The importance of aquatic terrestrial ecotones for freshwater fish

The Sinnamary is a small tropical river (250 km long, watershed of 6500 km2) where a dam is to be impounded in 1994. The extent of naturally periodically flooded areas along the Sinnamary river is estimated by using remote sensing (Landsat TM satellite data) and botanical grouping are described on in situ observations, ground truth and collections. The fish assemblages of these areas are described and their density estimated by rotenone sampling. The role of this ecotone to fish populations is discussed. The extent of the inundated areas appears to be greater than previously estimated by classical mapping. As expected, the fish fauna is mostly composed of fish juveniles and adults of dwarf (<3 cm) and small (