Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T20:07:33.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of an artificial reef system on the transient fish assemblages – south-eastern coast of Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2014

Diogo Fonseca Da Rocha
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Lab, University of North Rio de Janeiro, Biosciences and Biotechnology Center, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos 28013-602, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Marcos Alberto Lima Franco
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Lab, University of North Rio de Janeiro, Biosciences and Biotechnology Center, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos 28013-602, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Pedro Vianna Gatts
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Lab, University of North Rio de Janeiro, Biosciences and Biotechnology Center, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos 28013-602, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ilana Rosental Zalmon*
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Lab, University of North Rio de Janeiro, Biosciences and Biotechnology Center, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos 28013-602, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: I.R. Zalmon, Environmental Science Lab, University of North Rio de Janeiro, Biosciences and Biotechnology Center, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos 28013-602, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil email: [email protected]

Abstract

Artificial reefs (ARs) are often used to improve fishing and, consequently, the economy of a region. However, the way in which the species use the reefs may vary between fish assemblages. An assessment was made of the influence of an AR complex on the transient fish population off the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state and, therefore, two control areas were sampled. Gillnets were used to capture individual fish in six sampling surveys. Cumulative abundance and biomass curves (ABC) were used to assess the possible effects of the reefs on the community's functional structure. In the dry season, during which the influence of the Paraíba do Sul River is smaller, a larger richness of r-strategy species and juveniles of K-strategy species was observed in the reef area compared with the control areas, suggesting that the AR acts as a protective environment for these species. During the lower river discharge period the results indicated a potential disturbance in the functional structure of the AR fish community and, therefore, a less stable environment relative to the control areas. This ‘instability’ warrants a positive connotation, as it indicates that the artificial reefs are harbouring species that are particularly sensitive to predation, making the reef a powerful tool for maintaining these populations on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro.

