SUMMARY: The deep-water rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris is a demersal decapod crustacean that is commercially exploited by trawl fleets. The present work compares its population dynamics, biology and condition in two locations (southern and north-western Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean, separated by a distance of 120 km) with different environmental conditions and explores the relationships between the species and certain environmental factors. Six multidisciplinary bimonthly surveys were carried out during 2003 and 2004 in these two locations (between 150 and 750 m depth) in order to collect data on the demersal species with bottom trawl, the hydrography (temperature and salinity) with CTD casts, and trophic resources (zooplankton in the water column and suprabenthos with Bongo net and Macer-GIROQ sledge respectively) and sediments with a Shipeck dredge. The trawl fleets from both locations were monitored by monthly on board sampling and daily landings obtained from sales bills. Additional data was obtained from other trawl surveys. Temporal differences were detected both annually, with a decreasing trend over the last years in species abundance, and seasonally, in the biological indexes analysed. Bathymetric differences were also found in abundance, mean length, sex-ratio and condition of females. There were clear differences between the two locations studied, with higher abundance, condition and mean length and a lower length at first maturity for females in the north-western location. Trophic conditions could act as a link between geo-physical and biological changes. These short spatio-temporal differences could be due to the higher productivity found at this location, with higher density of preferred prey for the studied species together with adequate seafloor topography, sediment composition and hydrographical characteristics.Keywords: Parapenaeus longirostris, reproduction, fishery, spatio-temporal variations, hydrography, bottom characteristics, prey availability.
RESUMEN:Variaciones espacio-temporales a pequeña escala en la dinámica poblacional y biología de la gamba blanca ParaPenaeus longirostris (Crustacea: Decapoda) en el Mediterráneo occidental. -La gamba blanca Parapenaeus longirostris es un crustáceo decápodo demersal explotado comercialmente por la flota de arrastre. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo comparar su dinámica poblacional, biología y condición en dos localidades (situadas al sur y al noroeste de Mallorca en las Islas Baleares, Mediterráneo occidental, separadas por 120 km de distancia) con diferentes condiciones ambientales y explorar las relaciones entre la especie y algunos factores ambientales. Se realizaron seis campañas multidisciplinares bimensuales durante 2003 y 2004 en estas dos localidades (entre 150 y 750 m de profundidad) para obtener datos de las especies demersales con arrastre de fondo, de la hidrografía (temperatura y salinidad) con registros de CTD, de los recursos tróficos (zooplancton de la columna de agua y suprabentos, con una red Bongo...