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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(2)

Changes in distribution and abundance of juvenile fishes in intertidal soft sediment areas dominated by the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus

Paulina Martinetto A B C , Pablo Ribeiro A B and Oscar Iribarne A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología (FCEyN), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central (7600), Mar del Plata, Argentina.

B Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina.

C Corresponding author. Email: pmartin@mdp.edu.ar

Marine and Freshwater Research 58(2) 194-203 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF06079
Submitted: 10 May 2006  Accepted: 2 November 2006   Published: 8 February 2007

Abstract

Intertidal estuarine areas located between southern Brazil and the northern Argentinean Patagonia are characterised by extended beds of the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus. Their activity leads to profound changes in the structure, quality and dynamics of sediments, which affect the entire benthic community and create a patchy distribution of resources for other species. In this study, the differences in habitat use by juvenile fishes above soft sediments inhabited by C. granulatus were evaluated. Adjacent areas with (‘crab beds’) and without crab burrows in intertidal mudflats of the Mar Chiquita Coastal Lagoon (37°32'S, 57°19'W) were sampled seasonally from 2000 to 2002. There were more fish species in crab-bed areas. Abundances of benthivorous and planktivorous fishes were also higher in crab beds during flood tide; however, during ebb tide, planktivorous fishes were more abundant outside crab-bed areas, whereas benthivores did not vary between areas. The present study demonstrated that species composition and abundance of juvenile fishes can be affected by the presence of bioturbator species such as C. granulatus.

Additional keywords: Argentina, bioturbation, burrowing crab, estuaries, fish habitat use, mudflats.


Acknowledgements

We thank Gabriela Palomo for statistical advice and comments that improved the manuscript. We also thank Ivan Valiela, Mirta Teichberg and Brendan Annett for useful comments on a first draft; Nora Peskin, Verónica García and Mauricio Escapa for helping to collect and process samples; and Agustina Mendez Casariego for photo edition assistance. We appreciate the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers that helped to improve the final manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMDP), CONICET, Fundacion Antorchas and ANPCYT (all to O.I.). P.M. and P.R. were supported by fellowships from CONICET (Argentina). This is part of P.M.'s Ph.D. thesis.


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