Comparisons between the roles played by estuaries in the life cycles of fishes in temperate Western Australia and Southern Africa

Potter, I. C.; Beckley, L.E.; Whitfield, Alan K.; Lenanton, R.C.J.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-2065-1_9

Cited by 124 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 134 publications

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“…Potter et al, 1990;Ayvazian & Hyndes, 1995). Since the large numbers of M. scabriceps collected by trawling during the present study contained both a wide size range and sexually-mature representatives of this species, the sandy areas in water depths of 5-35 m provide a major habitat for this scorpaenid.…”

Section: Distribution and Size Compositionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Distributions, Size Compositions and Diets of Two Abundant Benthic Ambush-Feeding Teleosts in Coastal Waters of South-Western Australia

Platell

Potter

1998

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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The scorpaenid Maxillicosta scabriceps (Teleostei) and the platycephalid Platycephalus longispinis (Teleostei) were trawled seasonally for a year from shallow (5-15 m) and deeper (20-35 m) waters in four distantly-located regions of the inner continental shelf of south-western Australia. The former species was more abundant in southern regions, which is consistent with its temperate distribution, while the latter species was more abundant in deep than shallow waters. Unlike M. scabriceps, P. longispinis with total lengths < 110 mm were rarely caught, indicating that this latter species only moves on to the sandy substrate of the inner shelf when it reaches a certain size. As M. scabriceps increased in size, the contributions of mysids, amphipods and oxyrhyncan crabs to the diet declined, while those of carid decapods and brachyrhyncan crabs increased. The invertebrate fauna ingested by the smallest length-class of P. longispinis, 110-139 mm, was similar to that of the same and largest length-class of M. scabriceps. However, unlike M. scabriceps, this length-class of P. longispinis consumed teleosts, despite having a relatively smaller mouth. The contribution of teleosts subsequently increased as P. longispinis increased in size, a feature reflected by the relatively low dietary breadth of large fish. The marked shift in the types of prey ingested by P. longispinis as it increased in size accounted for the fact that, in contrast to M. scabriceps, there was limited dietary overlap between the larger and smaller members of this platycephalid. The ability of P. longispinis to ingest other fish is presumably related to the fact that platycephalids lie just under the substrate surface and are thus concealed from their potential prey, and that they are able to emerge rapidly and pursue their prey. Unlike several other local demersal fish species, M. scabriceps and P. longispinis ingested only a small amount of sediment, implying that these ambush predators target their prey very precisely, a foraging mode that would be facilitated by the epibenthic and conspicuous nature of their prey. The absence of marked differences in the dietary compositions of these two species in different regions, water depths and seasons is consistent with a specific mode of foraging by these species. INTRODUCTIONDemersal species of teleosts are essentially restricted to feeding on those prey that are found either in or close to the substrate and which typically comprise polychaetes, molluscs, crustaceans and small benthic teleosts (Gibson & Ezzi, 1987; HarmelinVivien et al., 1989;Meyer & Smale, 1991). However, the dietary compositions of the various species within demersal fish communities sometimes differ quite markedly, reflecting the different modes of feeding that are associated with a range of morphological and behavioural adaptations (e.g. Blaber & Bulman, 1987; Gibson & 588 M.E. PLATELL AND I.C. POTTER Ezzi, 1987;Fujita et al., 1995;Motta et al., 1995). Yet it is still frequently possible to group different species within a demersal f...

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Section: Distribution and Size Compositionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Distributions, Size Compositions and Diets of Two Abundant Benthic Ambush-Feeding Teleosts in Coastal Waters of South-Western Australia

Platell

Potter

1998

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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“…The chalcis, however, spawns in deep water in dense shoals" and "the mullet goes up from the sea to marshes and rivers; the eels, on the contrary, make their way down from the marshes and rivers to the sea" (Historia Animalium VI, translated by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson). More recently, extensive studies of estuarine fish have resulted in the recognition of a number of life cycle categories (Day et al, 1981;Potter et al, 1990). For instance, Whitfield (1999) proposed and described seven life cycle categories for fish using coastal areas of South Africa and Dall et al (1990) described four strategies for penaeid prawns.…”

