The use of meiofauna as an indicator of fish-farms impact: a case study from the middle eastern Adriatic Sea

IF 3.7 2区农林科学 Q1 FISHERIES

Aquaculture Reports Pub Date : 2025-10-03 DOI:10.1016/j.aqrep.2025.103133

Bruna Petani , Ivan Župan , Simone Mirto , Elena Manini , Anamaria Baričević , Bosiljka Mustać , Francesca Ape

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This investigation aimed to analyze for the first time the impact of fish farming on the biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter and meiofaunal assemblages on a sea bass/sea bream farm located in the central Croatian waters. We compared two aquaculture sites: one near the cages (ST 1) and one directly beneath them (ST 2), along with a control site (Control) located 700 m away. Our findings revealed significant organic matter enhancement in the sediments surrounding the cages, leading to increased total meiofaunal abundance but decreased diversity. Furthermore, meiofaunal community structure differed among aquaculture and control sediments, particularly in terms of rare taxa (less than 1 % abundance). Increased Nematoda abundances contrasted with the decline or absence of more sensitive taxa like Copepoda and Kinorhyncha near the fish farm. These results highlight the importance of considering meiofaunal rare taxa, such as Kinorhyncha, for better understanding benthic responses to increased anthropogenic impacts and support the suggestion of other authors to use the nematodes to kinorhyncs ratio as a useful indicator of organic enrichment associated with aquaculture activities.

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使用微量动物作为养鱼场影响的指标：来自中东亚得里亚海的案例研究

这项调查的目的是首次分析养鱼对克罗地亚中部水域一个海鲈鱼/鲷鱼养殖场沉积有机质生化组成和小型动物组合的影响。我们比较了两个养殖地点：一个靠近笼子（ST 1），一个在笼子正下方（ST 2），以及一个位于700 m外的对照地点（control）。我们的研究结果表明，笼子周围的沉积物中有机物含量显著增加，导致总微量动物丰度增加，但多样性降低。此外，在水产养殖和对照沉积物中，小动物群落结构存在差异，特别是在稀有分类群方面（丰度小于1 %）。与此形成对比的是，在养鱼场附近，线虫的丰度增加了，而更敏感的类群，如桡足类和Kinorhyncha的数量减少或缺乏。这些结果强调了考虑小动物稀有类群（如Kinorhyncha）对于更好地了解底栖生物对增加的人为影响的响应的重要性，并支持了其他作者的建议，即使用线虫与Kinorhyncha的比率作为与水产养殖活动相关的有机富集的有用指标。

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来源期刊

Aquaculture Reports Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

8.10%

发文量

469

审稿时长

77 days

期刊介绍： Aquaculture Reports will publish original research papers and reviews documenting outstanding science with a regional context and focus, answering the need for high quality information on novel species, systems and regions in emerging areas of aquaculture research and development, such as integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, urban aquaculture, ornamental, unfed aquaculture, offshore aquaculture and others. Papers having industry research as priority and encompassing product development research or current industry practice are encouraged.