Type
Research Article
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

Blanchard, F., LeLoc'h, F., Hily, C. and Boucher, J. (2004) Fishing effects on diversity, size and community structure of the benthic invertebrate and fish megafauna on the Bay of Biscay coast of France. Marine Ecology Progress Series 280, 249260.Google Scholar
Brotto, D.S., Krohling, W. and Zalmon, I.R. (2006a) Usage patterns of an artificial reef by the fish community on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 12771281.Google Scholar
Brotto, D.S., Krohling, W. and Zalmon, I.R. (2006b) Fish community modeling agents on an artificial reef on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Oceanography 54, 205212.Google Scholar
Brotto, D.S. and Zalmon, I.R. (2007) The effect of artificial reef structural complexity and benthic colonization on gill net fish assemblages. Tropical Oceanography 35, 116.Google Scholar
Campbell, M.D., Rose, K., Boswell, K. and Cowan, J. (2011) Individual-based modeling of an artificial reef fish community: effects of habitat quantity and degree of refuge. Ecological Modelling 222, 38953909.Google Scholar
Carneiro, M.H. and Castro, P.M.G. (2005) Macrodon ancylodon (Bloch and Schneider, 1801). Estoque sudeste. In Cergole, M.C., Ávila da Silva, A.O. and Rossi-Wongtschowski, C.L.D.B. (eds) Análise das principais pescarias comerciais da região Sudeste-Sul do Brasil: Dinâmica populacional das espécies em explotação (Série Documentos Revizee – Score Sul), pp. 8187. São Paulo: Instituto Oceanográfico – Universidade de São Paulo.Google Scholar
Carvalho, C.E.V., Salomão, M.S., Molisani, M.M., Rezende, C.E. and Lacerda, L.D. (2002) Contribution of a medium-sized tropical river to the particulate heavy-metal load for the South Atlantic Ocean. Science of the Total Environment 284, 8593.Google Scholar
Clarke, K.R. and Warwick, R.W. (2001) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. 2nd edition. Plymouth: Primer-e Ltd, Plymouth Marine Laboratory.Google Scholar
Dajoz, R. (1978) Ecologia geral. São Paulo: Editora Vozes e EDUSP.Google Scholar
Fowler, M. and Booth, D.J. (2012) Evidence of sustained populations of a small reef fish on artificial structures. Does depth affect production on artificial reefs? Journal of Fish Biology 80, 613629.Google Scholar
Froese, R. (2006) Cube Law, condition factor and weight-length relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 22, 241253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (2014) FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.fishbase.org, version 02/2014.Google Scholar
Fry, J.C. (1993) Biological data analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulgêncio, A.G. (2004) Levantamento da ictiofauna associada à foz principal do Rio Paraíba do Sul e área marinha adjacente. Bachelor of Science thesis. University of North Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Google Scholar
Gatts, P.V., Franco, M.A.L., Santos, L.N., Rocha, D.F. and Zalmon, I.R. (2014) Influence of the artificial reef size configuration on transient ichthyofauna – Southeastern Brazil. Ocean and Coastal Management 98, 111119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godefroid, R.S., Spach, H.I., Santos, C., MacLaren, G. and Schwarz, R. (2004) Temporal changes in the abundance and diversity of the fish fauna in the shallow infralittoral of a beach, southern Brazil. Iheringia Zoology 94, 95104.Google Scholar
Godoy, E.A., Almeida, T.C. and Zalmon, I.R. (2002) Fish assemblages and environmental variables on an artificial reef north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 138143.Google Scholar
Gomes, M.P., Cunha, M.S. and Zalmon, I.R. (2003) Spatial and temporal variation of diurnal ichthyofauna on surf-zone of São Francisco do Itabapoana beaches, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 46, 653664.Google Scholar
Grossman, G.D., Jones, G.P. and Seaman, W.J. (1997) Do artificial reefs increase regional fish production? A review of existing data. Fisheries 22, 1723.Google Scholar
Hackradt, C.W., Félix-Hackradt, F.C. and García-Charton, J.A. (2011) Influence of habitat structure on fish assemblage of an artificial reef in southern Brazil. Marine Environmental Research 72, 235247.Google Scholar
Harding, J.M. and Mann, R. (2001) Oyster reefs as fish habitat: opportunistic use of restored reefs by transient fishes. Journal of Shellfish Research 20, 951959.Google Scholar
King, J.R. and McFarlane, G.A. (2003) Marine fish life history strategies: applications to fishery management. Fisheries Management and Ecology 10, 249264.Google Scholar
King, M. (2007) Fisheries biology, assessment and management. 3rd edition. Oxford: Fishing News Books – Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Krebs, J.R., Ryan, J.C. and Charnov, E.L. (1974) Hunting by expectation or optimal foraging? A study of patch use by chickadees. Animal Behaviour 22, 953964.Google Scholar
Krohling, W., Brotto, D.S. and Zalmon, I.R. (2006) Fouling community recruitment on an artificial reef in the north coast of Rio de Janeiro. Journal of Coastal Research 39, 11181121.Google Scholar
Krohling, W. and Zalmon, I.R. (2008) Epibenthic colonization on an artificial reef in a stressed environment off the north coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 51, 213221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Cren, E. D. (1951) The length-weight relationship and seasonal cycle in gonad weight and condition in the perch (Perca fluviatilis). Journal of Animal Ecology 20, 201219.Google Scholar
