Abstract
ABSTRACT Two sympatric species of marine mullets, Mugil curema and M. liza, use the rio Tramandaí Estuary as nursing grounds. When two closely related species are sympatric, various mechanisms may permit their coexistence, including spatial or temporal segregation that results in the divergent use of the resources for which they compete. To investigate the spatial segregation, we used otolith chemistry inferred through laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that in the rio Tramandaí Estuary, M. curema is associated with high salinity waters and can be classified as a Marine Migrant in the Marine Estuarine-opportunist subcategory. Mugil liza is associated with lower salinity and can be classified as a Marine Migrant in the Estuarine Dependent subcategory. The intra-specific variation in estuarine habitat use indicates that the migratory behaviors in mullets are far more complex than previously known.
Highlights
Eight congeneric species of mullets inhabit the coast of South America: Mugil brevirostris (Ribeiro, 1915); M. curema Valenciennes, 1836; M. curvidens Valenciennes, 1836; M. incilis Hancock, 1830; M. margaritae Menezes, Nirchio, Oliveira & Ramirez, 2015; M. rubrioculus Harrison, Nirchio, Oliveira, Ron & Gavíria, 2007; M. trichodon Poey, 1875; and Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 (Menezes et al, 2015)
In southern Brazilian estuaries, the juveniles of M. curema and M. liza occur in large numbers and M. brevirostris occurs in lower numbers (Vieira, 1991; Ramos, Vieira, 2001)
The Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca ratios at the core otolith regions in both M. curema and M. liza indicate that these two species spawn in marine waters
Summary
Eight congeneric species of mullets inhabit the coast of South America: Mugil brevirostris (Ribeiro, 1915); M. curema Valenciennes, 1836; M. curvidens Valenciennes, 1836; M. incilis Hancock, 1830; M. margaritae Menezes, Nirchio, Oliveira & Ramirez, 2015; M. rubrioculus Harrison, Nirchio, Oliveira, Ron & Gavíria, 2007; M. trichodon Poey, 1875; and Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 (Menezes et al, 2015). In southern Brazilian estuaries, the juveniles of M. curema and M. liza occur in large numbers and M. brevirostris occurs in lower numbers (Vieira, 1991; Ramos, Vieira, 2001). Mugil curema and M. liza are total spawners that reproduce in oceanic areas on the continental shelf (Ibáñez-Aguirre, Gallardo-Cabello, 2004; Silva, 2007; Fernandez, Dias, 2013; Lemos et al, 2014). The juveniles of both species move toward the surf-zone and recruit into lagoons and estuaries, where they spend most of their life cycle (Blaber, Blaber, 1980; Vieira, 1991; Ibáñez-Aguirre, 1993; Albieri et al, 2010). Mullets are generally assumed to be catadromous, migrating from estuaries to offshore for spawning (Silva, 1980). Recent studies have demonstrated high intra-specific variability in the migration patterns among several distinct species of mullets (Chang et al, 2004; Chang, Iizuka, 2012; IbáñezAguirre et al, 2012; Wang, 2014; Avigliano et al, 2015)
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