Habitat Use of an Endangered Endemic Freshwater Fish From
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Habitat use of an endangered endemic freshwater fish frfrom Southern Iberia: The Malaga chub Squalius mallaacitanus in Genal River (Guadiaro basin) Franciisco Blanco-Garrido*, Tony Herrera-Grao and Oscar Gavira- Romero MEDIODES, Consultoría Ambiental y Paisajismo, c/ Comandante Barceló 1-1º-C - 11300 La Línea de la Concepción (CCádiz), Spain * correspondence to [email protected] SUMMARY The Malaga chub Squalius malacit anus is an endangered endemic freshwater fish inhabiting a few small basins around the Strait of Gibraltar, Southern Iberia. This work describes the habitat use displayed by the species in Genal River (Guadiaro basin), as well as its population structure along the river and seasons. The fish community was exclusively formed by native species, although this characteristic could change due to the spreading of invasive species previously established in the basin and/ or the arrival of new invaders. Our results suggest that the Malaga chub is a habitat generalist, since it occupiied the different types of the habitats within the Genal River in proportion to their availability. However, chub abundance tended to decrease in reaches with higher currrent velocities. Also, the speciess’ abundance in- creased in deeper zones, usually with fine substrate, and in the middle reaches of the stream, where the habitat stabillity was maximum. The abundance decreased in the lower reaches, following the reduction of habitat stability. This pattern was con- sistent with the size structure displayed along the river and seasons. The scarcity or even the absence of many size classes out of the zones with higher habitat stability was frequent, while these reaches were characterized by a better representation of all size classes. The Genal River seemms to be an ideal stream to study the ecology of this unique fish community composed exclusively by native species, a rare fact in the Iberian Mediterranean basins Keywords: Squalius malacitanus, habitat use, habitat stability,, size structure Citation: Blanco-Garrido F, Herrera-Grao T, Gavira-Romero O (2018) Habitaat use of an endan- gered endemic freshwater fish from Southern Iberia: The Malaga chub Squalius mala- citanus in Genal River (Guadiaro bbasin). Fishes in Mediterranean Ennvironments 2018.004: 16p. https://doi.org/10.29094/FiSHMED.2018.004 1 Malaga chub in Genal River DOI: 10.29094/FiSHMED.2018.004 INTRODUCTION genetic and morphological characters. Fur- thermore, phylogenetic, geographic and The Malaga chub Squalius mala- population structure analyses revealed two citanus (Doadrio & Carmona, 2006), Fam. lineages within the species, the Atlantic and Cyprinidae, is an Iberian endemic freshwa- the Mediterranean lineages (Perea et al., ter fish inhabiting a few small basins 2016). around the Strait of Gibraltar, Southern The separation of S. pyrenaicus and Iberia (Perea et al., 2016; Figure 1). The S. malacitanus is estimated to be very old, species occurs at both sides of the Strait, dating from the Upper Miocene (around 11.6 occupying drainages flowing to the Atlantic Ma), and related to the rising of the Betic Ocean (Barbate, Valle, Jara, Vega and Miel) Mountains (Perea et al., 2016). The separa- and the Mediterranean Sea (Guadiaro, tion of the Atlantic and Mediterranean line- Guadalmina and Guadaiza). Chub popula- ages within Malaga chub is also old (around tions from these basins have traditionally 4.9 Ma), originating from the formation of been identified as Iberian chub, Squalius the present-day river basins after the open- pyrenaicus (Günther, 1868) (e. g. Clavero et ing of the Strait of Gibraltar (Perea et al., al., 2005), but Doadrio & Carmona (2006) 2016). described them as a new species based on Iberian Peninsula B A N C D Distribution area of G01 G03 Malaga chub Guadiaro Genal G04 G02 G08 G05 G06 G07 Sample site not Mediterranean population included in Atlantic population statistical analysis Strait of Gibraltar Hozgarganta (see methods) 50 Km 20 Km Figure 1. A: Map of Europe. B: Map of the Iberian Peninsula highlighting the ar- ea of the Strait of Gibraltar. C: The surroundings of the Strait of Gibraltar show- ing the distribution area of Malaga chub. The Atlantic and Mediterranean popu- lations of the species are also indicated. D: Map of the study area in Genal river (Guadiaro basin) with the sampling sites. 