Factors influencing spatial patterns of the ichthyofauna of low energy estuarine beaches in southern Brazil

Abstract

Estuarine beaches are low energy environments found along the coast in several protected places around the world, such as estuaries, bays or areas protected by submerged bars or coral reefs. Although common, these places have been poorly studied. Using a seine net, six beaches were sampled along an environmental gradient for 12 months. During this period, an increase of the dominant species following the increase in salinity and energy values was observed, whilst the opposite pattern occurred for species richness and abundance. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed spatial and temporal variations between beaches and months. Depth and marginal habitats appear to be more important factors than wave height and period, temperature, salinity and pH, which are normally used to describe fish habitat utilization patterns in beaches and estuaries. Nevertheless, specific sampling designs should be proposed to evaluate properly these questions.

Analysis of fish assemblages in sectors along a salinity gradient based on species, families and functional groups

“…Details of the surveys can be found in the following papers: Godefroid et al (1997), Spach et al (2003), Godefroid et al (2003), Spach et al (2004a, b), Falcão et al (2006), Félix et al (2006), Félix et al (2007a, b), Falcão et al (2008), Ignácio and Spach (2009), Contente et al (2011a), and Hackradt et al (2011). A total of 52 sites (18 in the mesohaline, 31 in the polyhaline and 22 in the euhaline zone) were considered (Fig.…”

“…Despite this conservation status, PEC has suffered from the impact of three ports (Paranaguá, Antonina and Ponta do Félix), dredging, discharge of domestic and industrial effluents, introduction of exotic species (VITULE et al 2006;CAIRES et al, 2007;CONTENTE et al, 2011b), and growing urbanization (LANA et al, 2001). The structure and composition of the fish assemblages along the east-west salinity gradient of the PEC, and their relationship to the abiotic factors of beaches (GODEFROID et al, 1997;FÉLIX et al, 2006;FÉLIX et al, 2007a, b;HACKRADT et al, 2011), rivers (CONTENTE et al, 2011a, tidal creeks SPACH et al, 2004a, b;) and tidal flats (FALCÃO et al, 2006;FALCÃO et al, 2008; has been widely studied, primarily using taxonomic metrics. Despite the varied studies, there is no integrated approach taking into account the spatial distribution across this gradient using taxonomic (families and species) and functional terms.…”

Environmental influences on resident and transient fishes across shallow estuarine beaches and tidal flats in a Brazilian World Heritage area

“…A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3 As with some tropical and temperate estuaries around the world (Gibson et al, 1996;Franco et al, 2006;Sheaves, 2006;Selleslagh and Amara, 2008a), the composition and temporal (diel and seasonal) variations in ichthyofauna associated with estuarine and embayment sandy beaches and tidal flats bordering the Western Atlantic Ocean have been described (Pessanha et al, 2003;Vendel et al, 2003;Spach et al, 2004Spach et al, , 2006Spach et al, , 2007Falcão et al, 2006;Félix et al, 2006;Vasconcellos et al, 2010;Hackradt et al, 2011). However, few studies have concurrently compared ichthyofauna across these habitats in any one estuary, and none have examined the simultaneous responses of associated fish assemblages to salinity and temperature changes.…”

Use of otolith microchemistry as habitat indicator of Anchoa tricolor (Spix and Agassiz, 1829) in a subtropical estuary

“…Anchovy, Anchoa tricolor (Spix & Agassiz, 1829) is common in different environments of the east coast of the South America, with ecological key role in transferring energy from plankton to higher trophic levels (Hackradt et al, 2011). It is a small pelagic fish with distribution range between 03°40'S and 37°58'S (Whitehead et al, 1988) that inhabit shallow coastal waters and transitional environments such as estuaries, mangroves and bays (Froese & Pauly, 2015).…”