Abstract
Fish communities were studied in 38 stations located in two mangrove lagoons of Guadeloupe (Caribbean): the bays of Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin (PCSM) and Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin (GCSM). Fishes were sampled with nets during the dry season, and 14 environmental descriptors were recorded in each site. A total of 105 fish species were observed in mangrove lagoons. Ordination analyses and classifications were performed on data sets related to fish presence–absence, abundance, and biomass. The PCSM stations and GCSM mangrove islets sites are characterised by an assemblage composed by fish species either found in coral reefs, seagrass beds, or mangroves. Distinct mangrove fish assemblages are found across environmental gradients linked to salinity, proximities of reefs and river mouths, and presence of seagrass beds. Considering trophic categories, planktivores are numerically dominant in most stations, whereas second-order carnivores and omnivores dominate in biomass in river mouths stations of the GCSM Bay. First-level carnivores are mainly observed in mangrove stations with neighbouring seagrass beds. These last results suggest that food availability plays an important role in the structure of mangrove fish communities in addition to abiotic factors.
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The authors would like to thank Robert Hamparian for his assistance during field work. We also thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the manuscript.
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Vaslet, A., Bouchon-Navaro, Y., Charrier, G. et al. Spatial Patterns of Mangrove Shoreline Fish Communities in Relation with Environmental Variables in Caribbean Lagoons. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 195–210 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9225-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9225-1