Coastal zone utilization by juvenile fish in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

• Main Author: Beckley, Lynnath Elizabeth
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2016
• Subjects: Zoology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21844

Many coastal fish exhibit age-specific differential distribution and shallow inshore regiong provide nursery habitats for juveniles of some species. In this study the occurrence of juvenile fish along the Eastern Cape coast was examined with the objective of assessing the importance of coastal habitats as nursery areas for the common coastal teleosts. The thesis comprises ten separate research papers and an overview of coastal zone utilization by juvenile teleosts in the Eastern Cape. Research was concentrated in Algoa Bay and covered the nearshore ichthyo-plankton, tidal exchange of fish eggs, larvae and juveniles across the mouth of the Swartkops estuary, the ichthyofauna of the Swartkops and Sundays estuaries, the juvenile fish associated with subtidal soft substrata and rocky reefs and the ichthyofauna, occurring in tidal pools on rocky shores.