Section: Life Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other animals appear to have a critical dependence on shallow inshore areas (primarily in the early-life stages) and are thought to benefit in terms of rapid growth and enhanced predator avoidance (Boesch and Turner, 1984;Rozas and Odum, 1988;Sogard, 1992;Gibson, 1994;Perkins-Visser et al, 1996;Rooker and Holt, 1997). In contrast, some animals use inshore areas only occasionally, this often occurring when conditions fluctuate in their favour (termed 'stragglers' by Potter et al, 1990 andWhitfield, 1999). Potter et al (1990) estimated at least 70 % of species recorded in estuaries of south-western Australia and temperate southern Africa were 'marine stragglers'.…”

Section: Life Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, some animals use inshore areas only occasionally, this often occurring when conditions fluctuate in their favour (termed 'stragglers' by Potter et al, 1990 andWhitfield, 1999). Potter et al (1990) estimated at least 70 % of species recorded in estuaries of south-western Australia and temperate southern Africa were 'marine stragglers'. Furthermore, some life cycles will directly link terrestrial and aquatic environments, such as through the spawning activities of semi-terrestrial crabs, which have evolved to live on land but spawn in the sea, thus ensuring the broad-scale distribution of their progeny.…”

Section: Life Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Movements of Marine Fish and Decapod Crustaceans: Process, Theory and Application

Pittman

McAlpine

2003

Advances in Marine Biology

217

178

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“…In contrasting fish assemblages in western Australia and southern Africa, Potter et al (1990) took an anthropocentric view of fish utilization of coastal habitat types, particularly with regard to estuarine dependence. They adopted a geological definition of an estuary (Pritchard 1967) and then modified it to also include water bodies that are only periodically open to the sea.…”

Section: Estuarine Dependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of resource use by fishes and macroinvertebrates in Barataria Bay, Louisiana

Jones¹,

Baltz

Allen³

2002

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We examined patterns of resource use by size classes of fishes and macroinvertebrates in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Analyses were based on microhabitat data characterized by water depth, distance from shore, substrate, salinity, dissolved oxygen and temperature. Stratified random samples along the salinity gradient from the nearshore Gulf of Mexico to about 30 km inland were taken monthly with a 1 m beam trawl to characterize distributions of fishes, macroinvertebrates and environmental conditions. From October 1992 through September 1993, 31 602 individuals belonging to 70 species were collected. The 10 most abundant species plus 3 others of special interest were chosen for further analyses. Seasonal differences in environmental variables and differences in resource use among species within ecological groups and within selected species were evaluated by 1-way ANOVAs. A factor analysis resolved 6 environmental variables into 3 orthogonal axes that simplified visualization and comparisons within and among species. Three factors accounted for 70% of the environmental variance and represented seasonality, distance-depth and substrate-salinity axes. Twelve of 13 species showed statistically significant differences between size classes in use of temperature, but some differences were probably due to seasonal temperature changes and the ephemeral nature of life history stages. Within-species differences were less prevalent for variables other than temperature, and the majority were related to use of deeper water as size increased. When seasonal, spatial and size-structured distributions were compared, species with peak abundances during the same seasons had the highest ecological overlaps. Ecological overlaps of 3 closely related species pairs were generally below the mean for the assemblage. Understanding patterns of resource use and the environmental requirements of estuarine-dependent species is an important step in identifying and protecting nursery habitats.

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Comparisons between the roles played by estuaries in the life cycles of fishes in temperate Western Australia and Southern Africa

Cited by 124 publications

References 134 publications

Distributions, Size Compositions and Diets of Two Abundant Benthic Ambush-Feeding Teleosts in Coastal Waters of South-Western Australia

Distributions, Size Compositions and Diets of Two Abundant Benthic Ambush-Feeding Teleosts in Coastal Waters of South-Western Australia

Movements of Marine Fish and Decapod Crustaceans: Process, Theory and Application

Patterns of resource use by fishes and macroinvertebrates in Barataria Bay, Louisiana

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