Here we investigated drivers of the seasonal fish larvae abundance and composition in seagrass habitats in coastal Kenya and Tanzania. We found a high diversity of fish larvae (54 families) inhabiting seagrass habitats that differed between sites and seasons. Overall, total larval abundances per site were low, likely related to the low productivity and strong hydrodynamic processes in this region. Our data suggests that most of the fish spawn year-round in these tropical waters as we did not find strong seasonal patterns. All sites had a high relative abundance of larvae from demersal spawning fishes, indicating that many fish species move to coastal sites for spawning. Primary productivity and dissolved oxygen, driven by hydrodynamics conditions are positively related to fish larvae productivity both in Kenya and Tanzania. These findings indicate that the occurrence of both resident and transient fish larvae in seagrass meadows is driven by strong hydrodynamic and tidal processes that transport fish larvae across adjacent habitats.
The full article is available here:
Ngisiange, N., Tarimo, B., Daudi, L. et al. Seasonal fish larvae abundance and composition in seagrass habitats of coastal East Africa. Sci Rep 14, 11203 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62012-3
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