Zarco-Perello, Salvador, Taylor, Brett M., Thepot, Valentin, Bennett, Scott, and Hoey, Andrew S. (2025) The biology, ecology, fisheries and aquaculture of rabbitfishes (Siganidae). In: Russell, B.D., and Todd, P.A., (eds.) Oceanography and Marine Biology an Annual Review. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp. 163-193.

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Abstract

Rabbitfishes (Siganidae) are common members of coastal and estuarine fish assem-blages throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, where they contribute to key ecological processes and ecosystem goods and services. In this review, we summarise current knowledge of the phy-logeny, biogeography, life history, habitat associations, feeding ecology, fisheries and aquaculture production of rabbitfishes (Siganidae). Rabbitfishes, which consist of 29-32 species within the single genus Siganus, display remarkable diversity of biological traits that make them unique from other families of herbivorous fishes. Their tolerances to environmental conditions and plastic life history characteristics have allowed them to colonise diverse ecosystems, expand their ranges to higher latitudes, emerge among the most important consumers of macroalgae and seagrass, sus-tain high intensity fisheries and be very promising for the aquaculture industry. While research on rabbitfishes has started to highlight their importance, further biological and ecological research is needed on more species across different spatial and temporal scales to better understand their relevance for ecosystem functions, their responses to disturbances and the sustainable harvesting of wild populations and aquaculture production.

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