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Spatial distribution and abundance of small fishes in Xiaosihai Lake, a shallow lake along the Changjiang (Yangtze) River, China

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Abstract

Spatial distribution and abundance of small fishes were studied in autumn 2007 in the Xiaosihai Lake, a shallow lake along the middle reach of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. Based on the plant cover, the lake was divided into three major habitats: Myriophyllum spicatum habitat (MS habitat), Trapa bispinosa habitat (TB habitat), and non-vegetation habitat (NV habitat). A modified pop-net was used for quantitative sampling of small fishes in the three habitats, and the Zippin’s removal method was used for estimating densities of the small fishes. A total of 13 species belonging to 5 families were collected, with 11 species in MS habitat, 7 species in TB habitat, and 5 species in NV habitat. Habitat type had significant effect on the spatial distribution of small fishes. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index in the MS, TB and NV habitats were 1.28, 0.56 and 0.54, respectively. The total density and biomass of small fishes were significantly higher in the MS habitat (13.68 ind/m2 and 4.44 g/m2) than in the TB habitat (1.41 ind/m2 and 0.54 g/m2) and the NV habitat (1.08 ind/m2 and 0.40 g/m2), and were not significantly different between the TB habitat and the NV habitat. Water depth had no significant effect on spatial distribution of the small fishes. It was suggested that vegetation type played an important role in habitat selectivity of small fishes, and the presence of submersed vegetation should be of significance in the conservation of small fish diversity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Wei Li  (李为), Tanglin Zhang  (张堂林) & Zhongjie Li  (李钟杰)

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Wei Li  (李为)

Authors
  1. Wei Li  (李为)
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  2. Tanglin Zhang  (张堂林)
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  3. Zhongjie Li  (李钟杰)
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Correspondence to Tanglin Zhang  (张堂林).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 30571440, 30830025), The National Key Technology R&D Program (No. 2007BAD37B03) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2007CB109205)

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Li, W., Zhang, T. & Li, Z. Spatial distribution and abundance of small fishes in Xiaosihai Lake, a shallow lake along the Changjiang (Yangtze) River, China. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 28, 470–477 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-010-9082-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-010-9082-6

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