Abstract
Knowledge about short-term assembly patterns and connectivity in estuarine mangrove ichthyofauna from the Indo-West Pacific region is scant. We assessed tidal and diel dynamics of intertidal and subtidal fish assemblages in the mangrove forest of Sikao Creek, southwest (Andaman coast) Thailand. Over three lunar cycles, two intertidal creeks were blocked at high water according to the interaction of tidal and diel cycles; the adjacent subtidal area was seined at low waters. A total of 18,033 individuals (93 species, 36 families) were caught. Catch mass and abundances were dominated by small-sized fishes (intertidal creeks: Apogon hyalosoma, Ambassis interrupta, Ambassis vachellii; subtidal area: A. vachellii, Neostethus lankesteri, Oryzias javanicus, Siganus javus). Of 45 intertidal species, 78 % were also caught in the subtidal, suggesting close connectivity between the two habitat types. Overall intertidal fish biomass (0.3 g m−2) and density (0.03 fish m−2) were relatively low. Specific combinations of tidal magnitude and diel cycle explained recurring changes in intertidal fish assemblage structures, clearly observed at the species level, in the number of species, diversity, evenness and biomass. This pattern was strongly driven by new moon-night abundance maxima of dominant A. vachellii, which also displayed fullest stomachs at this lunar-diel cycle interaction. We suggest that estuarine mangrove fish studies of the Andaman Sea region may suffer significant bias when the importance of tidal-lunar and diel cycle interactions are not considered because the role of Ambassidae will be strongly underestimated.
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Acknowledgments
Field sampling was conducted within the scope of the student and staff exchange program between Rajamangala University, Thailand and University of Latvia. We are grateful to Meta Kogoj, Zane Grotusa, Arta Lapuke and Armands Roze for assistance in field sampling and/or lab work. We thank Katharina Wiesemann and Steffen Schwantz (University of Bremen) for assistance with the GIS. We are also grateful for advice and assistance from the Marine Science Department of the Rajamangala University of Technology, Thailand, and thank the National Research Council of Thailand for the granting of permits to conduct this research in Thailand. Kalvis Grinvalds acknowledges a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Uwe Krumme acknowledges financial support from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) kindly provided permission for use of fish illustrations. All applicable national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.
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Krumme, U., Grinvalds, K., Zagars, M. et al. Tidal, diel and lunar patterns in intertidal and subtidal mangrove creek fish assemblages from southwest Thailand. Environ Biol Fish 98, 1671–1693 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0393-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0393-5