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Contribution of Estuarine and Coastal Habitats Within Nursery to the Diets of Juvenile Fish in Spring and Autumn

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Abstract

Coastal and estuarine nurseries are composed of habitats with different biotic and abiotic features. Quantifying the contribution of different habitats within nurseries to juvenile fish feeding would help identify those that are essential in the completion of their life cycle, by providing food resources that maximise growth and survival. Essential habitats for four bentho-demersal fish species (whiting, sea bass, plaice and common sole) in an estuarine nursery were identified using gut contents and stable isotopes. Habitats differed in isotopic ratios and benthic communities. The estuarine gradient defined the macrofauna communities and sources of organic matter used by primary consumers. Trophic niche overlaps and trophic contribution of habitats highlighted that the species used both intertidal and subtidal habitats as feeding grounds. Flatfish were local feeders and fed on prey available mainly in the habitat in which they were caught, suggesting feeding behaviour that required little energy for movement. Sea bass were concentrated in upstream habitats, with intertidal mudflats contributing for nearly half of its diet. Whiting had an ubiquitous feeding strategy, suggesting that it may target prey with the most energetic gain in the habitats. Hence, habitats were used simultaneously during the same season or asynchronously throughout the year by the juvenile fish studied, suggesting no preference for a specific habitat at the community scale. Finally, both trophic tracers demonstrated the trophic importance of intertidal mudflats, especially for the sea bass and common sole, with contributions up to the half and two-third of their diet respectively.

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Acknowledgements

We thank those involved in the collection, identification and isotopic sample preparation of benthic invertebrates: Céline Chaignon, Séverine Dubut and Delphie Le Thoer (CSLN, Cellule de Suivi du Littoral Normand), Margaux Denamiel (IFREMER), Jean Claude Dauvin and Jean-Philippe Pézy (Caen University) and Frank Maheux (Laboratoire Environnement Ressources de Normandie). We also thank those involved in the collection, identification, gut content identification and isotopic sampling of fish: Sylvain Duhamel, Pierre Balay, Mélissa Rey, Chloé Dancie, Camille Hanin (CSLN), Margaux Denamiel, Clémence Couvreur and Marie-Anais Lepretre (IFREMER). We thank the captain and the crew of the vessel ‘Flipper’. We thank Alexandra Engler for her work during her internship at IFREMER.

Funding

A Ph.D. grant (SA6-CAPES-1) from the GIP Seine Aval and IFREMER financially supported this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EMH, Ecology and models applied to fishery resources, IFREMER, Rue de l’île d’Yeu, B.P. 21105, 44311, Nantes, France

    Louise Day & Anik Brind’Amour

  2. ESE, Ecology and Ecosystems Health, Institut Agro, INRAE, 35042, Rennes, France

    Louise Day & Hervé Le Bris

  3. HMMN, Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques Manche Mer du Nord, IFREMER, 62200, Boulogne sur Mer, France

    Pierre Cresson

  4. CSLN, Cellule de Suivi du Littoral Normand, 76600, Le Havre, France

    Bastien Chouquet

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  1. Louise Day
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  5. Hervé Le Bris
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Correspondence to Louise Day.

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Communicated by Steven Litvin

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Day, L., Brind’Amour, A., Cresson, P. et al. Contribution of Estuarine and Coastal Habitats Within Nursery to the Diets of Juvenile Fish in Spring and Autumn. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 1100–1117 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00823-z

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