engleski

Summer Assemblage of Ichthyoplankton in South- Eastern Adriatic Sea

The ichthyoplankton assemblage, spatial distribution, and species richness in south- eastern part of Adriatic Sea was analysed in summer 2018 at 25 randomly chosen stations. Results showed the presence of 44 taxa (35 species, 3 genera, 1 family, 5 undetermined) with most abundant species belonging to families Engraulidae, Carangidae, Scombridae, Sparidae, and Serranidae. Fish egg abundance was in range from 0 to 1, 454.9 eggs/m2, with an average of 45.8, while larval abundance was in range from 0 to 1, 388.2 larvae/m2, with an average of 46.43. Species richness was strongly correlated with total abundance of ichthyoplankton (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r = 0.71, p < 0.01). The value of Shannon diversity indices was in range from 0 to 1.84, with a mean of 0.72. This variable was negatively correlated with ichthyoplankton abundance (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r = −0.10, p > 0.01) and positively correlated with species richness (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r = 0.48, p > 0.01). Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), which is one of the most economically important species for fishery in Adriatic Sea, was predominant in terms of eggs (>83.6%) and larvae (>78.3%). The results point out that the main spawning area of anchovy in the area closer to the coast (where sea depth of about 50 m). Due to the low presence of other commercial species found during the survey, this paper should encourage future researchers to monitor ichthyoplankton communities in shallow areas in order to determine the presence and abundance of early stages of other commercial fish species.

Adiratic Sea ; Fish eggs and larvae ; Montenegro ; Spatial distribution ; Species richness

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