Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador)
Estuaries provide nurseries for early life stages of fish that rely on the interaction between fresh- and saltwater. The 250 km long Lake Melville spans 2100 km2 and is the largest estuary of Labrador (northeastern Canada). This sub-arctic fjard hosts freshwater, anadromous, and marine fishes on whi...
Published in: | Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31729 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/31729 2023-12-10T09:43:52+01:00 Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) Small, Tiffany Cyr, Frédéric McCarthy, James Sutton, Jordan Bernatchez, Louis Geoffroy, Maxime 2023-11-02 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31729 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 eng eng Elsevier Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science Small, Cyr F, McCarthy J, Sutton, Bernatchez L, Geoffroy M. Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 2023;294 FRIDAID 2195043 doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 0272-7714 1096-0015 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31729 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) openAccess Copyright 2023 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2023 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 2023-11-16T00:08:06Z Estuaries provide nurseries for early life stages of fish that rely on the interaction between fresh- and saltwater. The 250 km long Lake Melville spans 2100 km2 and is the largest estuary of Labrador (northeastern Canada). This sub-arctic fjard hosts freshwater, anadromous, and marine fishes on which depend marine mammals and seabirds, but also coastal communities. Yet, how different fish species and life stages use the estuary as a habitat, in particular the importance of the low salinity surface layer for the development of fish larvae, remains unknown. By pairing seasonal hydroacoustic surveys conducted in summers 2018–2019 and winters 2019–2020 with net sampling and environmental DNA (eDNA) analyses, we test the hypothesis that the strong water stratification prevailing in upper Lake Melville provides a nursery for early life stages of fish, where they are protected from their predators. Ichthyoplankton aggregated just above and at the pycnocline, in the low salinity surface layer down to 25 m. Most adult pelagic fish occupied the bottom waters below the sharp pycnocline, although some ventured in the low salinity surface layer. Ten species of adult fish were captured in gill and fyke nets and 53 species were detected with eDNA. Larvae of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were ubiquitous in the surface layer in July and August and represented 100% of the ichthyoplankton assemblage sampled during these months. No fish larvae were detected in winter (February). We conclude that the low salinity surface layer provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae, a key forage species in the estuary. This study provides baseline information from which to assess future changes in biodiversity and distribution of fish in the Lake Melville estuary. It further supports the use of eDNA as a complementary tool for monitoring fish diversity in sub-arctic estuaries. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Canada Lake Melville ENVELOPE(-59.557,-59.557,53.728,53.728) Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 294 108553 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
description |
Estuaries provide nurseries for early life stages of fish that rely on the interaction between fresh- and saltwater. The 250 km long Lake Melville spans 2100 km2 and is the largest estuary of Labrador (northeastern Canada). This sub-arctic fjard hosts freshwater, anadromous, and marine fishes on which depend marine mammals and seabirds, but also coastal communities. Yet, how different fish species and life stages use the estuary as a habitat, in particular the importance of the low salinity surface layer for the development of fish larvae, remains unknown. By pairing seasonal hydroacoustic surveys conducted in summers 2018–2019 and winters 2019–2020 with net sampling and environmental DNA (eDNA) analyses, we test the hypothesis that the strong water stratification prevailing in upper Lake Melville provides a nursery for early life stages of fish, where they are protected from their predators. Ichthyoplankton aggregated just above and at the pycnocline, in the low salinity surface layer down to 25 m. Most adult pelagic fish occupied the bottom waters below the sharp pycnocline, although some ventured in the low salinity surface layer. Ten species of adult fish were captured in gill and fyke nets and 53 species were detected with eDNA. Larvae of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were ubiquitous in the surface layer in July and August and represented 100% of the ichthyoplankton assemblage sampled during these months. No fish larvae were detected in winter (February). We conclude that the low salinity surface layer provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae, a key forage species in the estuary. This study provides baseline information from which to assess future changes in biodiversity and distribution of fish in the Lake Melville estuary. It further supports the use of eDNA as a complementary tool for monitoring fish diversity in sub-arctic estuaries. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Small, Tiffany Cyr, Frédéric McCarthy, James Sutton, Jordan Bernatchez, Louis Geoffroy, Maxime |
spellingShingle |
Small, Tiffany Cyr, Frédéric McCarthy, James Sutton, Jordan Bernatchez, Louis Geoffroy, Maxime Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
author_facet |
Small, Tiffany Cyr, Frédéric McCarthy, James Sutton, Jordan Bernatchez, Louis Geoffroy, Maxime |
author_sort |
Small, Tiffany |
title |
Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
title_short |
Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
title_full |
Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
title_fullStr |
Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador) |
title_sort |
strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (lake melville, labrador) |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31729 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.557,-59.557,53.728,53.728) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Lake Melville |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Lake Melville |
genre |
Arctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic |
op_relation |
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science Small, Cyr F, McCarthy J, Sutton, Bernatchez L, Geoffroy M. Strong water stratification provides a refuge for rainbow smelt larvae Osmerus mordax in a sub-arctic estuary (Lake Melville, Labrador). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 2023;294 FRIDAID 2195043 doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 0272-7714 1096-0015 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31729 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) openAccess Copyright 2023 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108553 |
container_title |
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science |
container_volume |
294 |
container_start_page |
108553 |
_version_ |
1784887075859857408 |