Seasonal, tidal and diurnal changes in fish assemblages in the Ria Formosa lagoon (Portugal)

Ichthyofauna associated with Cymodocea nodosa meadows in the Canarian Archipelago (central eastern Atlantic): Community structure and nursery role

“…The studies conducted thus far in the Mediterranean (Reina-Hervás and Serrano 1987, Guidetti and Bussotti 2000, Verdiell-Cubedo et al 2007, Iberian Atlantic (Ribeiro et al 2006), and Canarian Archipelago (Mena et al 1993, Aguilera et al 1994, Polifrone et al 2006, Tuya et al 2006) coincide with our results and indicate that the C. nodosa meadows play an important nursery role, sheltering a large number of fingerlings and juveniles of many fish species. This implies that C. nodosa meadows contribute significantly to fish production and the conservation of coastal fish communities, since after the juvenile stage the individuals of most species abandon the meadows and move to other habitats (Aguilera et al 1994, Tuya et al 2004, Polifrone et al 2006.…”

“…The high mean abundance values recorded indicate that in the springsummer period these meadows are important nurseries for fish. This study confirms that different species adapt their development strategy to the vegetative phenology of C. nodosa, taking advantage of the high structural complexity of the meadows, as previously reported for the Canary Islands (Polifrone et al 2006, Tuya et al 2006, Iberian Atlantic (Ribeiro et al 2006), and Mediterranean (Reina-Hervás and Serrano 1987, Guidetti and Bussotti 2000. Juveniles of other commercially important species were observed but were not abundant, so it is important to conduct surveys, over at least one annual cycle, to determine whether these species use the seagrass meadows as nursery grounds during other periods of the year, thus preventing interspecific competition.…”

“…Precisamente en las especies de esta última familia radica la principal diferencia cualitativa debido, fundamentalmente, a las especies del género Symphodus (hasta siete especies en praderas del Mediterráneo vs dos en las praderas Canarias). Lo mismo sucede en las praderas de C. nodosa localizadas en la laguna de Ría Formosa (sur de Portugal), ya que de las 44 especies registradas por Ribeiro et al (2006), nueve fueron de la familia Labridae y ninguna de ellas aparece en las praderas de Canarias.…”

“…It is precisely the species of this latter family that are responsible for the main qualitative difference, basically due to species of the genus Symphodus (up to seven species in the Mediterranean meadows vs two in the Canarian meadows). Likewise, of the 44 species recorded by Ribeiro et al (2006) in the C. nodosa meadows located in the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal), nine belonged to the family Labridae and none occur in the Canarian meadows.…”

Diel Variations and Ecological Aspects in Fish Assemblages of a Sandy Beach in the Semi-Arid Region of Northeast Brazil.

“…This ecosystem can be used for diverse purposes, such as (1) daily movements among adjacent habitats, (2) changes in patterns of local activities (e.g. foraging and breeding activities, predator avoidance behavior) and (3) response to variations in the physical conditions (Rountree & Able, 1993;Morrison et al, 2002;Ribeiro et al, 2006;Hagan & Able, 2008). The behavior of the ichthyofauna along the diel light cycle differs among species, generating differences in catchability (Parsley et al, 1989).…”