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Bulletin UASVM Animal Science and Biotechnologies 70(1)/2013, 168-174 Print ISSN 1843-5262; Electronic ISSN 1843-536X The Structure and Diversity of Fish Communities from Predeltaic Danube Area Petronela G. (C ĂLIN) SANDU 1) , Lucian OPREA 1) , Victor CRISTEA1) , George TIGANOV 2) 1) Faculty of Food Science and Engineering, ”Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, 47 Domneasc ă Street, 800008 Galati, Romania; [email protected] 2) National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa”, 300 Mamaia Blvd., 900581 Constan Ńa, Romania Abstract. The paper is presenting some aspects regarding the structure of fish communities from 22 Km of predeltaic sector of Danube River, between the mouth of Siret River (km 155) and Prut River (Mm 72.5). The aim of the study is to assess the ecological status of the area, using some analytical and synthetic ecological indices, but also diversity and equitability indices. From March to December 2010, in four fishing areas (km 150-151, Mm 77-78, Mm 76-77, Mm 74-74.5), 14692 fish of 29 species, from 6 families and 6 orders, were collected. The best-represented family is Cyprinidae with 16 species. The numerical abundance ranged between 1fish/species (zingel, Danube streber and schraetzer -rare species) and 7019 fish/species (pontic shad -abundant specie). The Pontic shad (47.77%) and Azov shad (11.20%) are eudominant species, having the biggest potential in fish productivity; common bream (9.15%) and common carp (7.36%) are dominant species. Keywords: Danube, fish communities, abundance, diversity, ecological significance INTRODUCTION The structure and the diversity of fish communities is an important feature in the system dynamics because changes in diversity reflect changes in the ecosystem processes, such as productivity, energy pathways and material flow, disturbance regimes, abiotic stress and biological interactions (Grall et al., 2005). A good management of the interactive components of the fishery should always lead to a durable exploitation, in terms of biodiversity conservation and protection. In the last years, however, unfortunately, the over-exploitation of the fish communities at the same time as the continuous degradation of the habitats led to the decline and even to the extinction of some fish species (Bram et al ., 2003). MATERIALS AND METHODS Fishing area. The study area is represented by a region in the predeltaic Danube, located between the Siret River Mouth (km 155) and the Prut River Mouth (Mm 72.5). This region has approximately 22 km, representing the length of the Danube sector in Galati County. Monthly, systematic measurements have been made in 4 fishing areas: Galati area (km 150-151), Condrea area (Mm 77-78), Muresanu area (Mm 76-77) and Plopi area (Mm 74-74.5). Fishing effort, fishing gears and methods. The fishing has being made through active methods, on areas, with filtering gear: gill net and trammel net type. The constructive 168 characteristics of these varied, depending on the targeted species to be caught: gill nets (Lp 100-150 m; Hp 2.5-3.5; a 30-60 mm), trammel nets (Lp 150-200 m; Hp 2.5-4.0; a 40-80 mm). The calculation of the ecological indices and statistical approaches. The structural changes at the level of ichthyocoenoses are characterized by using some analytical ecological indices (abundance, dominance, constancy) and synthetic ones (the index of ecological significance), but also diversity and equitability indices (Grall J. et al., 2005). The statistical methods of the data have being made with MSOffice Excell and with the software BioDiversity Pro. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The autochthon and allochthonous ichthyofauna in the predeltaic Danube is divided in two groups, depending on salinity tolerance: euryhaline and stenohaline species ( Tab. 1 ). The family Cyprinidae , belonging to Cypriniformes order, is the most diverse with 16 species (Fig. 1 ). Tab. 1 The qualitative structure of ichthyofauna and their salinity tolerance No. Latin name of species Common name Eurihaline Stenohaline crt.1 Aspius aspius (Linnaeus, 1758) Asp x 2 Blicca bjöerkna (Linnaeus, 1758) White bream x 3 Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782) Prussian carp x 4 Abramis sapa (Pallas, 1814) White -eye bream x 5 Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenc iennes,1844) Grass carp x 6 Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus,1758) Carp x 7 Vimba vimba (Linnaeus,1758) Vimba x 8 Barbus barbus (Linnaeus,1758) Common barbel x 9 Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson,1845) Bighead carp x 10 Abramis brama (Linnaeus,175 8) Common bream x 11 Pelecus cultratus (Linnaeus,1758) Ziege x 12 Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes,1844) Silver carp x 13 Chondrostoma nassus (Linnaeus,1758) Common nase x 14 Leuciscus idus (Linnaeus,1758) Ide x 15 Scardinius erythrophth almus (Linnaeus,1758) Rudd x 16 Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus,1758) Roach x 17 Acipenser ruthenus (Linnaeus,1758) Sterlet x 18 Huso huso (Linnaeus,1758) Beluga sturgeon x 19 Acipenser stellatus ( Pallas,1771) Stellate sturgeon x 20 Acipenser gueldenst aedti (Brandt, 1833) Danube sturgeon x 21 Alosa immaculata ( Bennett, 1835) Pontic shad x 22 Alosa tanaica (Grimm, 1901) Azov shad x 23 Zinger streber (Linnaeus, 1758) Danube streber x 24 Zingel zingel (Linnaeus, 1758) Zingel x 25 Sander lucioper ca (Linnaeus, 1758) Pike -perch x 26 Gymnocephalus schraetzer (Linnaeus, 1758) Schraetzer x 27 Perca fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) Perch x 28 Silurus glanis (Linnaeus, 1758) Wels catfish x 29 Esox lucius (Linnaeus,1758) Northern pike x Between March and December 2010, there were caught 14692 fish, with a total biomass of 12064.23 kg, of 29 species, from 6 families, respectively 6 orders. In Table 2 there are presented the main analytic and synthetic ecological indices. The numerical abundance of the species and the biomass is given in Figures 2 and 3 . It ranged between 1 fish/species (zingel, Danube streber and schraetzer –rare species) and 169 7019 fish/specie (pontic shad -abundant species). The total values of the biomass ranged between 0.12 and 3721.82 kg/species. Fig. 1. The numerical structure of fish species Fig. 2. The abundance of fish Fig. 3. The abundance of fish biomass Concerning the dominance (D), the species are grouped on 5 classes, depending on the percentage. The pontic shad and Azov shad are eudominant species (over 10% from the fish production), which influence decisively the fishing productivity. The common bream and common carp are the dominant species (5.1-10%). The Prussian carp, common barbel, wels catfish and ziege are subdominant species (2.1-5%). The asp, sterlet, pike-perch, vimba and white-eye bream are recedent species (1.2-2%), and the other sixteen identified species are under-recedent, with percentage under 1.1%. Dependent on the value of the constancy (C), which represents the continuity in the biotope, the species are divided in the following categories: euconstant present in 75.1-100% of the months (Prussian carp, common carp, vimba, common barbel, common bream, sterlet, wels catfish). The constant species are asp, bighead carp, stellate sturgeon, pike-perch, white-eye bream, silver carp, Danube sturgeon, ide (50.1-75%). The accessory species (25.1-50%) are beluga, white bream, ziege, pontic shad, Azov shad and common nase. There are eight accidental species (1-25%), less common during the year: rudd, roach, grass carp, Northern pike, Danube streber, zingel, perch and schraetzer. The values of the ecological significance index (W) show us that pontic shad (W5) is a eudominant species, common bream (W4), and common carp (W4) are dominant species; these two classes are characteristic species (over 5.1%). There are seventeen accessory species (0.1-5%): Azov shad, Prussian carp, common barbel, wels catfish, asp, sterlet, vimba 170 (W3 -subdominant species) and pike-perch, ziege, white-eye bream, stellate sturgeon, bighead carp, ide, silver carp, white bream, beluga, Danube sturgeon (W2 -recedent species). In category W1 there are eleven accidental species, with an index lower than 0.1% (rudd, roach, common nase, perch, Northern-pike, grass carp, Danube streber, zingel and schraetzer). Tab. 2 The ecological indices of fish communities from predeltaic Danube River Ecological indices Abundance Dominance Constancy Ecological Species (A) (D) (C) significance (W) Number Biomass (kg) % Class % Class % Class Asp 288 455.17 1.96 D2 75.00 C3 1.470 W3 White bream 56 13.03 0.38 D1 41.67 C2 0.159 W2 Prussian carp 723 270.97 4.92 D3 83.33 C4 4.101 W3 White -eye bream 168 31.36 1.14 D2 66.67 C3 0.762 W2 Grass carp 4 14.00 0.03 D1 16.67 C1 0.005 W1 Carp 1081 3721.82 7.36 D4 83.33 C4 6.131 W4 Vimba 194 111.31 1.32 D2 83.33 C4 1.100 W3 Barbel 584 1207.61 3.97 D3 83.3 3 C4 3.312 W3 Bighead carp 101 469.65 0.69 D1 75.00 C3 0.516 W2 Common bream 1344 610.24 9.15 D4 83.33 C4 7.623 W4 Ziege 333 83.05 2.27 D3 41.67 C2 0.944 W2 Silver carp 46 174.83 0.31 D1 66.67 C3 0.209 W2 Common nase 13 4.23 0.09 D1 33.33 C2 0.029 W1 Ide 56 33.79 0.38 D1 58.33 C3 0.222 W2 Rudd 29 7.61 0.20 D1 25.00 C1 0.049 W1 Roach 25 14.25 0.17 D1 25.00 C1 0.043 W1 Sterlet 201 172.44 1.37 D2 83.33 C4 1.140 W3 Beluga sturgeon 40 3.38 0.27 D1 50.00 C2 0.136 W2 Stellate sturgeon 115 444.04 0.78 D1 75.00 C3 0.587 W2 Danube strugeon 23 22.82 0.16 D1 66.67 C3 0.104 W2 Pontic shad 7019 2070.92 47.77 D5 41.67 C2 19.906 W5 Azov shad 1646 188.13 11.20 D5 41.67 C2 4.668 W3 Danube streber 1 0.27 0.01 D1 8.33 C1 0.001 W1 Zingel 1 0.50 0.01 D1 8.33 C1 0.001 W1 Pike -perch 21 0.48 0.14 D1 8.33 C1 0.012 W1 Schraetzer 1 0.12 0.01 D1 8.33 C1 0.001 W1 Perch 197 361.72 1.34 D2 75.00 C3 1.006 W3