co-occur within a single coral
colony (e.g. Cole and Pratchett, 2011). No aggressive interactions
were observed between the three individuals and they were predominantly
observed together as a group of three.