Turbidity and salinity in a tropical northern Australian estuary and their influence on fish distribution

Cyrus, D. P.; Blaber, S. J. M.

doi:10.1016/s0272-7714(05)80038-1

Cited by 144 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In the Sepetiba Bay, transparency presents a marked gradient with the lowest values in the inner zone, and the highest values in the outer zone. According to CYRUS & BLABER (1992), areas with low transparency enhance protection against predators and indicate more food availability. Spatial segregation was evident for Sciaenidae populations in relation to transparency; C. gracilicirrhus, C. leiarchus and M. americanus occurred in higher transparent waters, while M. furnieri, in the lowest transparency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental influences on distribution of four Sciaenidae species (Actinopterygii, Perciformes) in a tropical bay at Southeastern Brazil

2006

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We sampled fish and measured environmental variables in the Sepetiba Bay, a tropical embayment at Southeastern Brazil. The aim was to assess environmental influences on distribution of four abundant species of Sciaenidae Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest, 1823), Ctenosciaena gracilicirrhus (Metzelaar, 1919), Cynoscion leiarchus (Cuvier, 1830) and Menticirrhus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758) to test the habitat partition hypothesis. Samples were taken between June 1993 and July 1996, at three bay zones (outer, central and inner). Depth was the most important environmental variable to influence fish distribution, followed by transparency. M. furnieri showed significant negative correlation to depth, transparency and salinity, while C. gracilicirrhus showed the opposite situation. The highest densities of C. leiarchus occurred in the lowest temperature, while M. americanus did not showed preferences for any of the examined environmental variables. Spatial separation, mainly between M. furnieri and C. gracilicirrhus, seems to be the strategy developed to coexist in the Sepetiba Bay, with M. furnieri being more adapted to copy with harsh environmental conditions of the inner bay. The other three species, which use mostly the outer bay zone, seem to be restricted to more stable conditions, where influences from oceanic waters are more intense.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental influences on distribution of four Sciaenidae species (Actinopterygii, Perciformes) in a tropical bay at Southeastern Brazil

2006

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“…Estuarine fish abundances are linked to annual fluctuations in freshwater discharge (Cyrus and Blaber 1992). Levels of freshwater runoff are determined by climate (e.g.…”

Section: Freshwater Flow Estuarine Fishesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting range shifts among Australian fishes in response to climate change

Booth

Bond

Macreadie

2011

Mar. Freshwater Res.

143

136

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Abstract. One of the most obvious and expected impacts of climate change is a shift in the distributional range of organisms, which could have considerable ecological and economic consequences. Australian waters are hotspots for climate-induced environmental changes; here, we review these potential changes and their apparent and potential implications for freshwater, estuarine and marine fish. Our meta-analysis detected ,300 papers globally on 'fish' and 'range shifts', with ,7% being from Australia. Of the Australian papers, only one study exhibited definitive evidence of climate-induced range shifts, with most studies focussing instead on future predictions. There was little consensus in the literature regarding the definition of 'range', largely because of populations having distributions that fluctuate regularly. For example, many marine populations have broad dispersal of offspring (causing vagrancy). Similarly, in freshwater and estuarine systems, regular environmental changes (e.g. seasonal, ENSO cycles -not related to climate change) cause expansion and contraction of populations, which confounds efforts to detect range 'shifts'. We found that increases in water temperature, reduced freshwater flows and changes in ocean currents are likely to be the key drivers of climateinduced range shifts in Australian fishes. Although large-scale frequent and rigorous direct surveys of fishes across their entire distributional ranges, especially at range edges, will be essential to detect range shifts of fishes in response to climate change, we suggest careful co-opting of fisheries, museum and other regional databases as a potential, but imperfect alternative.

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“…The spatial preferences of organisms within estuaries and their adjacent coastal areas are intrinsically related to the salinity gradient (Cyrus and Blaber, 1992;Thiel et al, 1995), whereas spawning seasons are dictated by temperature evolution. In fact, temperature is related to the adult reproductive cycle and spawning (Holmes and Henderson, 1990;Palomera, 1992).…”

Section: Identification Of the Most Important Spawning Grounds And Sementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to temperature and salinity (Blaxter, 1992;Motos et al, 1996), several other parameters such as seston (Cyrus and Blaber, 1992;North and Houde, 2003), suspended organic matter, chlorophyll a and river flow (Loneragan and Bunn, 1999;Whitfield and Harrison, 2003) decisively affect spatial organization of estuarine communities (Jaureguizar et al, 2004). The start of most species' reproduction periods coincide with periods of greater food availability, thereby ensuring greater larval development success and explaining the link between spawning dynamics and chlorophyll a and seston concentrations.…”

Section: Identification Of the Most Important Spawning Grounds And Sementioning

confidence: 99%

Ichthyoplankton dynamics in the Guadiana estuary and adjacent coastal area, South-East Portugal

Faria

Morais

Chícharo

2006

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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The species composition, abundance and distribution of the ichthyoplankton of the Guadiana estuary and adjacent coastal area were studied in relation to several environmental parameters. Sampling occurred during new moon Spring tides, at the ebb and flood, at nine stations, from March 2002 to February 2003. Temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic macronutrients, seston and organic matter and chlorophyll a were determined at each station. A total of 22 and 34 fish eggs and larvae taxa were identified, respectively. The highest abundances were registered in the lower and middle part of the estuary, probably due to the presence of species that use the estuary as a preferential spawning ground, mainly Pomatoschistus spp. and Engraulis encrasicolus sensu lato. Temporal patterns of occurrence of ichthyoplankton allowed each species' spawning season to be determined. Two taxa dominated the ichthyoplanktonic community during spring and summer (Pomatoschistus spp. and E. encrasicolus), whereas Sardina pilchardus was particularly abundant during autumn and winter. The forcing variables responsible for community structure were chlorophyll a and seston for eggs, while temperature, salinity and nitrite explained the larval component. Comparisons of the results with previous ichthyoplankton studies of the Guadiana estuary conducted before the Alqueva dam was built also indicate that river flow has an important impact on the distribution and abundance of ichthyoplankton in the estuary.

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Turbidity and salinity in a tropical northern Australian estuary and their influence on fish distribution

Cited by 144 publications

References 23 publications

Environmental influences on distribution of four Sciaenidae species (Actinopterygii, Perciformes) in a tropical bay at Southeastern Brazil

Environmental influences on distribution of four Sciaenidae species (Actinopterygii, Perciformes) in a tropical bay at Southeastern Brazil

Detecting range shifts among Australian fishes in response to climate change

Ichthyoplankton dynamics in the Guadiana estuary and adjacent coastal area, South-East Portugal

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