Seasonal biomass and diversity of estuarine fishes coupled with tropical habitat heterogeneity (southern Gulf of Mexico)

Abstract

Nekton dynamics were studied in two contrasting habitats in Terminos Lagoon, Mexico. Over an annual cycle, a total of 83 fish species used the high-salinity fringing mangrove/Tha/assiu resfudinum habitat and biomass ranged from 0.43 to 3.43 g m-z. The highest biomass occurred during the dry season when aquatic primary production was highest (i.e. 333 g C m-z year-'). By contrast, 65 species used the freshwater and low-salinity riverine mangrove/Crassostreu virginicu/Vu/lisneriu habitat and biomass ranged from 0.57 to 1.48g m2 with the highest biomass occurring during the wet season, the time of highest primary production in this habitat (i.e. 219 g C m-* yea-'). The high-and low-salinity habitats serve as ecological bridges between freshwater areas and the sea. Fish life histories have evolved to utilize these habitats for spawning, feeding and nursery grounds in a manner which generally leads to the use of different habitats during the periods of highest primary productivity.

Ontogenetic dietary changes of coral reef fishes in the mangrove-seagrass-reef continuum: stable isotopes and gut-content analysis

“…Such life-cycle migration patterns can be inferred from the spatial size frequency distributions of fish populations (e.g. Weinstein & Heck 1979, Yáñez-Arancibia et al 1988, Appeldoorn et al 1997, Blaber 1997, Cocheret de la Morinière et al 2002, since the spatial separation of the various size classes of a species suggests movement from one habitat to another (Werner & Gilliam 1984, Ross 1986. In our previous studies in Spanish Water Bay (Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles), a number of reef fish species which indeed use habitats such as mangroves and seagrass beds as nurseries were identified using a single technique (visual census) (Nagelkerken et al 2000b, Cocheret de la Morinière et al 2002.…”

Complex hydromorphology of meanders can support benthic invertebrate diversity in rivers

“…The functional linkage between habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity has been observed in several types of ecosystems, including terrestrial (Galley et al, 2009Jannsen et al, 2009, marine (Yanezarancibia et al, 1988;Hull et al, 2001), and freshwater environments (Harper et al, 1997;Williams et al, 2005). In addition, the relationship is observed at a hierarchical spatial scale, which exhibits distinct hydromorphological habitat and biotic characteristics.…”

Spatial and temporal variation in fish community structure of a marine embayment in Zanzibar, Tanzania

“…In many tropical estuaries, high primary production occurs in the warm and wet season, but in high-salinity fringing mangroves highest primary production occurs during the hot and dry season (Yá ñ ez- Arancibia et al, 1988). This can result into seasonal and spatial variation in fish densities and recruitment (Robertson & Duke, 1987;Yá ñ ez-Arancibia et al, 1988) as well as in fish community structure (Robertson & Duke, 1990).…”

“…In many tropical estuaries, high primary production occurs in the warm and wet season, but in high-salinity fringing mangroves highest primary production occurs during the hot and dry season (Yá ñ ez- Arancibia et al, 1988). This can result into seasonal and spatial variation in fish densities and recruitment (Robertson & Duke, 1987;Yá ñ ez-Arancibia et al, 1988) as well as in fish community structure (Robertson & Duke, 1990). The knowledge concerning the utilization by fish of mangroves and seagrass habitats in East Africa is limited to a few studies done in Kenya (Little et al, 1988;van der Velde et al, 1995a, b;De Troch et al, 1996;Kimani et al, 1996) and in Tanzania (Lugendo et al, 2005).…”