scholarly journals Distribution, Spread, and Habitat Predictability of a Small, Invasive, Piscivorous Fish in an Important Estuarine Fish Nursery

Fishes ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Fish Nursery ◽  
Piscivorous Fish

Size-selective predation by river otter (Lontra canadensis) improves refuge properties of shallow coastal marine nursery habitats

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. 1324-1328 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Cote ◽  
R. S. Gregory ◽  
H. M.J. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Atlantic Cod ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Lontra Canadensis ◽  
River Otter ◽  
Fish Nursery ◽  
Piscivorous Fish ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Nursery Habitats

Young fish often avoid deep water to reduce predation risk from larger fish. Less clear are explanations for the avoidance of shallows by large piscivorous fish; however, one hypothesis suggests that this distribution reduces contact with depth-limited semi-aquatic mammal and bird piscivores. We determined prey size selection of the river otter ( Lontra canadensis (Schreber, 1777)) to test the hypothesis that larger fish are at elevated risk in shallow coastal waters in Newman Sound, Newfoundland, during June–November 2001 and May 2002. We compared otter diet (scat analysis) and prey availability (seine sampling) to test this hypothesis. Five fish taxa (Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua L., 1758), Greenland cod ( Gadus ogac Richardson, 1836), shorthorn sculpin ( Myoxocephalus scorpius (L., 1758)), cunner ( Tautogolabrus adspersus (Walbaum, 1792)), and winter flounder ( Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum, 1792))) dominated the shallow-water fish community and were sufficiently abundant in otter scats to examine feeding preferences. Larger, piscivorous fish were selected by otters, suggesting that they were at greater risk of predation than smaller fish, consistent with our hypothesis that depth-limited, diurnally active predators restrict large fish from hunting in shallow water during daytime. We suggest that depth-limited air-breathing predators may reduce the presence of such predatory fish in shallow-water juvenile fish nursery habitats.

Littoral habitats as major nursery areas for fish species in estuaries: a reinforcement of the reduced predation paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 649 ◽  
pp. 219-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
AK Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Nursery Areas ◽  
Fish Nursery ◽  
Piscivorous Fish ◽  
Dominant Component ◽  
Littoral Habitats

For many decades, the role of estuaries as important nursery areas for fishes was accepted as fact by scientists and environmental managers. At the turn of the 21st century, a question mark was raised in relation to the reduced predation component of the nursery function, with some scientists contending that both large and small piscivorous fish species had access to the estuarine habitats that juvenile fishes in estuaries occupied. If true on a global scale, the nursery designation for these habitats would be compromised and the long-held paradigm that estuaries are important nursery areas for fishes would need to be revised. In this review, I examine the nature of fish nursery areas in estuarine littoral habitats from a mainly predation perspective and, based on a variety of ichthyofaunal and avifaunal studies, come to the conclusion that apart from a few selected estuarine systems, there is limited predation on juvenile fishes in these particular areas. This, coupled with the abundant suitable food resources for juvenile fish from different trophic categories, shelter from high-energy marine wave action and biological connectivity between a variety of submerged and emergent macrophyte communities, renders shallow estuarine littoral areas ideal nursery areas for the juveniles of mostly euryhaline marine fish species, the dominant component of estuarine ichthyofaunas globally. In addition, there are strong indications from the fossil record that these littoral estuarine nursery areas have been functioning since the Devonian, more than 350 million years ago.

scholarly journals Juvenile fish caging as a tool for assessing microplastics contamination in estuarine fish nursery grounds

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 3548-3559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kazour ◽  
Sharif Jemaa ◽  
Maria El Rakwe ◽  
Guillaume Duflos ◽  
Ludovic Hermabassiere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Nursery Grounds ◽  
Fish Nursery

Predation on small juvenile fishes in shallow estuarine nursery areas: Reply to Baker & Sheaves (2021)

2021 ◽  
Vol 662 ◽  
pp. 209-214
Author(s):  
A Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Estuarine Waters ◽  
Fish Nursery ◽  
Piscivorous Fish ◽  
Small Juvenile ◽  
Nursery Habitats ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Counter Argument

The key criticism by Baker & Sheaves (2021; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 662:205-208) of the Whitfield (2020; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 649:219-234) estuarine littoral predation paradigm review is that shallow water fish nursery habitats contain abundant predator assemblages which may create high predation pressure on the juvenile fish cohorts that occupy these areas. The primary arguments supporting Baker & Sheaves’ criticism arise from a series of papers published by them on piscivorous fish predation in certain tropical Australian estuaries. The counter-argument that shallow littoral areas in estuaries do indeed provide small juvenile fishes with refuge from small and large piscivorous fishes is provided by published papers from 4 different estuary types in South Africa, covering both subtropical and warm-temperate systems. Based on the overall published information, the argument for shallow (<1 m depth) estuarine waters providing major protection for newly settled juveniles appears to be weak in northern Australia but strong in South Africa. The global situation, as outlined in this response, is more supportive of low piscivorous predation in shallow nursery habitats, but further targeted research is needed before we can confirm that littoral estuarine waters are indeed a universal keystone attribute in this regard.

Rapid Ecological Shift Following Piscivorous Fish Introduction to Increasingly Eutrophic and Warmer Lake Furnas (Azores Archipelago, Portugal): A Paleoecological Approach

Ecosystems ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Buchaca ◽  
Tue Skov ◽  
Susanne Lildal Amsinck ◽  
Vitor Gonçalves ◽  
José Manuel Neto Azevedo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Introduction ◽  
Piscivorous Fish ◽  
Azores Archipelago
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