The Gambia River estuary: A reference point for estuarine fish assemblages studies in West Africa

The Gambia River is one of the last aquatic ecosystems in West Africa that has not yet been affected by strong environmental changes and human disturbances. In contrast to the neighbouring Casamance and Sine Saloum estuaries, the Gambia estuary is free of major climatic perturbation and remains a “normal” estuary, with a salinity range from freshwater to 39. The present paper aims to study the spatial and seasonal variability of fish assemblages in this estuary in terms of bio-ecological categories and of their relation with some environmental variables. Four surveys were conducted, from June 2001 to April 2002, in order to cover the major hydroclimatic events, at 44 sampling sites along the lower, intermediate and upper zones of the Gambia estuary (up to 220 km). Fish assemblages were sampled using a purse seine net, fish were identified to species level and environmental variables such as water depth, transparency, salinity, temperature and percentage oxygen saturation were measured. The main spatial structure of the fish assemblages and its seasonal changes were first studied using the STATIS-CoA multitable method. The combination of fish assemblages and environmental variables was then analysed using the STATICO method, designed for the simultaneous analysis of paired ecological tables. A total of 67 species were observed, belonging to all bio-ecological categories characterizing West African estuaries. The marine component of the community was largely dominant throughout the estuary, while the freshwater component was permanently observed only in the upstream zone. The main spatial structure was a longitudinal gradient contrasting marine and freshwater affinity assemblages, with strong seasonal variations. The most complete gradient was observed in December, at the beginning of the dry and cool season, while in June, at the end of the dry and warm season, there was the least structured gradient. The role of salinity, always correlated with temperature, was emphasized, while turbidity appeared to be another important factor. Oxygen and depth did not play a major role at the estuary scale. The relative importance of the bio-ecological categories varied according to the season and the distance to sea. Stable fish assemblages were observed in the lower zone at the end of the dry season, in the upper zone during the flood and in the middle zone throughout the year. In some situations, a relative inadequacy between fish assemblages and their environment was noticed. The present study contributes to the definition of the functioning of a “normal” West African estuary, the Gambia estuary, with balanced effects of marine and freshwater influences and the presence of all bio-ecological categories. The Gambia estuary can therefore be considered to be a reference ecosystem for further comparisons with other tropical estuarine ecosystems, subjected to natural or artificial perturbations.     

Breeding and mass scale rearing of clownfish Amphiprion percula: feeding and rearing in brackishwater

Breeding and mass scale larval rearing of clownfish Amphiprion percula is very limited in brackishwater. We designed an indoor program of A. percula culture in brackishwater with a salinity of 24±1, during which the impacts of feed type, water temperature, and light intensity, on the efficiency of its reproduction, were revealed. The fish were accommodated along with sea anemones in fibre glass tanks to determine the influence of brooder diet on breeding efficiency. Higher reproductive efficiency [number of eggs laid (276 22.3 eggs)] was observed when fish were fed live Acetes sp. rather than clam (204 16.4 eggs), trash fish (155 12 eggs) and formulated feed (110 10 eggs). The spawning rate was increased during September and October (water temperature, 28.74 0.55°C) on average of 2.4 spawning per month; and low spawning rate was in January (water temperature, 24.55 0.45°C) on average of 1 spawning per month. Among three light intensities (100, 500, and 900 lx) set to evaluate larval survival rate, larvae showed the highest survival rate (65.5%) at 900 lx. The breeding method specifically in brackishwater developed in the present study is a new approach, will help the people from the regions of estuary and backwater to enhance their livelihood and it will lead to reduce the exploitation from the wild habitat.     

Spatio-temporal variations in macrozoobenthic assemblage structures in a river-affected lagoon (Idoura Lagoon,Sendai Bay,Japan): Influences of freshwater inflow

Spatio-temporal changes in macrozoobenthic assemblage structure were monitored at 8 stations in a river-affected temperate lagoon (Idoura Lagoon, Japan) from May 1997 to May 1998 to assess animal–environment relationships in estuarine soft-bottom habitats. A total of 29 taxa occurred with a predominance of a few polychaete species including Heteromastus cf. similis, Hediste spp., Pseudopolydora cf. kempi and Prionospio japonica. The community structure differed significantly among four habitat types that were characterized by different salinity, sediment characteristics, and/or bottom elevation. For each habitat, macrozoobenthic community structure changed significantly with time, which was discriminated mostly by the lower density of polyhaline opportunistic species such as P. cf. kempi in warmer period. The salinity in the study area was much lower from May to September, mainly due to irrigation discharge from paddy fields, which seemed to be a lethal factor for the polyhaline species. C/N ratio and δ¹³C value of the sediment implied the accumulation of river-derived organic matters during the high river flow period. Present results showed the significant effects of fluctuating river discharge on the estuarine soft-bottom habitats, suggesting a linkage among terrestrial, riverine and estuarine ecosystems.     

Effects of diel period and tow duration on estuarine fauna sampled with a beam trawl over bare sediment: Consequences for designing more reliable and efficient surveys

The effects of diel period and tow duration (5, 10 and 20 min) on samples of estuarine fauna in a beam trawl, were tested over bare sediment in Tuggerah Lake (New South Wales, Australia). Mean catch rates (numbers of fish caught 5 min⁻¹) were significantly larger at night for the total numbers of individuals and abundant, economically important species of fish and invertebrates (e.g. Gerres subfasciatus, Metapenaeus macleayi, Penaeus plebejus). Greater proportions of larger fish were also caught at night for some species (e.g. G. subfasciatus, Acanthopagrus australis, Rhabdosargus sarba), but not across all tow durations. Multivariate analyses detected dissimilarities in the composition and structure of assemblages between diel periods, which were driven by species caught predominately, or in larger proportions, at night. Short tows (5 min) were more efficient than longer tows (10 or 20 min) for sampling the diversity of species (i.e. most species were caught in the first 5 min of a tow). There were, however, no clear or consistent patterns relating to the effect of tow duration on the catch rates of other variables, the size ranges of abundant species, or the structure and composition of assemblages. Our data confirm that at night, bare sediment is an important habitat for a wide size- and species-range of estuarine fish and invertebrates. In future, more cost-effective and reliable information concerning these taxa would be achieved by sampling with the beam trawl at night, using tow durations of 5 min. We also highlight a problem inherent in the design of many studies of diel variation of fauna (i.e. the potential non-independence of data among day and night periods) and discuss its solution.