ABSTRACT
Hurricanes Gilbert and Hugo caused extensive damage to vegetation and property on the islands of Jamaica and St. Croix, respectively. Pre-and post-hurricane benthic surveys indicated that back reef, rubble-dwelling echinoderm faunas in Discovery Bay, Jamaica and Rod Bay, St. Croix were largely unaffected, both in terms of abundance and diversity. Post-hurricane predation levels, measured by ophiuroid tethering experiments, were not different from pre-hurricane values; consistent differences in predation among four Caribbean back reef localities were neither enhanced nor mitigated by the two storms. The proportion of individuals regenerating arms did not change significantly either, suggesting little rubble movement in the Discovery Bay and Rod Bay back reefs during the storms. Ophiuroid density in a rubble habitat in Salt River Canyon, a submarine canyon in St. Croix (15 m depth), had declined by nearly an order of magnitude two months after Hurricane Hugo.
