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Issue Aquat. Living Resour.
Volume 17, Number 1, January-March 2004
Page(s) 56 - 64
DOI 10.1051/alr:2004008

Aquat. Living Resour. 17 (2004) 56-64
DOI: 10.1051/alr:2004008

Juvenile fish assemblages in the creeks of the Gambia Estuary

Guy Vidy1, Famara Sambou Darboe2 and Ebou Mass Mbye2

1  IRD, BP 1386 Dakar, Senegal
2  Fisheries Department 6, Muammar Ghadafi Avenue, Banjul, The Gambia

(Received 25 July 2003; Accepted 23 December 2003 )

Abstract
A fyke net survey of the juvenile and small fish assemblage of the Gambia estuary was conducted on three sampling occasions during the maximum recruitment season, from May to November 2002. This is the first detailed description of that particular component of the fish community in the Gambia estuary. The overall fyke net fish assemblage comprised 51 species, with a majority of young individuals of large and medium size species and the adults of small species. This assemblage is defined as the "small fish component of the mangrove channels". The assemblage is dominated by true estuarine and certain marine species, all able to complete their life cycle within the estuary. The sea spawning species whose juveniles use the estuary mainly as a nursery ground, are not very diverse or abundant during the recruitment season. They are limited to the lowest part of the estuary due to the low salinity prevailing in the middle and upper reaches during the rainy season. This suggests that extreme seasonal variability (river flooding) in certain West African tropical estuaries at the time of maximum recruitment by certain marine species may reduce the nursery ground value for these taxa.

Résumé
La communauté des juvéniles de poissons dans l'estuaire de la Gambie. Le peuplement de poissons juvéniles de l'estuaire de la Gambie a fait l'objet de trois campagnes d'échantillonnage au cours de la saison de recrutement maximal de mai à novembre 2002. Ceci constitue la première description détaillée de cette composante particulière du peuplement de poissons de l'estuaire de la Gambie. L'échantillonnage à l'aide de verveux a révélé un assemblage composé de 51 espèces, dominé par de jeunes individus d'espèces de tailles moyenne à grande et d'adultes de petites espèces. Cette fraction du peuplement est définie comme la "communauté à juvéniles des chenaux de mangrove". Elle est dominée par les espèces capables de réaliser la totalité de leur cycle vital en estuaire : espèces strictement estuariennes et espèces d'origine marine à forte affinité estuarienne. Les espèces dont la reproduction s'effectue en mer et dont les juvéniles utilisent l'estuaire comme nursery ne sont ni très diversifiées ni abondantes pendant la saison de recrutement. Les individus sont cantonnés à la partie inférieure de l'estuaire en raison des faibles salinités qui prévalent dans les biefs amont et moyen pendant la saison des pluies.


Key words: Estuary / Mangrove / Juvenile fish / Nursery / Match-mismatch / West Africa


© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD 2004


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