Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Spatial and seasonal variations of intertidal community in tropical estuarine sandy beaches

International Conference on Aquaculture & Fisheries

July 20-22, 2015 Brisbane, Australia

Mário Barletta

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Aquac Res Development

Abstract:

The use of intertidal sandy beaches by fish and macro crustaceans was studied to identify the patterns on habitat use in space and time. With a beach seine net samples were taken between October 2010 and September 2011. Fish assemblage (density, biomass, number of species and trophic guilds) and the biomass of wrack showed significant interactions among all studied factors (shore, season and distance from the river mouth). Differences in the river discharge between shores lead to spatial and temporal patterns in the environmental variables (salinity, water temperature and relative tidal range and CaCO3%) and faunal community (total density, biomass, number of species and trophic guilds). This habitat showed great importance to the early stages of marine and estuarine fishes which dominated this environmental seasonally suggesting an important habitat cycle and increasing the connection among the adjacent habitats (main channel, mangrove forest and coastal waters). This information reinforces the importance of estuarine adjacent coastal habitats for fish and invertebrates assemblages and the necessity to create strategies to management and conservation of these estuarine habitats.