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Diel and Tidal Variations of Larvae and Juveniles of Metapenaeus dobsoni from Sundarbans Estuarine System, India

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Abstract

The Sundarbans Estuarine System (SES) is a mangrove dominated monsoonal, macrotidal estuarine system in the east coast of India and is one of the best nursery grounds for shellfish populations in this region. The early developmental stages of penaeid prawns prefer the estuaries to complete their bipartite lifecycle. The present study, conducted within the extremely difficult and challenging environment of the SES, is a pioneering attempt to decipher the probable diel and selective tidal variation patterns of different stages (mysis, decapodite and juvenile) of Metapenaeus dobsoni in the SES, India. The observations were conducted by selecting a time series sampling protocol of 72 hours each, during the spring and neap phases of the tidal cycle in the peak monsoon month of August 2014. During the spring and neap tides, the total population was observed to be dominated by juveniles (83%) and mysis larva (61%) respectively. The maximum abundance was observed to occur during the night time of the neap phase irrespective of tidal amplitude. During the spring phase the maximum abundance was recorded at low tide conditions irrespective of the diel variations. The increase in the abundance of mysis stages always synchronized with low tides during the neap phase whereas, the peak increase of juvenile abundance synchronized with the ebb currents (low tides) during the spring phase. M. dobsoni utilize the tidal currents for their ingress and egress mechanisms in order to travel horizontal distances or remain in their preferred habitats. Our study corroborated the significant importance of ontogenetic diel and a tidal variation of larval and juvenile’s abundance in the water column at SES. Such studies of the larval dynamics are very essential in the SES for estimating the fishery potential and sustainable management of wild seed collections by the local fishermen community.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Vice Chancellor, Presidency University, Kolkata, for facilities and encouragement. We thank all members of SEP-2014 and the Marine Ecology Laboratory, who helped in carrying out the simultaneous time series measurements in Sundarbans Estuarine System. The authors thank INCOIS (MoES), MoES and FRPDF grant for the financial support. We also thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Data in this paper is part of a doctoral thesis of T.N. to be submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Presidency University, Kolkata.

Funding

The work was done as part of the Sundarbans Estuarine Program 2014, funded by INCOIS (MoES, Government of India) to MC. (Sanction No. F/INCOIS/HOOFS-05-2013 dated 21.06.2013) and MoES, Government of India (Sanction No. MoES/36/OOIS/Extra/24/2013) and FRPDF grant of Presidency University to SM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, 86/1, College Street, Kolkata- 700073, India

    Tanmoy Nandy, Avirup Saha & Sumit Mandal

  2. Department of Mathematics, Basanti Devi College, 147/B Rashbehari Avenue, Kolkata, 700029, India

    Meenakshi Chatterjee

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  1. Tanmoy Nandy
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  2. Avirup Saha
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  3. Sumit Mandal
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  4. Meenakshi Chatterjee
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Correspondence to Sumit Mandal.

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Nandy, T., Saha, A., Mandal, S. et al. Diel and Tidal Variations of Larvae and Juveniles of Metapenaeus dobsoni from Sundarbans Estuarine System, India. Thalassas 38, 255–266 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-021-00337-w

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