| SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF FISH POST-LARVAL DISTRIBUTION IN WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA: FIRST RESULTS OF MEDITERRANEAN POST-LARVAL NETWORK (MEDPLANET). |
| FÉLIX-HACKRADT, F.C., Ecology and Hydrology Department, University of Murcia, Spain, 30100, felixhackradtfc@gmail.com; Murenu, M., University of Cagliari, Italy, mmurenu@unica.it; Muntoni, M., University of Cagliari, Italy, ma.muntoni3@studenti.unica.it; Agostini, S., University of Corsica, France, agostini@univ-corse.fr; Ternengo, S., University of Corsica, France, ternengo@univ-corse.fr; Lecaillon, G., Ecocean, France, gilles.lecaillon@ecocean.fr; Lenfant, P., University of Perpignan, France, lenfant@univ-perp.fr; Hackradt, C.W., University of Murcia, hackradtcw@gmail.com; García-Charton, J.A., University of Murcia, jcharton@um.es. |
| Early life history stages (ELHS) constitutes a poorly known phase of fish life cycle, in which at least 90% of mortality occurs, therefore affecting directly adult population dynamics. A detailed knowledge of the events taking place during these stages is crucial to explain connectivity patterns and thus helping the proper management of marine populations. A Mediterranean Post-larval Network (MEDPLANET) has been established in an attempt to connect people working with distinct objectives, methodologies and aspects of ELHS at several regions on Mediterranean Sea, with the aim to cover some of the existing gaps in knowledge. Here we present the first results of a large-scale survey of spatial and temporal patterns of larval supply around the Mediterranean Sea using the same sampling methodology. CARE light traps were used during a one year period in 3 localities Murcia (MU, Spain), Corsica (CO, France) and Sardinia (SA, Italy), and during summer months in a fourth one, Gulf of Lyon (LY, France). Light traps sampled 77 taxa which represented 31 families. CPUE values were similar across CO, SA and MU localities (15.9, 10.9, 10.6 larvae trap-1 night-1, respectively), and was extremely low in LY (1.8 larvae trap-1 night-1). On the other hand, Murcia harboured higher species richness (58 taxa), with decreasing values in SA (45 taxa), LY (22 taxa) and CO (18 taxa). Larval supply varied similarly throughout the year across all studied localities, concentrating on summer months: larval incoming peak period extended from June to August in MU, but it was restricted to June at SA and July at CO. The earlier warming of sea water in the Spanish coast in relation to other localities may be responsible for this larger settlement season. During summer, the spatial variation of post-larvae occurrence and abundance reflected geographic distances, so that Corsica and Sardinia were more similar to each other, while Murcia and Gulf the Lyon were the most distinct. Total abundance was higher in MU (4932), followed by SA (2393), CO (1431) and LY (590). Dominant families were Pomacentridae, Sparidae and Blenniidae, accounting for 71% of total catches. These patterns could be attributed, among many others factors, to the isolation effect of both insular habitats, and the lower average values of sea water temperature at Gulf of Lyon compared to the other sites. |
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