| Abstract: | - 1. A visual assessment method, called Discrete Group Censusing, was used to assess and monitor five coral reef fish assemblages in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, Florida, USA.
- 2. Samples were obtained quarterly from Winter 1988 to Autumn 1990 to investigate a possible relation between the variability of reef fish assemblages and human disturbance.
- 3. Two types of disturbance were studied: a ship grounding that occurred 4 years previous to the study, and intensive, recreational snorkel and SCUBA diving. These disturbances appeared to have no short-term effect on the temporal variability of the reef fish assemblages during the study period.
- 4. Furthermore, the assemblages at all five study sites appeared to be extremely stable over the 2 year period of the study. These results support the theory that coral reef fish assemblages are highly ordered and stable over relatively large spatial scales.
- 5. The Discrete Group Censusing visual assessment method was found to be a valuable and easily applied tool for the nondestructive in situ monitoring of reef fish assemblages on coral reefs.
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