Microhabitat utilisation by an assemblage of temperate Gobiidae (Pisces: Teleostei)

Abstract

An assemblage of Gobiidae in Lough Hyne, southwest Ireland, was investigated to assess interspecific and seasonal differences in microhabitat utilisation. Five microhabitat guilds were distinguished using canonical correspondence analysis, comprising 2 semi-hyperbenthic guilds and 3 epibenthic guilds. Differential preferences for each environmental variable measured were examined using Jacobs' version of Ivlev's electivity index. Members of different guilds exhibited differential microhabitat use, whilst members of the same guild exhibited only subtle differences in microhabitat utilisation. Few seasonal variations were observed, with guilds maintaining their separation seasonally.

Trophic niche partitioning of littoral fish species from the rocky intertidal of Helgoland, Germany

“…Leitao et al (2006) characterized P. minutus as an opportunistic carnivorous species, with a feeding mode which is confirmed by the wide d 13 C ranges found in our field study. This is in line with studies reporting on similar feeding preferences of both species with only slightly different dietary sources (Wheeler and Du Heaume 1969;Hureau et al 1986) and minor differences in habitat preference in terms of microhabitat utilization: semi-hyperbenthic (P. pictus) versus epibenthic (P. minutus) guilds identified by Wilkins and Myers (1992). We are aware that the different sampling sites in this study might have been influenced by differences in microhabitat utilization.…”

The influence of offshore windpower on demersal fish

“…The control sites (three at Olsängs Yttre Kulle, three at Utgrunden) where the same survey design was applied are included for general comparison. At the control sites, the sampling of the monopiles was substituted by searching the open water column above the central reference point (C 1969; Costello, 1992;Wilkins and Myers, 1992). High densities of planktivorous fish have been noted on other vertical artificial structures such as pier pilings (Rilov and Benayahu, 1998), high profile shipwrecks (Wilhelmsson et al, 1998), and experimental midwater structures (FADs; Rountree, 1989).…”

“…Artificial reefs can further support assemblages of fish and epibiota that are different from natural communities (Ambrose and Swarbrick, 1989;Connell and Glasby, 1999;Rilov and Benayahu, 2000). Moreover, solid structures can change local abiotic conditions, such as hydrodynamics and light climate, influencing the composition of the epibiota in the surrounding bottom area (Guichard et al, 2001), which could have additional effects on local fish assemblages (Wilkins and Myers, 1992). Socalled Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) are created differently from artificial reefs.…”

Patterns in the variations of copepod spring and summer abundance in the northeastern Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea in cold and warm years during the 1980s and 1990s

“…CANOCO (canonical community ordination), which is free from assumptions of linearity between species abundance, can detect unimodal relationships between species and environmental variables (ter Braak, 1986(ter Braak, , 1987a. For a more detailed description and documentation of CANOCO, readers are encouraged to consult the literature covering, for instance, marine phytoplankton communities (Bakker et al, 1990) and marine and freshwater fish communities (Copp, 1992;Wilkins and Myers, 1992).…”