2 Malaga chub in Genal River DOI: 10.29094/FiSHMED.2018.004 Extinction risk is high for freshwater er channel is about 50 km long. To the north fishes in small Mediterranean basins, such and northeast, the basin is bounded by the as those occupied by Malaga chub, due to western face of Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra the extreme seasonal fluctuations of the del Oreganal (maximum elevation at Ja- typical Mediterranean flood-drought cycle rastepar peak, 1427 masl) and Sierra de los (Clavero et al., 2005). Moreover, the loss of Castillejos (maximum elevation at Conio species due to local extirpation processes in peak, 1269 masl). Three main lithological the isolated systems cannot be compensated domains (limestone rocks, metamorphic by natural recolonization (Martin-Smith & rocks and peridotites) can be found in the Laird, 1998), resulting in permanent extinc- Genal sub-basin (Castillo, 2002), in addition tions events (Clavero et al., 2002; 2005). to flysch sedimentary formations. Given the restricted distribution The temperature and rainfall re- range of Malaga chub and the potential risk gimes are typical of the Mediterranean cli- of loss of populations, the species has been mates. The average annual temperature is classified as “Endangered” (Freyhof & around 14-18ºC, fluctuating between 3 and Kottelat, 2008; Doadrio et al., 2011). Indeed, 13ºC during the coldest months (December- the distribution range of Malaga chub may February) and between 18 and 32ºC in the be drastically reduced as a result of the summer months. Average rainfall is high, aridification in the Mediterranean region exceeding 1000 mm throughout the sub- from global climate change (Seager et al., basin, being higher in upper areas. The 2014). Therefore, understanding the factors "horizontal rain", a meteorological phenom- regulating the ecological aspects of this en- enon due to the precipitation contributed by dangered species, such as habitat use, is the mists that accumulates in the summits important not only to identify preferential and canyons, is also important in certain stream zones for the species, but also for areas within the basin, where it contributes detecting threats and designing strategies between 500 and 600 mm precipitation for its conservation (Filipe et al., 2002; (Castillo, 2002). The snowfall is very sporad- 2004). ic and restricted to elevations above 900- This paper analyses the distribution 1000 masl. patterns and habitat use of Malaga chub in The study area presents an extraor- Genal River, one of the three main tributar- dinary floristic richness due to the mild cli- ies of the Guadiaro River, the larger basin mate and the lithological diversity of the occupied by the species across its distribu- basin. A total of 1155 floristic taxa have tion range. Specifically, we address the been described within the area (Gavira- three following objectives: (i) to determine Romero & Pérez-Latorre, 2003; 2005). In the the habitat occupancy by the species in rela- middle zone of the basin there are extensive tion to the stream habitat gradients; (ii) to plantations of chestnut trees (Castanea sa- describe the species abundance patterns in tiva). relation to these gradients and the habitat Generally, the Genal River is peren- stability profile described by the river form nial, except in the highest reaches and low- the headwaters to downstream; and (iii) to est reaches near the confluence with the analyse the species’ size structure variation Guadiaro River, where the flow ceases dur- along the river and between seasons. ing the summer. The upper course runs through permeable limestone beds with a STUDY AREA limited capacity to retain water, especially during the dry season. The lower reaches The Genal River is one of the main run through an alluvial riverbed with a high tributaries in the Guadiaro River basin infiltration capability that, in conjunction (1484 km2) (Figure 1). The Genal sub-basin with water extraction for irrigation of crops, drains an area of 337 km2 and the main riv- cause the flow to cease in summer. 3 Malaga chub in Genal River DOI: 10.29094/FiSHMED.2018.004 METHODS A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to a matrix of habitat The field work was carried out be- variables x sampling occasions (sites x sea- tween November 2008 and July 2009, cover- sons) to describe the main habitat gradi- ing a complete hydrological cycle. A total of ents. Principal Components (PCs) with ei- seven sites (numbered G01 to G07, with genvalues ≥ 3 were retained for further numbers increasing downstream) were analysis. Each extracted PC (interpreted as sampled along the main river channel by habitat gradients) was split into four equal- electrofishing with an Electracatch Interna- sized portions in terms of factor scores to tional Limited WFC4 pulse box (230 V, 2-5 evaluate whether the Malaga chub distrib- A) in four occasions (one sample per season, uted randomly or non-randomly along it. Figure 1). An additional site on a tributary Presence/absence data of the species were (Almárchal stream, G08; Figure 1) was used in the habitat use-availability analysis. sampled on a single occasion (spring), but The intensity of use displayed by the species was not included in the statistical analysis. in each portion was measured as the num- Sampling was conducted over a reach of 80 ber of sites-sampling occasions where the m and for an average of 40 min (range: 68.5- species was present. Habitat availability 100 m, 18-83 min), through a single-pass was estimated as the total number of sites- without block-nets. Previous works in sampling occasions within each portion neighbouring Mediterranean streams indi- along the gradients.