title: Variability in spatial and temporal occurrence of presettlement and settlement-stage fishes associated with shallow reefs.
abstract: Presettlement and settlement-stage fishes were studied in a large, log-spiral bay in temperate South Africa. The aim was to describe the assemblage composition, density and distribution associated with four types of habitats common to the bay: high profile reef, low profile reef, reef-associated sand and open sand spatially separated from reef. Samples were collected with both a plankton ring net and a light trap at each habitat type as part of a mixed-method approach. A total of 4084 presettlement and settlement-stage fishes belonging to 31 teleost families and 84 species were captured. Reef-associated sand and open sand habitats yielded higher species richness and diversity than the high and low-profile reef habitats. Engraulidae, Gobiidae, Clupeidae and Cynoglossidae were the dominant fish families captured with the ring net, while Engraulidae, Clupeidae, Carangidae and Clinidae were captured with the light trap. A temporal difference in the abundance of presettlement fishes occurred between the sampling periods with highest values recorded during the summer settlement period. Habitat type together with associated physico-chemical variables played a pivotal role in determining presettlement fish species composition, density and distribution across habitat types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, P. O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pattrick
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, P. O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Strydom
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057894:Coral Reefs; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes; D007814:Larva; D012621:Seasons; D013019:South Africa
keywords: Algoa Bay; fish larvae; light trap; reef fish; sand substrata