Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison of predation risks for small fishes in salt marsh microhabitats in Lake Hinuma, eastern Japan, using tethering experiments

Fisheries Science volume 85, pages 457–463 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

To clarify the role of salt marsh creeks as fish refuges, predation risks for two small species (the nektonic Oryzias latipes and benthic Acanthogobius lactipes) were compared among three microhabitats (upper and lower areas of a creek, and marsh edge separate from the creek) in a salt marsh in Lake Hinuma, eastern Japan, in July 2016, using daytime tethering experiments. The survival rate of O. latipes was highest in the upper creek (96%) and lowest at the marsh edge (62%), whereas no significant differences were found among the microhabitats for A. lactipes, with high survival rates (> 90%) in all microhabitats. Individual numbers of larger piscivorous fishes, determined by fyke net sampling, were greatest at the marsh edge, whereas no individuals were recorded in the upper creek, which was characterized by shallower depths and lower dissolved oxygen levels. The results suggested that the upper creek provides potential refugia for O. latipes, which occupied the upper and middle layers of the water column and exhibited hypoxia tolerance. The higher survival rate of benthic A. lactipes at the marsh edge may be due to their cryptic coloration in relation to bottom sediments, which helps them to avoid predation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Aronson RB, Heck KL (1995) Tethering experiments and hypothesis testing in ecology. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 121:307–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banikas EM, Thompson JS (2012) Predation risk experienced by mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in intertidal and subtidal salt marsh habitats. Estuar Coast 35:1346–1352

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bretsch K, Allen DM (2006) Tidal migrations of nekton in salt marsh intertidal creeks. Estuar Coast 29:474–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattrijsse A, Hampel H (2006) European intertidal marshes: a review of their habitat functioning and value for aquatic organisms. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 324:293–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corman SS, Roman CT (2011) Comparison of salt marsh creeks and ditches as habitat for nekton. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 434:57–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deegan LA, Hughes JE, Rountree RA (2000) Salt marsh ecosystem support of marine transient species. In: Weinstein MP, Kreeger DA (eds) Concepts and controversies in tidal marsh ecology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 333–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Desmond JS, Zedler JB, Williams GD (2000) Fish use of tidal creek habitats in two southern California salt marshes. Ecol Eng 14:233–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green BC, Smith DJ, Earley SE, Hepburn LJ, Underwood GJC (2009) Seasonal changes in community composition and trophic structure of fish populations of five salt marshes along the Essex coastline, United Kingdom. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 85:247–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hackney CT, Burbanck WD, Hackney OP (1976) Biological and physical dynamics of a Georgia tidal creek. Chesapeake Sci 17:271–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halpin PM (1997) Habitat use patterns of the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in New England. I. Intramarsh variation. Estuaries 20:618–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halpin PM (2000) Habitat use by an intertidal salt-marsh fish: tradeoffs between predation and growth. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 198:203–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammerschlag N, Morgan AB, Serafy JE (2010) Relative predation risk for fishes along a subtropical mangrove-seagrass ecotone. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 401:259–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hecht T, van der Lingen CD (1992) Turbidity-induced changes in feeding strategies of fish in estuaries. S Afr J Zool 27:95–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heck KL, Thoman TA (1981) Experiments on predator-prey interactions in vegetated aquatic habitats. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 53:125–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horinouchi M (2007) Distribution patterns of benthic juvenile gobies in and around seagrass hanitats: effectiveness of seagrass shelter against predators. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 72:657–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igari K, Endou T, Kaneko S, Usui S, Kanou K (2015) Seasonal dynamics of fishes collected by small fyke nets in reed belts in Lake Kitaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Bull Biogeogr Soc Jpn 70:113–122 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin B, Fu C, Zhong J, Li B, Chen J, Wu J (2007) Fish utilization of a salt marsh intertidal creek in the Yangtze River estuary, China. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 73:844–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaneko S, Kanou K, Sano M (2016) Food habits of salt marsh fishes in Lake Hinuma, Ibaraki Prefecture, central Japan. Fish Sci 82:631–637

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaneko S, Kanou K, Sano M (2019) Comparison of fish assemblage structures among microhabitats in a salt marsh in Lake Hinuma, eastern Japan. Fish Sci 85:113–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kanou K, Sano M, Kohno H (2004) Food habits of fishes on unvegetated tidal mudflats in Tokyo Bay, central Japan. Fish Sci 70:978–987

