Effect of environment on spatio-temporal structuring of fish assemblages in a monsoon-influenced tropical estuary

Abstract

Assessment of finfish and shellfish species were carried out for a period of three years through continuous surveys (400 gillnet fishing experiments) with a total fishing effort of 100 fishing days along the Zuari estuary. This study yielded 286 finfish and shellfish species comprising of 156 demersal fish, 68 pelagic fish, 38 molluscan and 24 crustacean species. The species observed in this study covered all the trophic levels in the food web as well as the ecologically vulnerable and less resilient species (20-25%). Majority of the commercially important species of Zuari estuary were also collected in this study contribute to 70% of the catch.

A global assessment of fish estuary associations: A numerical approach to assessing estuary‐associated fish functional guilds

“…Seine netting, for example is effective for sampling fishes in littoral areas, gill nets typically sample larger fishes in deeper waters, while trawling tends to target benthic and demersal fishes in the estuary channel. Sreekanth et al., (2019) noted that the Zuari Estuary was dominated by marine species with estuarine species contributing little to the fish communities; this was also reflected in the overall E‐FEAS values which exceeded 4.0, indicating a system dominated by marine species. This system, however, was only sampled using gill nets (Sreekanth et al., 2019).…”

“…Sreekanth et al., (2019) noted that the Zuari Estuary was dominated by marine species with estuarine species contributing little to the fish communities; this was also reflected in the overall E‐FEAS values which exceeded 4.0, indicating a system dominated by marine species. This system, however, was only sampled using gill nets (Sreekanth et al., 2019). Gill nets are highly selective particularly in terms of fish size; estuarine species are typically small fishes and may not be susceptible to capture by this method, furthermore many estuarine species such as gobies are benthic species and may also not be prone to capture.…”

“…Temporal patterns in estuarine fish communities were investigated using data from studies in the Mhlanga Estuary, South Africa (Harrison & Whitfield, 1995), Zuari Estuary, India (Sreekanth et al., 2019) and the Patos Lagoon Estuary, Brazil (Garcia et al., 2001).…”

“…Sreekanth et al., (2019) investigated the spatio‐temporal dynamics of fish and shellfish assemblages in the tropical monsoon‐influenced Zuari Estuary on the south‐west coast of India. Data collected from this study spanned three years (2013–2016) and included the pre‐monsoon, monsoon and post‐monsoon seasons.…”

A checklist of fish and shellfishes of the Poonthura estuary, southwestern coast of India

“…The estuaries, backwaters, coastal creeks and large brackishwater systems contribute to a significant part of fish production in India (Nair et al 1983;Tudu et al 2018). The peculiarity of Indian estuaries is that they are characterized by high species diversity with low numerical abundance (Sreekanth et al 2019). Poonthura Estuary situated in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala is comparatively small and shallow, and is formed due to the formation of a sand bar near the estuarine mouth (Kiranya et al 2018).…”