Larval fish dispersal along an estuarine-ocean gradient

The present study investigated the larval fish dispersal along an estuarine-ocean gradient to explore connectivity between ocean and estuaries. During spring 2009, a combined ocean-estuarine survey was conducted along the Lima estuarine salinity gradient and in two transects off the adjacent coast (NW Iberian Peninsula), until the 100m isobaths. Salinity, TPM, POM, TDC, DOC reached higher values at the ocean, chlorophyll a and nutrients increased at the estuary. From the total 56 taxa identified, 14 were present along the gradient, including estuarine species (ES), marine stragglers (MS) and migrants (MM). CCA analysis showed that species were separated along the gradient according to their ecological functional classification. MM associated with high salinity were separated from ES correlated with lower salinities and high chlorophyll a concentrations of inner estuary. Flounder showed a typical spatial gradient of MM, with abundance increasing from the ocean towards inner estuary. The dispersal of larvae along the Lima estuarine-ocean gradient was indicative of connectivity between habitats, emphasizing the need to consider this feature in management plans, mainly for species exploited by commercial fisheries.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author