Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF06079
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.


References

Alve, E. , and Bernhard, J. M. (1995). Vertical migratory response of benthic foraminifera to controlled oxygen concentration in an experimental mesocosm. Marine Ecology Progress Series 116, 137–151.
Cousseau M. B., Díaz de Astarloa J. M., and Figueroa D. E. (2001). La ictiofauna de la laguna Mar Chiquita. In ‘Reserva de la Biosfera Mar Chiquita: Características Físicas, Biológicas y Ecológicas’. (Ed. O. Iribarne.) pp. 187–203. (Editorial Martín: Mar del Plata, Argentina.)

Crisp D. J. (1971). Energy flow measurements. In ‘Methods for Study of Marine Benthos’. (Eds N. A. Holme and A. D. McIntyre.) pp. 197–279. (Blackwell Scientific Publications: Oxford.)

Daleo, P. , Ribeiro, P. , and Iribarne, O. (2003). The SW Atlantic burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus Dana affects the distribution and survival of the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis Nobili. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 291, 255–267.
Dyer K. R. (1997). ‘Estuaries: a Physical Introduction.’ 2nd edn. (Wiley & Sons: London.)

Escapa, M. , Iribarne, O. , and Navarro, D. (2004). Indirect effect of intertidal burrowing crabs on infaunal zonation patterns, tidal behavior and risk of mortality. Estuaries 27, 120–131.
Little C. (2000). ‘The Biology of Soft Shores and Estuaries.’ (Oxford University Press: New York.)

Luppi, T. A. , Spivak, E. D. , Anger, K. , and Valero, J. L. (2002). Patterns and processes of Chasmagnathus granulata and Cyrtograpsus angulatus (Brachyura: Grapsidae) recruitment in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 55, 287–297.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Martinetto P. (2001). Efecto de los ‘cangrejales’ de Chasmagnathus granulata en el uso de habitat de cangrejos, peces y zooplancton. In ‘Reserva de la Biosfera Mar Chiquita: Características Físicas, Biológicas y Ecológicas’. (Ed. O. Iribarne.) pp. 165–171. (Editorial Martín: Mar del Plata, Argentina.)

Martinetto P. (2006). Efecto del cangrejo cavador Chasmagnathus granulatus en las interacciones biológicas y el uso de hábitat de cangrejos y peces juveniles. Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata.

Martinetto, P. , Iribarne, O. , and Palomo, G. (2005). Effect of fish predation on intertidal benthic fauna is modified by crab bioturbation. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 318, 71–84.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Neter J., Wasserman W., and Kutner M. H. (1991). ‘Applied Linear Statistical Models. Regression, Analysis of Variance, and Experimental Designs.’ (Irwin, Homewood, IL, USA.)

Norton S. F., and Cook A. E. (1999). Predation by fishes in intertidal. In ‘Intertidal Fishes: Life in Two Worlds’. (Eds M. H. Horn, K. L. M. Martin and M. A. Chotkowski.) pp. 223–263. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Palomo, G. , Botto, F. , Navarro, D. , Escapa, M. , and Iribarne, O. (2003). The predator-prey interaction between migratory shorebirds and the polychaete Laeonereis acuta is modified by burrowing crabs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 290, 211–228.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Piccolo M. C., and Perillo G. M. E. (1999). The Argentina estuaries: a review. In ‘Estuaries of South America: their Geomorphology and Dynamics’. (Eds G. M. E. Perillo, M. C. Piccolo and M. Pino Quivira.) pp. 101–132. (Springer Verlag: Berlin, Germany.)

Posey, M. H. (1986). Changes in a benthic community associated with dense beds of a burrowing deposit-feeder, Callianassa californiensis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 31, 15–22.
Underwood A. J. (1997). ‘Experiments in Ecology.’ (Cambridge University Press: London.)

Zar J. H. (1999). ‘Biostatistical Analysis.’ (Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliff, NJ.)

Zwarts, L. , and Wanink, J. H. (1991). The macrobenthos fraction accessible to waders may represent marginal prey. Oecologia 87, 581–587.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |