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JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 20 | NUMBER 3 | PAGES 585-601 | 1998
© Oxford University Press
research-article |
Seasonal and tidal abundance patterns of decapod crustacean larvae in a shallow inlet (SW Spain)
Insrituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (CSIC) 11510 Puerto Rea4 Cádiz, Spain
Received on July 29, 1997; accepted on November 25, 1997 Planktonic larvae of decapod crustaceans were collected monthly from July 1991 to June 1992 by pumping during nocturnal flood and ebb tides to establish seasonal larval abundance patterns in an inlet of the Bay of Cádiz. Additional 24 h series of samples were collected seasonally (July 1991, October 1991, January 1992 and May/June 1992) during spring and neap tides to analyse larval abundance in relation to the main environmental cycles (diel, tidal and lunar phases) and vertical position in the water column. First zoeae were the most abundant stage for most species, representing 97.6% of all individuals collected. Zoea I abundance was higher in spring and swmner and, on most sampling occasions, there was a net output from the inlet to the bay. Five species (Liocarcinus arcuatus and Liocarcinus vernalis, Uca tangeri, Diogenes pugilator and Panopeus africanus) represented 60% of total individuals caught. The seasonal occurrence of first zoeae of the most abundant species indicated two different reproductive patterns: species with a short reproductive period and species spawning year round. Zoea I of several species (Panopeus africanus, Uca tangeri, Pachygrap sus marmoratus, Processa spp.) were significantly more abundant during ebb tides and their later larval stages were scarcely collected, suggesting that these larvae are released in the inlet and exported to the bay. Conversely, a net input of first zoeae was observed for other species (D.pugilator and Pinnotheres pinnotheres), but their later larval stages were also scarcely collected. Such importation could be a larval rhythm artifact due to release of larvae in the bay that drifted into the inlet by tidal currents. The crab Ilia nucleus, whose later larval stages were collected frequently, was the only species that seemed to complete its life cycle within the bay. These results suggest that the studied inlet was primarily used by decapods as an adult habitat and spawning ground, while larval development occurred in open sea. Since vertical migration was not observed for exported larvae, the tidal synchronization of female release seemed to be the most probable mechanism of larval exportation. There were no significant differences between larval release during spring and neap tides.
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