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Research Project
Disentangling the patterns and processes of fish life history plasticity using the European flounder as a model species
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Publications
Benthic food webs support the production of sympatric flatfish larvae in estuarine nursery habitat
Publication . Dias, Ester; Morais, Pedro; Faria, Ana Margarida; Antunes, Carlos; Hoffman, Joel C.
Identifying nursery habitats is of paramount importance
to define proper management and conservation
strategies for flatfish species. Flatfish nursery
studies usually report upon habitat occupation, but
few attempted to quantify the importance of those
habitats to larvae development. The reliance of two
sympatric flatfish species larvae, the European flounder
Platichthys flesus and the common sole Solea
solea, on the estuarine food web (benthic versus
pelagic), was determined through carbon and nitrogen
stable isotope analysis. The organic matter
sources supporting the production of P. flesus and
S. solea larvae biomass originates chiefly in the benthic
food web. However, these species have significantly
different d13C and d15N values which suggest
that they prey on organisms that use a different
mixture of sources or assimilate different components
from similar OM pools (or both).
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
Funding Award Number
SFRH/BPD/104019/2014