Leitão, F., Santos, M.N. and Monteiro, C.C. (2007) Contribution of artificial reefs to the diet of the white sea-bream (Diplodus sargus). ICES Journal of Marine Science 64, 473478.Google Scholar
Lindquist, D.G., Cahoon, L.B., Clavijo, I.E., Posey, M.H., Bolden, S.K., Pike, L.A., Burk, S.W. and Cardullo, P.A. (1994) Reef fish stomach contents and prey abundance on reef and sand substrata associated with adjacent artificial and natural reefs in Onslow Bay, North Carolina. Bulletin of Marine Science 55, 308318.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R.H. and Pianka, E.R. (1966) On optimal use of a patchy environment. American Naturalist 100, 603609.Google Scholar
Menezes, N.A. and Figueiredo, J.L. (1980) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. IV. Teleostei. 3rd edition. São Paulo: Museu de Zoologia – University of São Paulo.Google Scholar
Militelli, M.I., Macchi, G.J. and Rodrigues, K.A. (2013) Comparative reproductive biology of Sciaenid family species in the Rio de la Plata and Buenos Aires coastal zone, Argentina. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 93, 413423.Google Scholar
Mir, J.I., Sarkar, U.K., Dwivedi, A.K., Gusain, O.P., Pal, A. and Jena, J.K. (2012) Pattern of intrabasin variation in condition factor, relative condition factor and form factor of an Indian Major Carp, Labeo rohita (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) in the Ganges Basin, India. European Journal of Biological Sciences 4, 126135.Google Scholar
Pianka, E.R. (1970) On r and K selection. American Naturalist 104, 592597.Google Scholar
Pickering, H. and Whitmarsh, D. (1997) Artificial reefs and fisheries exploitation: a review of the ‘attraction versus production’ debate, the influence of design and its significance for policy. Fisheries Research 31, 3959.Google Scholar
Ponti, M., Abbiati, M. and Ceccherelli, V.U. (2002) Drilling platforms as artificial reefs: distribution of macrobenthic assemblages of the “Paguro” wreck (northern Adriatic Sea). ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 316323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Relini, G., Relini, M., Torchia, G. and De Angelis, G. (2002) Trophic relationships between fishes and an artificial reef. Journal of Marine Science 59, S36S42.Google Scholar
Ricker, W.E. (1975) Computation and interpretation for biological statistics of fish populations. Ottawa: Department of Environment, Fisheries and Marine Service.Google Scholar
Santos, L.N., Brotto, D.S. and Zalmon, I.R. (2010) Fish responses to increasing distance from artificial reefs on the Southeastern Brazilian Coast. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 386, 5460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santos, L.N., García-Berthou, E., Agostinho, A.A. and Latini, J.D. (2011) Fish colonization of artificial reefs in a large neotropical reservoir: material type and successional changes. Ecological Applications 21, 251262.Google Scholar
Sherman, R.L., Gilliam, D.S. and Spieler, R.E. (2002) Artificial reef design: void space, complexity, and attractants. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 196200.Google Scholar
Simonsen, K.A. (2008) The effect of an inshore artificial reef on the community structure and feeding ecology of estuarine fishes in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Master Science thesis. Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA.Google Scholar
Soares, L.S.H. and Vazzoler, A.E.A. (2001) Diel changes in food and feeding activity of sciaenid fishes from the South-Western Atlantic, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 61, 197216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Souza, L.M. and Chaves, P.T. (2007) Reproductive activity of fish (Teleostei) and closed season to shrimp trawling off the northern coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24, 11131121.Google Scholar
Szedlmayer, S.T. and Shipp, R.L. (1994) Movement and growth of red snapper Lutjanus campechanus from an artificial reef area in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 55, 887896.Google Scholar
Talbot, F.H., Russell, B.C. and Anderson, G.R.V. (1978) Coral reef fish communities: unstable, high-diversity systems? Ecological Monographs 48, 425440.Google Scholar
Teixeira de Mello, F., Iglesias, C., Borthagaray, A.I., Mazzco, N., Vilches, J., Larrea, D. and Ballabio, R. (2006) Ontogenetic allometric coefficient changes: implications of diet shift and morphometric attributes in Hoplias malabaricus (Bloch) (Characiforme, Erythrinidae). Journal of Fish Biology 69, 17701778.Google Scholar
Warwick, R.M. (1986) A new method for detecting pollution effects on marine macrobenthic communities. Marine Biology 92, 557562.Google Scholar
Workman, I., Shah, A., Foster, D. and Hataway, B. (2002) Habitat preferences and site fidelity of juvenile red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus). ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 4350.Google Scholar
Yemane, D., Field, J.G. and Leslie, R.W. (2005) Exploring the effects of fishing on fish assemblages using Abundance Biomass Comparison (ABC) curves. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62, 374379.Google Scholar
Zalmon, I.R., Novelli, R., Gomes, M.P. and Faria, V.V. (2002) Experimental results of an artificial reef program on the Brazilian coast north of Rio de Janeiro. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, S83S87.Google Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1999) Biostatistical analysis. 4th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar