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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(10)

Habitat use and feeding habits of juvenile fishes in an infrequently flooded Atlantic saltmarsh

Macarena Valiñas A B D , Eduardo M. Acha A B C and Oscar Iribarne A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Biología (FCEyN), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata,CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina.

B Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET),Rivadavia 1917, CP C1033AAJ, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

C Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP),Paseo Victoria Ocampo N° 1, CP 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina.

D Corresponding author. Email: mvalinas@mdp.edu.ar

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(10) 1154-1163 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09109
Submitted: 14 May 2009  Accepted: 14 May 2010   Published: 14 October 2010

Abstract

In saltmarshes, marsh creeks provide an important corridor between the marsh and the subtidal habitat for fishes. We compare fish and prey in a Spartina densiflora marsh creek with a tidal flat in the SW Atlantic (Argentina) to evaluate the hypotheses that: (1) benthic prey abundance is higher in the marsh creek, and therefore the abundance of benthivorous fishes and predation pressure on benthos is higher in this area; and (2) marsh creeks act as refuge areas for fishes. Fish abundance and benthic prey availability were sampled over four seasons, and dietary composition of Odontesthes argentinensis and Micropogonias furnieri was assessed. Brevoortia aurea was more abundant in the marsh creek, Micropogonias furnieri showed the opposite pattern, and Odontesthes argentinensis and Ramnogaster arcuata did not dominate either habitat. As expected, smaller fishes were more abundant in the marsh creek. Food abundance was higher in the marsh creek but only M. furnieri consumed more prey in this area, while O. argentinensis consumed more in the tidal flat. Differences in prey accessibility and sediment features between areas could explain these results. This work highlights the importance of marsh creeks as refuge and/or feeding grounds for fishes in infrequently flooded saltmarshes.

Additional keywords: fish habitat use, marsh creek, prey selection, Spartina densiflora saltmarsh, tidal flat.


Acknowledgements

We thank J. Alberti, F. Firstater, L. Molina, D. Montemayor, A. Méndez Casariego and P. D. Ribeiro for their comments on the manuscript and for field assistance and R. Currie for English editing of the manuscript. We also thank the Associate Editor and two anonymous reviewers for comments that greatly improved this manuscript. All the samplings were performed under permission of the Reserve authorities and comply with the current laws of Argentina. Financial support was provided by Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Fundación Antorchas, CONICET and ANPCyT (all to O.I.). M.V. was supported by fellowships from CONICET (Argentina). This is part of M.V.’s doctoral thesis.


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