Environmental factors influencing the settlement of Diplodus spp. juveniles in temperate marine rocky shores

Event Abstract Back to Event Environmental factors influencing the settlement of Diplodus spp. juveniles in temperate marine rocky shores Pedro Duarte-Coelho1, Ruxanda Lungu1, Joana Martins1, Diana Vieira1, Ana Coelho1, José Neto1, Sofia P. Sousa1, Pedro R. Almeida2 and Frederico Almada1* 1 Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida, MARE, Portugal 2 Universidade de Évora, MARE, Portugal Long-term biological data series on marine species are useful to reveal trends emerging from yearly fluctuations that are difficult to evaluate in regular short-term studies. They can also clarify the importance of different environmental factors in fish reproduction and settling, disentangling effects of different environmental factors. Examples in literature, include long-term studies in the North Sea and around the British Isles. A small recently classified marine protected area in the west coast of Portugal (Avencas Marine Protected Area), has been regularly surveyed since 2009. These unusual large intertidal rocky platforms are seasonally used by non-resident ichthyofauna as nursery and settlement ground before juveniles move to their subtidal habitats. In general, early life stages are more susceptible to changing environmental conditions and therefore, ecological driven effects should become more evident when monitoring programs target early life stages. This monitoring study targeted a small number of species belonging to the genus Diplodus, representing a group of marine demersal fish species of significant commercial interest and whose early life stages are regularly found in rocky coastal areas. The most abundant species are the white seabream (D. sargus) followed by the common two-banded seabream (D. vulgaris). Other species from the same genus present distinct environmental preferences highlighted by marked differences in their geographic distribution. D. cervinus and D. puntazzo show preference for milder thermal conditions, being rare in areas to the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Along this 10 year monitoring program two unusual episodes were observed: (1) the predominant species (D. sargus) was replaced by D. vulgaris in 2009; (2) the onset of a dramatic drop in the abundance of all Diplodus species started in 2016 and no recovery was yet observed. With this work we evaluate yearly variations of abundance of juvenile fish from different Diplodus species. Additionally we determine which key environmental factors influence their abundances and the onset and offset of their occurrence in these nursery grounds. Figure 1 Keywords: Sparidae, Commercial fish, abundance, Long-term study, Nursery ground Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management Citation: Duarte-Coelho P, Lungu R, Martins J, Vieira D, Coelho A, Neto J, Sousa SP, Almeida PR and Almada F (2019). Environmental factors influencing the settlement of Diplodus spp. juveniles in temperate marine rocky shores. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00067 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Apr 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. Frederico Almada, Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida, MARE, Lisbon, Portugal, frederico.almada@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Pedro Duarte-Coelho Ruxanda Lungu Joana Martins Diana Vieira Ana Coelho José Neto Sofia P Sousa Pedro R Almeida Frederico Almada Google Pedro Duarte-Coelho Ruxanda Lungu Joana Martins Diana Vieira Ana Coelho José Neto Sofia P Sousa Pedro R Almeida Frederico Almada Google Scholar Pedro Duarte-Coelho Ruxanda Lungu Joana Martins Diana Vieira Ana Coelho José Neto Sofia P Sousa Pedro R Almeida Frederico Almada PubMed Pedro Duarte-Coelho Ruxanda Lungu Joana Martins Diana Vieira Ana Coelho José Neto Sofia P Sousa Pedro R Almeida Frederico Almada Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.