Does macroalgal vegetation cover influence post-settlement survival and recruitment potential of juvenile black rockfish Sebastes cheni?

Abstract

Seasonal change in vegetation coverage affected cohort-specific mortality of post-settlement juvenile black rockfish Sebastes cheni in a temperate macroalgal bed. A total of 14 fish and environmental surveys were conducted at an interval of one to two weeks from February to May, 2008 in the central Seto Inland Sea, southwestern Japan. The birth date of S. cheni was estimated by use of the otolith daily rings and then fish were divided into 7 cohorts (A to F), each covering a 7-day birth date period. Cohort-specific growth coefficient (G, d−1) of juvenile S. cheni from 20 to 60 mm in total length (TL) ranged between 0.031 and 0.048 and mortality coefficient (M, d−1) between 0.038 and 0.081, with significant increases in both values as the season progressed. The ratio of G:M, which is a proxy of the recruitment potential, ranged between 0.59 and 0.99 and was lower in later cohorts. Water temperature increased from 10.9 °C in March to 18.2 °C in May and vegetation coverage (bulk volume of Sargassum spp., %: as an index of the function for predation refuge) decreased from 60% in March to 2% in May. The later cohorts of juvenile S. cheni had high growth and mortality rates related to high temperature and low vegetation coverage. Since the seasonal increase in M was greater than that of G, the recruitment potential of the later cohorts was lower than that of the earlier cohorts.