Abstract
Trawl samples of demersal fish populations within the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica were conducted during February and July, 1979 and April, 1980 in an attempt to define basic abundance, diversity and distributional patterns. Seventeen day and three night samples produced 6 441 fishes of 107 species during the February cruise. Twenty day and two night samples produced 9 220 individuals of 131 species during the July cruise. Twenty day samples produced 14 151 individuals representing 125 species taken during the April cruise. A total of 214 species were collected during this study.
The Gulf may be divided into three zones on the basis of the physical characteristics of the stations (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, depth and distance from the mouth of the Gulf). Few changes in the position of these zones occurred during the study period indicating a relatively stable estuarine configuration from a biological perspective.
The Gulf of Nicoya area is under the influence of a wet and a dry season. No significant seasonal changes in the number, biomass, percent occurrence, diversity of partitioning by size class of fishes were observed.
Two major types of fish distributional patterns were observed. Several species were ubiquitous and were found throughout the Gulf in varying abundances. Other species were restricted to either the upper or lower Gulf. Dominant groups in the upper Gulf include the sciaenids, sea catfishes (Ariidae) and flatfishes (Soleidae, Cynoglossidae andSyacium ovale). These fishes tend to inhabit the warmer, shallower, less saline waters of the upper Gulf. Flounders (bothidae), gobies (Bollmannia spp.), morays and congers (Hildebrandia nitens, Priodonophus equatorialis andMuraenesox coniceps) and several other species dominated the deeper, cooler, more saline lower Gulf.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartels, C. E., 1981. Occurrence, distribution, abundance, and diversity of fishes in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Univ. Delaware. M.S. Thesis, 120 pp.
Bartels, C. E., K. S. Price, M. L. Bussing & W. A. Bussing, 1983. Occurrence, distribution, abundance, and diversity of fishes in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. trop. 31(1): 75–101.
Bechtel, T. J. & B. J. Copeland, 1970. Fish species diversity indices as indicators of pollution in Galveston Bay, Texas. Contrib. mar. Sci. Univ. Texas 15: 103–132.
Britian, M., 1966. A small collection of the shore fishes from the west coast of Costa Rica. Ichthyologia 37: 121–134.
Bussing, W. A., 1969. Familias de peces marinos costarricenses y de aquas contiguas. Ser. Cienc. Nat. 6, San Jose, Costa Rica, 39 pp.
Cain, R. L. & J. M. Dean, 1976. Annual occurrence, abundance and diversity of fish in a South Carolina intertidal creek. Mar. Biol. 36: 369–379.
Conover, W. J., 1971. Practical Non-Parametric Statistics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., N.Y., 461 pp.
Dahlberg, N. & E. P. Odum, 1970. Annual cycles of species occurrence, abundance and diversity in Georgia estuarine fish populations. Am. Midl. Nat. 83: 382–392.
Epifanio, C. E., D. Maurer & A. I. Dittel, 1983. Seasonal changes in nutrients and dissolved oxygen in the Gulf of Nicoya, a tropical estuary on the Pacific coast of Central America. Hydrobiologia 101: 231–238.
Erdman, D. S., 1971. Notes on fishes from the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Revue Biol. trop. 19: 59–71.
leon, P. E., 1973. Ecologia de la ictio fauna del Gulfo de Nicoya, un estario tropical. Rev. Biol. trop. 21: 5–30.
Lloyd, M. & R. J. Ghelardi, 1964. A table for calculating the ‘equitability’ component of species diversity. J. anim. Ecol. 33: 217–225.
MacArthur, R. H., 1965. Patterns of species diversity. Biol. Rev. 40: 510–533.
Marchant, A., 1975. Current state of the fisheries. In: T. Estes (ed.), Proc. Seminar-workshop artisan fish. Dev. Aquacult. Cent. Am. Panama. In. Center mar. Resour. Dev. U.R.I.Kingston, R.I.: 161–163.
Maurer, D., C. Epifanio & K. S. Price, 1980. Ecological assessment of finfish and megabenthic invertebrates as indicators of natural and impacted habitats in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Prog. Rep. 1979 int. Sea Grant Prog. Coll. mar. Stud., Univ. Delaware, 306 pp.
Maurer, D., C. E. Epifanio, J. A. Vargas, A. I. Dittel, M. M. Murillo, H. K. Dean & S. R. Howe, in press. Megabenthic invertebrates of a tropical estuary: Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. J. Nat. Hist.
McErlean, A. J., S. G. O'Connor, J. A. Mihursky & C. I. Gibson, 1973. Abundance, diversity and seasonal patterns of estuarine fish populations. Est. coast. mar. Sci. 1: 19–36.
Peterson, C. L., 1956. Observations on the taxonomy, biology and ecology of the engraulid and clupeid fishes in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Bull. inter-am. trop. Tuna Commiss. 1: 139–280.
Pianka, E. R., 1966. Latitudinal gradients in species diversity: A review of concepts. Am. Nat. 100: 33–46.
Pianka, E. R., 1967. On lizard species diversity: North America flatland deserts. Ecology 48: 333–351.
Pielou, E. C., 1966. The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. J. theor. Biol. 13: 131–144.
Saila, S. B., 1979. Some environmental considerations for smallscale fisheries stock assessment. Stock assessment for tropical small-scale fisheries. Univ. Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.: 66–69.
Salzen, E., 1957. A trawling survey off the Gold Coast. J. Con. 23: 72–82.
Scheid, A. & J. Sutinen, 1979. The structure and performance of wholesale marketing of finfish in Costa Rica. Int. Cent. mar. Resour. Dev., U.R.I., Kingston, R.I., Working Pap. 4, 4,60 pp
Stevenson, D. K., 1978. Management of fisheries resources in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica: Methods and preliminary results. Rev. Biol. trop. 26: 107–123.
Stevenson, D. K., 1979. Use of length frequency data to estimate growth and mortality rates for species exploited by tropical small-scale fisheries in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. In: S. B. Saila & P. Roedel (eds.), Stock Assessment for Tropical Small-Scale Fisheries. Univ. Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.: 137–153.
Subrahmanyam, C. & S. Drake, 1975. Studies on the animal communities in two north Florida salt marshes, I Bull. mar. Sci. 25: 445–465.
Voorhis, A. D., A. I. Dittel, J. A. Vargas & D. Maurer, in press. The estuarine character of the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Hydrobiologia.
Voorhis, A. D., C. E. Epifanio, D. Maurer, A. I. Dittel & J. A. Vargas, 1983. The estuarine character of the Gulf of Nicoya, an embayment on the Pacific coast of Central America. Hydrobiologia 99: 225–237.
Wishart, D., 1978. CLUSTAN User Manual (3rd ed.). Program Library Unit, Edinburgh University, 175 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bartels, C.E., Price, K.S., Bussing, M.L. et al. Ecological assessment of finfish as indicators of habitats in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Hydrobiologia 112, 197–207 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008085
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008085