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Rocky bottom fish communities of Cabrera Archipelago National Park (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean)

TitleRocky bottom fish communities of Cabrera Archipelago National Park (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean)
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1997
AuthorsRenones O, Morales-Nin B, Coll J, Moranta J
JournalScience Marine
Volume61
Keywordsalgae, Balearic Islands, buffer zone, Cabrera, density, depth, distribution, fish, fish assemblage, fishery impact, habitat, island, labridae, management, marine protected area, Mediterranean sea, mullidae, national park, no-take area, rocky shore, Sciaenidae, serranidae, size, Spain, sparidae, transects, visual census, western Mediterranean, zoning
Abstract

In the present study the fish communities of the rocky bottoms of Cabrera Archipelago (Balearic Islands) are analysed and provide data for future evaluation of any changes produced by management. Visual counts were carried out by diving along transects situated in areas of rocky blocks at depths of -10 m, -25 m and -41 m and at vertical cliffs -15 m deep. In the 10 stations studied, 48 species belonging to 19 families have been recorded. The increase in depth principally produced a specific impoverishment and a decrease in the density of mesophagous and macrophagous carnivore species. This tendency became more noticeable changing from the infralittoral to the circalittoral stage. In the infralittoral stage the substrate rugosity was a more important factor than depth in the structure of the fish community. However, other specific characteristics of each zone such as algal cover, hydrodynamic conditions and fishing pressure, as well as habitat changes with size of some species, also affected the specific composition and demographic structure of the fish community.

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