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Using short-term growth of enclosed 0-group European flounder, Platichthys flesus, to assess habitat quality in a Danish bay

2005; Wiley; Volume: 21; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1439-0426.2004.00626.x

1439-0426

E. Tarpgaard, Mathias F Mogensen, Peter Grønkjær, Jesper Carl,

Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies

Instantaneous growth rates of 0-group European flounder, Platichthys flesus, obtained from two 9-day enclosure experiments were used to assess the relative quality of three eelgrass and three bare sand habitats in the Bay of Aarhus, Denmark. Measurements of temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, sediment structure and biomass of benthic macrofauna were made during the experiments. Gut content analysis was performed after retrieval of the fish. Growth rates of flounder at two bare sand sites were higher or equal to growth rates at the three eelgrass sites, and at a muddy bare sand site in both experiments. The variation in gut fullness of flounder between vegetated and bare sand sites followed the pattern observed in growth rates, but diverged from the spatial variation in prey abundance, which indicates that there were differences in the feeding efficiency between sites. Overall, habitat complexity, i.e. the presence or absence of vegetation seems to be the most important factor determining the growth rates and, by corollary, habitat quality for juvenile European flounder in the Bay of Aarhus.