Caribbean seagrass communities provide juvenile fish areas to forage for food, protection and, nursery habitat. Starting in 2002, an invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea colonized many Caribbean islands displacing native seagrass. The impacts to juvenile fish that utilize seagrass communities remains under studied. We deployed fish traps in Frenchman, Lindbergh and Sprat Bay for 24h intervals in patches of bare sand, H. stipulacea and, native seagrasses Thalassia testudinum and Syrinodium filiforme. Relative total abundance of juvenile fish was identified to the species or family level and compared across treatment habitats for each trap. The results showed higher abundances of juvenile fish in the invasive seagrass compared to the native seagrass; mostly comprised of nocturnal carnivores like snappers and grunts (Family Lutjanidae & Haemulidae). The native seagrasses showed significantly higher species diversity compared to the invasive seagrass. The result show reduced family diversity and altered juvenile fish abundance within the invasive seagrass.
