Preliminary study on cryptobenthic fish assemblages affected by the mucilage event in the northeastern Aegean Sea

Preliminary study on cryptobenthic fish assemblages affected by the mucilage event in the northeastern Aegean Sea

Cem Dalyan, Nur Bikem Kesici, Ferhat Yalgın

ORCID IDs: C.D. 0000-0002-7386-5641; N.B.K. 0000-0002-9636-1649; F.Y. 0000-0002-0027-5114

Division of Hydrobiology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Istanbul, TURKEY
Underwater Technologies, Bandirma Onyedi Eylül University, Bandırma, Balıkesir, TURKEY

Abstract

Cryptobenthic fishes form a major component of coastal fish communities. Due to their site fidelity, life strategies and habitat preferences, they can be considered as indicator organisms which some changes in the coastal ecosystem can be detected. In this study, the effects of the mucilage event were studied through cryptobenthic fish assemblages in the North Aegean Sea between May and August of 2021. During 12 dives, a total of 166 individuals of 19 cryptobenthic fish species were observed belonging to the families Gobiidae (7 species), Blennidae (7), Gobiesocidae (2) and Tripterygiidae (3). Density of the cryptobenthic fish were estimated as 11.4 (ind. per hour) in May and June (while intense mucilage formation was observed in the area) and 17.8 (ind. per hour) in July and August. The overall result revealed that the effects of mucilage are destructive for the marine cryptobenthic fishes.

Keywords: Gobiidae, Blenniidae, North Aegean Sea, Gökçeada Island, Saros Bay

pdf-dl icon

References 

Ahmadia, G.N., Pezold, F.L., Smith, D.J. (2012) Cryptobenthic fish biodiversity and microhabitat use in healthy and degraded coral reefs in SE Sulawesi, Indonesia, Marine Biodiversity. Marine Biodiversity 42(4): 433-442.

Aktan, Y., Dede, A., Çiftci, P.S. (2008) Mucilage event associated with diatoms and dinoflagellates in Sea of Marmara, Turkey. Harmful Algae News 36: 1-3.

Balkis-Ozdelice, N., Durmuş, T., Balcı, M. (2021) A preliminary study on the intense pelagic and benthic mucilage phenomenon observed in the Sea of Marmara. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics 8(4): 414-422.

Beldade, R., Gonçalves, E.J. (2007) An interference visual census technique applied to cryptobenthic fish assemblages. Life Environment (Vie et Milieu) 5(1): 61-65.

Bellwood, D.R., Hoey, A.S., Ackerman, J.L., Depczynski, M. (2006) Coral bleaching, reef fish community phase shifts and the resilience of coral reefs. Global Change Biology 12(9): 1587-1594.

Böhm, T., Hoeksema, B.W. (2017) Habitat selection of the coral-dwelling spinyhead blenny, Acanthemblemaria spinosa, at Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean. Marine Biodiversity 47: 17-25.

Brandl, S.J., Casey, J.M., Knowlton, N., Duffy, J.E. (2017) Marine dock pilings foster diverse, native cryptobenthic fish assemblages across bioregions. Ecology and Evolution 7(17): 7069-7079.

Brandl, S.J., Goatley, C.H.R., Bellwood, D.R., Tornabene, L. (2018) The hidden half: ecology and evolution of cryptobenthic fishes on coral reefs. Biological Reviews 93(4): 1846-1873.

Cadena-Estrada, A., Ortega-Ortiz, C.D., Liñán-Cabello, M.A. (2019) Cryptic fish associated with different substrates in two coastal reef communities of Colima, Mexico. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research 47(2): 318-330.

Castelli, A., Prevedelli, D. (1992) Effetto del fenomeno delle mucillagini dell’estate1989 sul popolamento a policheti di un microhabitat salmastro presso punta Marina (Ravenna). Biologia Mediterranea 1: 35e38 (in Italian).

Cramer, W., Guiot, J., Fader, M., Garrabou, J., Gattuso, J.P., Iglesias, A., Lange, M.A., Lionello, P., Llasat, M.C., Paz, S., Peñuelas, J., Snoussi, M., Toreti, A., Tsimplis, M.N., Xoplaki, E. (2018) Climate change and interconnected risks to sustainable development in the Mediterranean. Nature Climate Change 8: 972-980.

Depczynski M., Bellwood, D.R. (2004) Microhabitat utilisation patterns in cryptobenthic coral reef fish communities. Marine Biology 145: 455-463.

Engin, S., Irmak, E., Seyhan, D., Akdemir T., Kesin, A.C. (2018) Gobiid fishes of the coastal zone of the Northeastern Aegean Sea. Marine Biodiversity 48: 1073-1084.

