Recruitment of juvenile fishes into a small temperate choked lagoon (Argentina) and the influence of environmental factors during the process

Authors

  • Daniel O. Bruno Laboratorio de Ecología, Fisiología y Evolución de Organismos Acuáticos. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET)
  • María B. Cousseau Laboratorio de Biotaxonomía Morfológica y Molecular de Peces (BIMOPE). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Laboratorio de Ictiología. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
  • Juan M. Díaz de Astarloa Laboratorio de Biotaxonomía Morfológica y Molecular de Peces (BIMOPE). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC-CONICET)
  • Eduardo M. Acha Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC-CONICET) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04085.02A

Keywords:

nursery grounds, fish, juvenile, brackish water environment, surf zone, environmental factors, winds, Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon

Abstract


Juvenile fishes were sampled every 15 days from September 2009 to April 2010 along the marine-estuarine gradient (surf zone, estuary and a freshwater stream) of the Mar Chiquita lagoon, Argentina. The temporal variations of juvenile assemblages in spring-summer and the environmental variables related to the spatial and temporal patterns were analysed. Four groups of sampling stations were defined, indicating differences in fish composition among zones during the spring–early summer period (Groups I to III), while the composition of juvenile fishes was homogeneous along the marine-estuarine gradient during the late summer–early autumn period (Group IV). Platanichthys platana and Ramnogaster arcuata (Group A) and Odontesthes argentinensis and Brevoortia aureaz (Group B) contributed most to the temporal differences observed. The three first species reached this estuarine system in spring, although with lower abundances than in early summer, while B. aurea was dominant in late summer–early autumn, showing different periods of recruitment of these species into the lagoon. After factoring out variation due to shared spatial-temporal-environmental factors (4.43%), canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that temporal factors had an almost five times greater contribution (15.15%) than spatial factors (2.85%) and almost twice as great as the pure environmental factors (8.11%) to explaining the variation in abundance of the juvenile fishes. From the significant environmental variables incorporated in the CCA, wind direction contributed more than water temperature, salinity or transparency in explaining data variability. Indeed, most species were related to “onshore winds” and therefore the importance of wind in the successful recruitment of juveniles into this shallow and micro-tidal estuary is discussed.

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Published

2015-03-30

How to Cite

1.
Bruno DO, Cousseau MB, Díaz de Astarloa JM, Acha EM. Recruitment of juvenile fishes into a small temperate choked lagoon (Argentina) and the influence of environmental factors during the process. Sci. mar. [Internet]. 2015Mar.30 [cited 2024Mar.28];79(1):43-55. Available from: https://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1566

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