caa a22 4500 606227369 CHVBK 20210128101158.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20151201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10641-015-0447-8 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10641-015-0447-8 Preliminary insight into the relationship between environmental factors and the nutritional condition and growth of Gilchristella aestuaria larvae in the upper reaches of South African estuaries [Elektronische Daten] [David Costalago, Nadine Strydom, Carminita Frost, Catriona Clemmesen] Estuarine systems play a critical role as nursery areas for some fish species. Nursery function, nevertheless, is likely to vary among estuaries, mostly due to differences in habitat quality. High quality nursery habitats are those in which growth and survival of early stages of fish are enhanced. The nutritional condition of larval fishes has vital implications for their mortality and growth, and thereby their recruitment. This study aimed to compare the nutritional condition of Gichristella aestuaria larvae, using individual RNA-DNA ratios and growth rates in the upper reaches of six estuaries in South Africa to find the environmental factors that better determine the nutritional condition of fish larvae. Physico-chemical factors as well as calorific value of zooplankton were used to correlate to fish body condition. Results showed that the larvae of G. aestuaria from the freshwater rich Gamtoos and the Sundays estuaries were in better nutritional condition than the larvae from other estuaries, while larvae from the Swartkops Estuary, a highly eutrophic system, presented the worst nutritional condition of all studied larvae. Salinity and the abundance of zooplankton were the major factors determining the nutritional condition of G. aestuaria larvae in these warm temperate estuaries. In addition, our results suggest that the match-mismatch hypothesis might also be important in estuarine systems. This study represents one of the few studies worldwide that applied a multispecies growth model for fish larvae in warm temperate estuaries. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Nursery habitats nationallicence Estuarine round-herring nationallicence Fish larvae nationallicence Food patches nationallicence RNA-DNA ratio nationallicence Habitat quality nationallicence Costalago David Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 7700, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut Strydom Nadine Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 7700, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut Frost Carminita Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut Clemmesen Catriona Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (GEOMAR), Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany aut Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/12(2015-12-01), 2367-2378 0378-1909 98:12<2367 2015 98 10641 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0447-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0447-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Costalago David Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 7700, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Strydom Nadine Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 7700, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Frost Carminita Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 6031, Port Elizabeth, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Clemmesen Catriona Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (GEOMAR), Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/12(2015-12-01), 2367-2378 0378-1909 98:12<2367 2015 98 10641