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Patterns in abundance and distribution of juvenile flounder, Platichthys flesus, in Minho estuary (NW Iberian Peninsula)

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Abstract

For 2 years, the flatfish community of Minho estuary (Northwest of Iberian Peninsula) was surveyed monthly with a beam trawl. Flounder, Platichthys flesus, was the most representative species contributing the most (74%) to the total flatfish abundance and was the only species occurring throughout the sampling period and along the entire salinity gradient. The majority of flounder sampled consisted of 0- and 1-year group individuals. In both years, a peak in abundance was recorded in late spring–summer months (from May to August) which coincided with seasonal settlement events. Higher densities of newly-settled flounder were obtained in the most upstream site, located in the tidal freshwater wetland, indicating that this area is an important nursery area. Of the environmental variables tested, temperature and salinity were the best predictors for 0-year group abundance explaining around 30% of the variability, whereas sediment was also important when considering all age groups together. This study supports the generally prevalent idea that estuaries act as nurseries for the early life stages of flounder, with particular relevance to the tidal freshwater estuarine wetlands.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Eduardo Martins, Cindy Pedrosa, Joana Rodrigues, Sílvia Santos, Margarida Nuno, Tânia Pinto and Carla Lopes for their support during field and/or laboratory work. Thanks are also due to three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which greatly improved earlier versions of this paper. This work was co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the project POCI CLI/61605/2004, and by a PhD grant from FCT supporting VF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIMAR/CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal

    Vânia Freitas, Sérgia Costa-Dias, Joana Campos, Ana Bio, Paulo Santos & Carlos Antunes

  2. FCUP—Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Praça Gomes Teixeira, 4099-002, Porto, Portugal

    Vânia Freitas, Joana Campos & Paulo Santos

  3. Aquamuseu do Rio Minho—Parque do Castelinho, 4920-290, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal

    Carlos Antunes

Authors
  1. Vânia Freitas
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  2. Sérgia Costa-Dias
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  3. Joana Campos
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  4. Ana Bio
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  5. Paulo Santos
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  6. Carlos Antunes
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Correspondence to Vânia Freitas.

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Freitas, V., Costa-Dias, S., Campos, J. et al. Patterns in abundance and distribution of juvenile flounder, Platichthys flesus, in Minho estuary (NW Iberian Peninsula). Aquat Ecol 43, 1143–1153 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-009-9237-8

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