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kneib RT (1997) The role of tidal marshes in the ecology of estuarine nekton. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 35:163–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Kouzuki Y, Sato Y, Murakami H, Nishioka K, Kurata K, Saraie K, Hukuta M (2000) Environmental factors of Medaka Oryzias latipes in suburban irrigation canal. Environ Syst Res 28:313–320 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laffaille P, Feunteun E, Lefeuvre JC (2000) Composition of fish communities in a European macrotidal salt marsh (the Mont Saint-Michel Bay, France). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 51:429–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linehan JE, Gregory RS, Schneider DC (2001) Predation risk of age-0 cod (Gadus) relative to depth and substrate in coastal waters. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 263:25–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieson S, Cattrijsse A, Costa MJ, Drake P, Elliott M, Gardner J, Marchand J (2000) Fish assemblages of European tidal marshes: a comparison based on species, families and functional guilds. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 204:225–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mclvor CC, Odum WE (1988) Food, predation risk, and microhabitat selection in a marsh fish assemblage. Ecology 69:1341–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment of Japan (2015) Red data book 2014; brackish and freshwater fishes. Gyosei, Tokyo (in Japanese)

  • Morton RM, Pollock BR, Beumer JP (1987) The occurrence and diet of fishes in a tidal inlet to a saltmarsh in southern Moreton Bay, Queensland. Aust J Ecol 12:217–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakabo T (2013) Fishes of Japan with pictorial keys to the species, 3rd edn. Tokai University Press, Hadano (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura Y, Sano M (2004) Is there really lower predation risk for juvenile fishes in a seagrass bed compared with an adjacent coral area? Bull Mar Sci 74:477–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura T, Katano O, Yamamoto S (2004) Effects of aquatic plant zones on the reduction of predation pressure on Japanese native fish by smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu. Suisanzoshoku 52:287–291 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakane Y, Suda Y, Hayakawa Y, Ohtomi J, Sano M (2009) Predation pressure for a juvenile fish on an exposed sandy beach: comparison among beach types using tethering experiments. La mer 46:109–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakane Y, Suda Y, Sano M (2011) Food habits of fishes on an exposed sandy beach at Fukiagehama, South-West Kyushu Island, Japan. Helgol Mar Res 65:123–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nanjo K, Nakamura Y, Horinouchi M, Kohno H, Sano M (2011) Predation risks for juvenile fishes in a mangrove estuary: a comparison of vegetated and unvegetated microhabitats by tethering experiments. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 405:53–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paterson AW, Whitfield AK (2000) Do shallow-water habitats function as refugia for juvenile fishes? Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 51:359–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paterson AW, Whitfield AK (2003) The fishes associated with three intertidal salt marsh creeks in a temperate southern African estuary. Wetl Ecol Manage 11:305–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson CH, Black R (1994) An experimentalist’s challenge: when artifacts of intervention interact with treatments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 111:289–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid SM, Fox MG, Whillans TH (1999) Influence of turbidity on piscivory in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:1362–1369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rountree RA, Able KW (1992) Fauna of polyhaline subtidal marsh creeks in southern New Jersey: composition, abundance and biomass. Estuaries 15:171–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rountree RA, Able KW (1997) Nocturnal fish use of New Jersey marsh creek and adjacent bay shoal habitats. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 44:703–711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas LP, Hackney CT (1984) Use of oligohaline marshes by fishes and macrofaunal crustaceans in North Carolina. Estuaries 7:213–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz GM, Hines AH, Posey MH (1993) Shallow water as a refuge habitat for fish and crustaceans in non-vegetated estuaries: an example from Chesapeake Bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 99:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rypel AL, Layman CA, Arrington DA (2007) Water depth modifies relative predation risk for a motile fish taxon in Bahamian tidal creeks. Estuar Coast 30:518–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salgado J, Costa MJ, Cabral H, Deegan L (2004) Comparison of the fish assemblages in tidal salt marsh creeks and in adjoining mudflat areas in the Tejo estuary (Portugal). Cah Biol Mar 45:213–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Savino JF, Stein RA (1982) Predator-prey interaction between largemouth bass and bluegills as influenced by simulated, submersed vegetation. Trans Am Fish Soc 111:255–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sogard SM (1992) Variability in growth rates of juvenile fishes in different estuarine habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 85:35–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Yuichi Tanaka and Shun Kawaida for helpful suggestions on the statistical analyses. Our thanks are also due to Ken Okamoto, Shigeru Aoki and the anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript, and to Graham Hardy for reviewing the English. We are indebted to the Ohinuma Fishermen’s Cooperative Association for permission to undertake sampling in Lake Hinuma. This study complied with Japanese law.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecosystem Studies, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Seiya Kaneko & Mitsuhiko Sano

  2. Center for Water Environment Studies, Ibaraki University, Itako, Ibaraki, 311-2402, Japan

    Kouki Kanou

Authors
  1. Seiya Kaneko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kouki Kanou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mitsuhiko Sano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seiya Kaneko.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kaneko, S., Kanou, K. & Sano, M. Comparison of predation risks for small fishes in salt marsh microhabitats in Lake Hinuma, eastern Japan, using tethering experiments. Fish Sci 85, 457–463 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-019-01296-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-019-01296-1

Keywords

search

Navigation