Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T01:11:05.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Population dynamics of two sympatric intertidal fish species (the shanny, Lipophrys pholis and long-spined scorpion fish, Taurulus bubalis) of Great Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2016

C.J. Barrett ,
M.L. Johnson  and
S.L. Hull
C.J. Barrett*
Affiliation:
Cefas, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK
M.L. Johnson
Affiliation:
CEMS, University of Hull, Filey Road, Scarborough YO11 3AZ, UK
S.L. Hull
Affiliation:
CEMS, University of Hull, Filey Road, Scarborough YO11 3AZ, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.J. Barrett, Cefas, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The shanny/common blenny (Lipophrys pholis) and long-spined scorpionfish/bullhead (Taurulus bubalis) are commonly encountered, sympatric species within much of Great Britain's rocky intertidal zones. Despite being prey items of the cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) respectively, and both contributors to the diet of the near-threatened European otter (Lutra lutra), little is known on the population dynamics of the temperate specimens of Great Britain. It is further less known of the degrees of sympatricity between the two fish species and to what extent they are able to coexist. The current study examines spatio-temporal distributions and abundances at various resolutions: monthly population dynamics of both species along England's Yorkshire coast and seasonal population dynamics along the Yorkshire coast and around the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Studies of their abundances, sizes, degrees of rock pool co-occurrence and diel activities are further examined, which indicate coexistence is maintained when interspecific co-occurrence takes place only between specimens of similar sizes, thus demoting size-related dominance hierarchies.

Keywords

intertidal environmentfishrock poolsco-occurrencecoexistenceinterspecific relationships
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 98 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 589 - 595
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2016 

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

Amara, R. and Paul, C. (2003) Seasonal patterns in the fish and epibenthic crustaceans community of an intertidal zone with particular reference to the population dynamics of plaice and brown shrimp. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 56, 807–818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, C.J., Johnson, M.L. and Hull, S.L. (2016) Diet as a mechanism of coexistence between intertidal fish species of the UK. Hydrobiologia 768, 125–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearzi, M. (2005) Dolphin sympatric ecology. Marine Biology Research 1, 165–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Case, T.J. (1983) Niche overlap and the assembly of island lizard communities. Oikos 41, 427–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunha, F.E.A., Monteiro-Neto, C. and Nottingham, M.C. (2007) Temporal and spatial variations in tidepool fish assemblages of the northeast coast of Brazil. Biota Neotropica 7, 111–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, J. and Woolmington, A.D. (1981) Behavioural responses of some rocky shore fish exposed to adverse environmental conditions. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 8, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, B.J. (2000) Spatial and seasonal patterns of habitat partitioning in a guild of Southern California tidepool fish. Marine Ecology Progress Series 196, 256–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dytham, C. (2011) Choosing and using statistics: a biologist's guide, 3rd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Faria, C. and Almada, V. (2001) Microhabitat segregation in three rocky intertidal fish species in Portugal: does it reflect interspecific competition? Journal of Fish Biology 58, 145–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, R.N. (1999) Methods for studying intertidal fishes. In Horn, M.H., Martin, K.L.M. and Chotkowski, M.A. (eds) Intertidal fishes: life in two worlds. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 7–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gotelli, N.J. and McCabe, D.J. (2002) Species co-occurrence: a meta-analysis of J. M. Diamond's assembly rules model. Ecology 83, 2091–2096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, M.H., Martin, K.L.M. and Chotkowski, M.A. (1999) Intertidal fishes: life in two worlds. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hull, S.L. (1999) Comparison of tidepool phytal ostracod abundance and assemblage structure on three spatial scales. Marine Ecology Progress Series 182, 201–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IMB (2011) SPSS for windows. Version 20. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
King, P.A. and Fives, J.M. (1983) Littoral and benthic investigations on the west coast of Ireland – XVI. The biology of the long spined sea scorpion Taurulus bubalis (Euphrasen, 1786) in the Galway Bay area. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section B: Biological, Geological and Chemical Science 83B, 215–239.Google Scholar
Koop, J.H. and Gibson, R.N. (1991) Distribution and movements of intertidal butterfish Pholis gunnellus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 71, 127–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahon, R. and Mahon, S.D. (1994) Structure and resilience of a tidepool fish assemblages at Barbados. Environmental Biology of Fishes 41, 171–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteiro, N.M., Quinteira, S.M., Silva, K., Vieira, M.N. and Almada, V.C. (2005) Diet preference reflects the ontogenetic shift in microhabitat use in Lipophrys pholis. Journal of Fish Biology 67, 102–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinnegar, J.K. and Platts, M. (2011) DAPSTOM – an integrated database & portal for fish stomach records. Version 3.6. Phase 3, Final Report, July 2011. Lowestoft: Cefas.Google Scholar
Pulgar, J.M., Bozinovic, F. and Ojeda, F.P. (1999) Behavioral thermoregulation in the intertidal fish Girella laevifrons (Kyphosidae): the effect of starvation. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 32, 27–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulgar, J.M., Bozinovic, F. and Ojeda, F.P. (2005) Local distribution and thermal ecology of two intertidal fishes. Oecologia 142, 511–520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solandt, J.-L. and Lightfoot, P. (2010) Seasearch survey report of Flamborough head no take zone. A Report to North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee.Google Scholar
Taylor, A.R. (2004) The newsletter of the British Phycological Society. The Phycologist 66, 1–40.Google Scholar
Theodorsson-Norheim, E. (1987) Friedman and Quade tests: BASIC computer program to perform nonparametric two-way analysis of variance and multiple comparisons on ranks of several related samples. Computers in Biology and Medicine 17, 85–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, D.A. and Lehner, C.E. (1976) Resilience of a rocky intertidal fish community in a physically unstable environment. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 22, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velasco, E.M., Gómez-Cama, M.C., Hermando, J.A. and Soriguer, M.C. (2010) Trophic relationships in an intertidal rockpool fish assemblage in the Gulf of Cádiz (NE Atlantic). Journal of Marine Systems 80, 248–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar