Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T16:16:38.445Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Complementary distribution of two sympatric serranids in a NATURA 2000 site in the Northern Aegean Sea (Eastern Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2014

Ioannis Giovos ,
Konstantinos Ganias  and
Georgios Skoufas
Ioannis Giovos
Affiliation:
Ichthyology Lab, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Konstantinos Ganias*
Affiliation:
Ichthyology Lab, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Georgios Skoufas
Affiliation:
Department of Fisheries Technology and Aquaculture, Alexander Technological and Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:K. Ganias, Ichthyology Lab, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present work aimed to investigate possible spatial and seasonal patterns in the distribution of two sympatric serranids, the painted comber, Serranus scriba and the comber, Serranus cabrilla. The research took place at a NATURA 2000 site located at Sithonia peninsula, N. Greece. Underwater visual census was used for data collection; specifically, individuals from each species were recorded along four isobathic transects of 200 m2 each, placed every 5 m and ranging from 5 to 20 m depth. A total of 27 samplings were conducted between September 2010 and August 2011. The results clearly demonstrated complementary bathymetric distributions for S. scriba and S. cabrilla, the former mostly occurring until 10 m depth, and the latter in deeper layers. This pattern was maintained during the whole season. In addition the two species exhibited differences in their preferred substrate type and their pattern of association to the sea bottom. Our results were viewed under the light of resource portioning between the two sympatric species.

Keywords

Serranidsbathymetric distributionMediterraneanresource partitioningSerranus cabrillaSerranus scriba
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 593 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arculeo, M., Froglia, C. and Riggio, S. (1993) Food partitioning between Serranus scriba and Scorpaena porcus (Perciformes) on the infralittoral ground of the South Tyrrhenian Sea. Cybium 17, 251–258.Google Scholar
Bavestrello, G., Bianchi, C.N., Calcinai, B., Cattaneo-Vietti, R., Cerrano, C., Morri, M., Puse, S. and Sara, M. (2000) Bio-mineralogy as a structuring factor for marine epibenthic communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 193, 241–249.Google Scholar
Bussotti, S. and Guidetti, P. (2009) Do Mediterranean fish assemblages associated with marine caves and rocky cliffs differ? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 81, 65–73.Google Scholar
Cattaneo-Vietti, R., Albertelli, G., Bavestrello, G., Bianchi, C.N., Cerrano, C., Chiantore, M., Gaggero, L., Morri, C. and Schiaparelli, S. (2002) Can rock composition affect sublittoral epibenthic communities? Marine Ecology 21, 65–77.Google Scholar
Cerrano, C., Arillo, A., Bavestrello, G., Benatti, U., Calcinai, B., Cattaneo-Vietti, R., Cortesogno, L., Gaggero, L., Giovine, M. and Puce, S. (1999) Organism-quartz interaction in structuring benthic communities: towards a marine bio-mineralogy. Ecology Letters 2, 1–3.Google Scholar
Fasola, M., Canova, L., Foscie, F., Novelli, O. and Bressan, M. (1997) Resource use by Mediterranean rocky slope fish assemblages. Marine Ecology 18, 51–66.Google Scholar
Fisher, E.A. and Petersen, C.W. (1987) The evolution of sexual patterns in the seabasses. Bioscience 37, 482–489.Google Scholar
Giakoumi, S. and Kokkoris, G.D. (2013) Effects of habitat and substrate complexity on shallow sublittoral fish assemblages in the Cyclades Archipelago, North-eastern Mediterranean Sea. Mediterranean Marine Science 14, 58–68.Google Scholar
Guidetti, P., Bianchi, C.N., Chiantore, M., Schiaparelli, S., Morri, C. and Cattaneo-Vietti, R. (2004) Living on the rocks: substrate mineralogy and the structure of subtidal rocky substrate communities in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 274, 57–68.Google Scholar
Guidetti, P. and Cattaneo-Vietti, R. (2002) Can mineralogical features influence distribution patterns of fish? A case study in shallow Mediterranean rocky reefs. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 82, 1043–1044.Google Scholar
Harmelin-Vivien, M.L., Harmelin, J.G., Chauvet, C., Duval, C., Galzin, R., Lejeune, P., Barnabe, G., Blanc, F. and Chevalier, R. (1985) The underwater observation of fish communities and fish populations: methods and problem. Revue d'Ecologie 40, 467–540.Google Scholar
Helfman, G., Collette, B.B., Facey, D.E. and Bowen, B.W. (2009) The diversity of fishes: biology, evolution, and ecology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Labropoulou, M. and Eleftheriou, A. (1997) The foraging ecology of the two pairs of congeneric demersal fish species: importance of morphological characteristics in prey selection. Journal of Fish Biology 50, 324–340.Google Scholar
Menge, B.A. (2000) Top-down and bottom-up community regulation in marine rocky intertidal habitats. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 250, 257–289.Google Scholar
Pais, A., Azzurro, E. and Chessa, L.A. (2004) Distribution patterns of coastal fish assemblages associated with different rocky substrates in Asinara Island National Park (Sardinia, Italy). Italian Journal of Zoology 71, 309–316.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team (2012). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. www.R-project.org.Google Scholar
Rowe, D.K. (1994) Vertical segregation and seasonal changes in fish depth distributions between lakes of contrasting trophic status. Journal of Fish Biology 45, 787–800.Google Scholar
Sabates, A. (1990) Distribution patterns of larval fish populations in the Northwestern Mediterranean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 59, 75–82.Google Scholar
Schoener, T.W. (1974) Resource partitioning in ecological communities. Science 185, 27–39.Google Scholar
Sphigel, M. and Fishelson, L. (1989) Food habits and prey selection of three species of groupers from the genus of Cephalopolis (Serranidae: Teleostei). Environmental Biology of Fishes 24, 67–73.Google Scholar
Stergiou, K.I. and Karpouzi, V.S. (2002) Feeding habits and trophic levels of Mediterranean fish. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 11, 217–254.Google Scholar
Tortonese, E. (1986) Serranidae. In Whitehead, P.J.P., Blaunchot, M.L., Hureau, C., Nielsen, J. and Tortonese, E. (eds) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Volume 2. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Tunesi, L., Molinari, A., Salvati, E. and Mori, M. (2006) Depth and substrate type driven patterns in infralittoral fish assemblage of the NW Mediterranean Sea. Cybium 30, 151–159.Google Scholar
Tuset, V.M., Gonzalez, J.A., Garcia-Diaz, M.M. and Santana, J.I. (1996) Feeding habits of Serranus cabrilla (Serranidae) in the Canary Islands. Cybium 20, 161–167.Google Scholar
Tuya, F., Sanchez-Jerez, P. and Haroun, R.J. (2006) Populations of inshore serranids across the Canarian Archipelago: relationships with human pressure and implications for conservation. Biological Conservation 128, 13–24.Google Scholar
Vacchi, M., Bussotti, S., Guidetti, P. and La Mesa, G. (1998) Study of the coastal fish assemblage in the marine reserve of the Ustica Island (southern Tyrrhenian Sea). Italian Journal of Zoology 65, 281–286.Google Scholar