Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments
10 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables This study represents the first report on seahorses in the Macaronesian islands (North-East Atlantic), determining the spatial and seasonal abundance, population structure and physical appearance of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus. Animals were s...
Published in: | African Journal of Marine Science |
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National Inquiry Services Centre (South Africa)
2015
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/127287 https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 |
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ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/127287 2024-02-11T10:06:53+01:00 Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments Otero-Ferrer, F. Herrera, R. Tuset, Víctor M. Socorro, J. Molina, L. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (España) Gobierno de Canarias 2015-10 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/127287 https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 unknown National Inquiry Services Centre (South Africa) http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 Sí doi:10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 issn: 1814-232X e-issn: 1814-2338 African Journal of Marine Science 37(3): 395-404 (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/127287 none Biodiversity management Flagship species Gran Canaria Macaronesian Islands Marine conservation Population assessment artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2015 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 2024-01-16T10:12:58Z 10 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables This study represents the first report on seahorses in the Macaronesian islands (North-East Atlantic), determining the spatial and seasonal abundance, population structure and physical appearance of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus. Animals were surveyed off Gran Canaria Island in two bays, Melenara and Sardina del Norte, within three habitats: rocky bottom, artificial substrata and seagrass. Populations were monitored over a 5-year period (spring 2006–winter 2011) using 15-minute visual fast count (VFC) surveys. Seahorses were characterised by low abundances, small proportions of subadults and roughly equal sex ratios at each site. We aimed to determine whether environmental conditions and geographical position could explain differences in seahorse abundance and population structure between the study sites. Melenara Bay (mean sighting rate = 0.44 individuals VFC–1; SD 0.72) offered protected environments where seahorse distribution varied with substratum type, irrespective of season. Strong hydrodynamic forces in winter affected abundance and size at exposed locations in Sardina del Norte Bay (mean sighting rate=0.21 individuals VFC−1; SD 0.52). Our findings contribute to the scarce available knowledge about this Data Deficient species (IUCN Red List), helping to establish future conservation strategies and management recommendations for the preservation of H. hippocampus populations around Gran Canaria Island and other localities with similar coastal environments We thank the Consejería de Medioambiente del Gobierno de Canarias and the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia for supporting this project (CGL-2005-05927-C03-02) Peer Reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper North East Atlantic Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Seahorse ENVELOPE(163.300,163.300,-78.017,-78.017) African Journal of Marine Science 37 3 395 404 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Biodiversity management Flagship species Gran Canaria Macaronesian Islands Marine conservation Population assessment |
spellingShingle |
Biodiversity management Flagship species Gran Canaria Macaronesian Islands Marine conservation Population assessment Otero-Ferrer, F. Herrera, R. Tuset, Víctor M. Socorro, J. Molina, L. Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
topic_facet |
Biodiversity management Flagship species Gran Canaria Macaronesian Islands Marine conservation Population assessment |
description |
10 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables This study represents the first report on seahorses in the Macaronesian islands (North-East Atlantic), determining the spatial and seasonal abundance, population structure and physical appearance of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus. Animals were surveyed off Gran Canaria Island in two bays, Melenara and Sardina del Norte, within three habitats: rocky bottom, artificial substrata and seagrass. Populations were monitored over a 5-year period (spring 2006–winter 2011) using 15-minute visual fast count (VFC) surveys. Seahorses were characterised by low abundances, small proportions of subadults and roughly equal sex ratios at each site. We aimed to determine whether environmental conditions and geographical position could explain differences in seahorse abundance and population structure between the study sites. Melenara Bay (mean sighting rate = 0.44 individuals VFC–1; SD 0.72) offered protected environments where seahorse distribution varied with substratum type, irrespective of season. Strong hydrodynamic forces in winter affected abundance and size at exposed locations in Sardina del Norte Bay (mean sighting rate=0.21 individuals VFC−1; SD 0.52). Our findings contribute to the scarce available knowledge about this Data Deficient species (IUCN Red List), helping to establish future conservation strategies and management recommendations for the preservation of H. hippocampus populations around Gran Canaria Island and other localities with similar coastal environments We thank the Consejería de Medioambiente del Gobierno de Canarias and the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia for supporting this project (CGL-2005-05927-C03-02) Peer Reviewed |
author2 |
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (España) Gobierno de Canarias |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Otero-Ferrer, F. Herrera, R. Tuset, Víctor M. Socorro, J. Molina, L. |
author_facet |
Otero-Ferrer, F. Herrera, R. Tuset, Víctor M. Socorro, J. Molina, L. |
author_sort |
Otero-Ferrer, F. |
title |
Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
title_short |
Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
title_full |
Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
title_sort |
spatial and seasonal patterns of european short-snouted seahorse hippocampus hippocampus distribution in island coastal environments |
publisher |
National Inquiry Services Centre (South Africa) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/127287 https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.300,163.300,-78.017,-78.017) |
geographic |
Seahorse |
geographic_facet |
Seahorse |
genre |
North East Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North East Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 Sí doi:10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 issn: 1814-232X e-issn: 1814-2338 African Journal of Marine Science 37(3): 395-404 (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/127287 |
op_rights |
none |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1083476 |
container_title |
African Journal of Marine Science |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
395 |
op_container_end_page |
404 |
_version_ |
1790604912562798592 |