Dependence of fish on subtropical riverine mangroves as habitat in the Ryukyu islands, Japan
2018
Pantallano, A.D.S. (Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi (Japan). Graduate School of Kuroshio Science) | Bobiles, R.U. | Nakamura, Y.
To examine whether fish were dependent on mangrove habitat in the Ryukyu Islands (southern Japan), fish assemblage structures were compared on the downstream side between mangrove-rich and mangrove-free rivers on Ishigaki and Okinawa Islands in 2014 and 2015. The mean species richness and abundance of fish were significantly higher in mangrove-rich rivers than in mangrove-free rivers. Mangrove-related food feeders (e.g., benthic invertebrate and detritus) were more abundant in mangrove-rich than mangrove-free rivers while mangrove-unrelated food feeders (e.g., zooplankton feeders) showed no difference between river types. Cluster and ordination analyses demonstrated that fish assemblage structures were clearly different between mangrove-rich and mangrove-free rivers. Of all of the fish species collected (88 species), half of the species (45 species, 51%) occurred exclusively in the mangrove-rich rivers, 9 species (10%) in the mangrove-free rivers and 34 species (39%) were common in both types of rivers. Commercially important fish (e.g., Lutjanus fulvus and L. argentimaculatus) showed greater abundance of juveniles in mangrove-rich rivers than in the mangrove-free rivers, indicating that mangrove-rich rivers can provide important habitat for a variety of fish, including those commercially important to fisheries.
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