Linkages between rocky reefs and soft-bottom habitats: Effects of predation and granulometry on sandy macrofaunal assemblages

Habitat influence in the morphological diversity of coastal fish assemblages

“…The assemblages inhabiting areas with mixture of bottoms showed higher number of species (CA15, CSEA15, CS15 or CR15), agreeing with many studies that assure that more complex substrates support richer and more diverse assemblages (Barros et al, 2001;García-Charton and Pérez-Ruzafa, 2001;La Mesa et al, 2010;Martins et al, 2013). The presence of hard substrata allows the development of a great biodiversity of epibenthic fauna and algae species, potential food resources for fishes living on different bottoms, i.e., Pagellus spp.…”

“…and Diplodus spp. (Martins et al, 2013;Ruitton et al, 2000). Moreover, holes or caves provide shelters for benthic species, which can settle or hide reducing encounter rates with predators, such as scorpaenids (Scorpaena spp.…”

“…(Trachinidae) or Lophius spp. (Lophiidae) (Franco et al, 2006;Guidetti, 2000;Letourneur et al, 2001;Martins et al, 2013;Tuya et al, 2005).…”

Benthic effects of artificial structures deployed in a tidal estuary

“…Because variations in the composition of the infauna did not appear to be correlated with changes seen in sediment characteristics and significant differences were not detected between the AS and reference locations, we rejected our second hypothesis. This is in contrast to Barros et al (2001) and Martins et al (2013) who found larger grain sizes (coarse sand and gravel) with proximity to a natural rocky reef and also found significant differences in infaunal community composition adjacent to the reefs compared to 11-16 m away from the reefs. In southern California, Ambrose & Anderson (1990) also found coarser sediments (>500 µm) closer to an artificial reef than at 10 or 20 m away and showed differences in infaunal composition closer to the reef versus various distances further away.…”

“…Thus, our first hypothesis that sediment characteristics would be affected by structure was supported: the detectable effect ending at 5 m from the lower bay structures. These results concur with previous literature that demonstrate a trend of smaller grain sizes away from rocky reefs (Barros et al 2001, Martins et al 2013) with differences at 1 m versus further away from the reefs.…”