Giuliani, S., Virno Lamberti, C., Sonni, C., Pellegrini, D. (2005) Mucilage impact on gorgonians in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Science in the Total Environment 353: 340-349.

Goatley, C.H.R., González-Cabello, A., Bellwood, D.R. (2016) Reef-scale partitioning of cryptobenthic fish assemblages across the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 544: 271-280.

Gonçalves, E.J., Faria, C. (2009) Patterns of microhabitat utilisation in blennies. In: The Biology of Blennies (eds., Patzner, R.A., Gonçalves, E.J., Hastings, P.A., Kapoor, B.G.) Enfield (NH): Science Publishers, pp. 405-440.

Kesici, N.B., Dalyan, C. (2020) Habitat preferences and spatial distribution of the cryptobenthic fish assemblages around the Gökçeada Island (North Aegean Sea). Journal of Ichthyology 60: 263-271.

Kovačić, M., Patzner, R.A., Schliewen, U.K. (2012) A first quantitative assessment of the ecology of cryptobenthic fishes in the Mediterranean Sea. Mar Biol 159: 2731-2742.

Mistri, M., Ceccherelli, V.H. (1996) Effects of a mucilage event on the Mediterranean gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. I ‐ Short term impacts at the population and colony levels. Italian Journal of Zoology 63(3): 221-230.

Munday, P.L. (2004) Habitat loss, resource specialization, and extinction on coral reefs. Global Change Biology 10: 1642-1647.

Munday, P.L., Jones, G.P. (1998) The ecological implications of small body size among coral-reef fishes. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Review 36: 373-411.

Munday, P.L., van Herwerden, L., Dudgeon, C.L. (2004) Evidence for Sympatric Speciation by Host Shift in the Sea. Current Biology 14: 1498-1504.

Nelson, J.S., Grande, T., Wilson, M.V.H. (2016) Fishes of the World, 5th Ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

Özalp, H.B. (2021) First massive mucilage event observed in deep waters of Çanakkale Strait (Dardanelles), Turkey. J Black Sea/Medit Environ 27(1): 49-66.

Patzner, R.A. (1999) Habitat utilization and depth distribution of small cryptobenthic fishes (Blenniidae, Gobiesocidae, Gobiidae, Tripterygiidae) in Ibiza (Western Mediterranean Sea). Environ Biol Fish 55(3): 207-214.

Piazzi, L., Bonaviri, C., Castelli, A., Ceccherelli, G., Costa, G., Curini-Galletti, M., Langeneck, J., Manconi, R., Montefalcone, M., Pipitone, C., Rosso, A., Pinna, S. (2018) Biodiversity in canopy-forming algae: structure and spatial variability of the Mediterranean Cystoseira assemblages. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 207: 132-141.

Precali, R., Giani, M., Marini, M., Grilli, F., Ferrari, C.R., Pečar, O., Paschini, E. (2005) Mucilaginous aggregates in the northern Adriatic in the period 1999-2002: Typology and distribution. Science of the Total Environment 353: 10-23.

Rinaldi, A., Vollenweider, R.A., Montanari, G., Ferrari, C.R., Ghetti, A. (1995) Mucilages in the Italian seas: the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seasduring 1988-1991. Science in the Total Environment 165: 165-183.

Schiaparelli, S., Castellano, M., Povero, P., Sartoni, G., Cattaneo-Vietti, R. (2007) A benthic mucilage event in North-Western Mediterranean Sea and its possible relationships with the summer 2003 European heatwave: short term effects on littoral rocky assemblages. Marine Ecology 28: 1-13.

Topçu, N.E., Öztürk, B. (2015) Composition and abundance of octocorals in the Sea of Marmara, where the Mediterranean meets the Black Sea. Scientia Marina 79(1): 129-135.

Townsend, K.A., Tibbetts, I.R. (2000) Biomass and distribution of herbivorous blennies in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Journal of Fish Biology 56: 774-791.

White, G.E., Brown, C. (2013) Site fidelity and homing behaviour in intertidal fishes. Marine Biology 160(6): 1365-1372.

Willis, T.J. (2001) Visual census methods underestimate density and diversity of cryptic reef fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 59(5): 1408-1411.

Wilson, S.K. (2009) Diversity in the diet and feeding habits of blennies. In: The Biology of Blennies (eds., Patzner, R.A., Gonçalves, E.J., Hastings, P.A., Kapoor, B.G.). Enfield (NH): Science Publishers, pp. 139- 162.

Zander, C.D. (2012) Gobies as predator and prey. In: The Biology of Gobies (eds., Patzner, R.A., Tassell, J.L.V., Kovačić, M., Kapoor, B.G.) Science Publishers, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, pp. 291-344.