Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Assessing biomarkers in common dolphin: Insights from novel blubber cortisol analysis","authors":"Sofia Albrecht ,&nbsp;Sinéad Murphy ,&nbsp;Jim O'Donovan ,&nbsp;Cóilín Minto ,&nbsp;Luca Mirimin ,&nbsp;Orla Slattery","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152112","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Monitoring the health of protected marine mammals is crucial for conservation. Cortisol, a hormone involved in the stress response and metabolism, is a recognised biomarker for physiological states across species. Previous studies assessing blubber cortisol in marine mammals predominantly relied on an extraction methodology using numerous steps with different solvents. In this study, we applied a simplified extraction method from blubber tissue, followed by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to quantify the cortisol content. Assay validations included intra- and interspecific coefficients of variation, as well as tests for parallelism and accuracy. While relatively low and variable extraction efficiencies suggest that protocols still need refinement before future application, our results indicate potential for improvement in blubber cortisol studies. This could lead to optimisation for a faster and more cost-effective protocol. While a decline in the nutritional health of common dolphins in the Celtic Seas ecoregion has been identified based on morphometric data, physiological markers have not yet been applied. To further validate the method and potentially disentangle the multitude of stress factors affecting the species we applied blubber cortisol analysis to stranded common dolphins along the Irish coastline (2017–2019, <em>n</em> = 71). Using generalised linear models with causes of death, body condition, body length, and maturity status as predictors, cortisol concentrations were found to be negatively correlated with body length and significantly higher in sexually immature individuals. The higher cortisol concentrations in younger animals may result from a combination of developmental, metabolic, or stress-related factors, underscoring the need for further investigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152112"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144178049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lack of root oxygen loss from the dominant tropical Atlantic-Caribbean seagrass, Thalassia testudinum, in a highly sulfidic carbonate lagoon","authors":"N.H. Winn ,&nbsp;M.S. Koch ,&nbsp;C.J. Madden","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152113","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152113","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although seagrasses transport leaf and water column oxygen (O₂) to belowground rhizome and root tissues, mortality events from hypoxia-driven H₂S intrusion occur, resulting in large-scale seagrass mortality events worldwide and in Florida Bay (40 km²), a large (2200 km²) seagrass-dominated estuary at the terminus of the Florida (USA) Peninsula. We examined the dominant tropical Atlantic-Caribbean seagrass <em>Thalassia testudinum</em>'s ability to transport O₂ to belowground tissues and diffuse O₂ into root rhizospheres to constrain H₂S diffusion into roots. We examined O₂ in the rhizosphere in the light and dark by deploying 2-D planar O₂ optode sensors and measured pO₂ and H₂S dynamics in rhizospheres using microsensors. Our planar optode experiments revealed no detectable root O₂ loss (ROL) to rhizospheres which remained anoxic in &gt;9 h of light (500 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹). Sediment O₂ and H₂S microsensor profiles of the rhizosphere and light/dark gas dynamic studies revealed that rhizospheres remained anoxic and H₂S concentrations reached ∼200 μM in the light and dark. At the same time, belowground tissue internal pO₂ was above air saturation (&gt;21 kPa) in the light (3−12<em>h</em>) and remained oxic in the dark (12<em>h</em>) with no detectable H₂S intrusion. The lack of oxic regions in rhizospheres under high internal tissue pO₂ indicate a restriction of ROL in this slow-growing species. A limitation of root-sediment gas exchange in <em>T. testudinum</em> may be an evolutionary strategy to prevent O₂ loss along deep roots and minimize H₂S intrusion in sulfidic carbonate sediments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152113"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of ocean acidification and altered prey fatty acids on the early development of northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra) larvae","authors":"Louise A. Copeman ,&nbsp;Michelle A. Stowell ,&nbsp;Jessica F. Andrade ,&nbsp;Thomas P. Hurst","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152111","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152111","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to affect the physiological rates of larval fish and invertebrates and is also expected to significantly impact marine fisheries through alteration of food webs. We examined whether mortality rates, body size, and condition of first-feeding larval northern rock sole, <em>Lepidopsetta polyxystra</em>, were synergistically influenced by prey quality (essential fatty acids, EFAs) and high carbon dioxide (CO₂) exposure. Larvae were exposed to ambient and high CO₂ levels (∼ 330 vs. 1020 μatm) and were fed diets with balanced or unbalanced EFA ratios for 7 weeks immediately following hatch. After 2 weeks, significant effects from CO₂ and diet were observed, with the largest larvae occurring in the high CO₂ exposure group that received a balanced EFA diet. After 5 weeks of exposure, the effects of elevated CO₂ had a diminished impact on larval size, but larvae reared on the balanced EFA diet maintained higher lipid-based condition metrics than those fed an unbalanced EFA diet. Survival was variable across replicate tanks and not significantly different between treatments. This study suggests that <em>L. polyxystra</em> larvae are most vulnerable to OA and food web change at different points in their development. Further understanding of these ecosystem effects will be required to predict the impacts of OA on northern rock sole fisheries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of climate change: Temperature and salinity impacts on the early development of the sea star Echinaster (Othilia) brasiliensis","authors":"Mariana Contins ,&nbsp;Rômulo Barroso ,&nbsp;Paulo C. Paiva ,&nbsp;Carlos R.R. Ventura","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152110","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152110","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sea stars play crucial ecological roles in the trophic web of marine communities and are good indicators of the ecosystem's health. The sea star <em>Echinaster</em> (<em>Othilia</em>) <em>brasiliensis</em> inhabits the shallow waters of the southwestern Atlantic, ranging from southern Brazil to northern Argentina, and once faced a threat due to overexploitation for the aquarium trade. In this study, we investigated the impact of high temperatures (27 °C and 31 °C) on embryos and low salinities (30 and 26) on larvae of <em>E.</em> (<em>O.</em>) <em>brasiliensis</em>, simulating conditions predicted under global climate change scenarios. Our findings reveal that elevated temperatures not only accelerated larval development but also led to increased mortality and incidence of malformations. Meanwhile, reduced salinities delayed embryo development. These results suggest that changing environmental conditions may compromise the viability of <em>E.</em> (<em>O.</em>) <em>brasiliensis</em> populations, emphasizing the need for conservation efforts to safeguard this species and others with similar reproductive traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152110"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144134469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maternal, temperature, and seasonal effects on yolk-sac larvae of Atlantic herring Clupea harengus in the western Baltic Sea","authors":"Amy T. Huang ,&nbsp;Katharina Alter ,&nbsp;Patrick Polte ,&nbsp;Myron A. Peck","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152109","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152109","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In marine fishes that spawn at specific times of the year, maternal effects interact with seasonal abiotic factors to influence offspring phenotypes that can affect growth, development, and survival of the early life stages. The relative importance of maternal versus abiotic processes throughout ontogeny is unclear. We incubated the progeny of 22 Atlantic herring <em>Clupea harengus</em> females from either early-, mid-, or late-spring spawning periods at both early- (7 °C) and late-season (13 °C) in situ temperatures. After yolk-sac larvae had hatched, changes in yolk sac area, notochord length, body depth, somatic body area, and cases of deformities were tracked until the point-of-no-return (beyond which starvation is irreversible), also allowing somatic growth rate and yolk utilization efficiency to be estimated. We then quantified the contributions of maternal effects, incubation temperature, and seasonal effects on offspring traits. Among newly-hatched larvae, the variance in body area was explained by temperature (18 %) and seasonal (12 %) but not maternal effects. As yolk-sac larvae reached maximum size, egg size and individual females together accounted for more than two-thirds (77 %) of the variance in body area, while seasonal and temperature effects did not explain additional variance. The maternal effects were, however, unrelated to female size (total length of 26.0–31.3 cm). As a result, size classes of females matched poorly (14–36 %) with those of egg and yolk-sac larval stages, while size classes of eggs matched well with those of maximum-sized larvae (59 %) and less with those of newly-hatched larvae (36 %). Furthermore, yolk-sac larvae from later in the season or from the 13 °C treatment had a relatively longer post-hatch, free-swimming yolk-sac larval stage with respect to the whole yolk period. Yolk utilization efficiency was similar and deformity percentage was low (&lt;5.3 %) across seasonal timing and temperature treatments. In conclusion, our study revealed that the seasonal effects on offspring size at the transition period from endo- to exogenous feeding were attributed to differences in egg size, with herring females spawning earlier in the season producing larger eggs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152109"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144123398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Macroalgae and conspecifics serve as critical attachment substrates for juvenile green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) during different stages of development","authors":"Katherine A. Burnham ,&nbsp;Jenny R. Hillman ,&nbsp;Andrew G. Jeffs","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, there has been a global push to restore shellfish reefs and the array of ecosystem services they provide, but these efforts are met with many challenges, the most common of which are substrate limitation due to habitat degradation and a lack of larval recruitment due to population declines. The restoration of green-lipped mussel (<em>Perna canaliculus</em>) reefs in New Zealand is similarly impeded by a lack of natural recruitment into populations of cultured adults that have been transplanted to the seafloor. To obtain a more complete understanding of the substrates needed to support the attachment of <em>P. canaliculus</em> juveniles throughout their development on mussel reefs, this study characterised the presence of different size classes of juvenile mussels on various substrate types within different microhabitats and intertidal zones on a remnant, intertidal mussel reef in the Hauraki Gulf. Across the reef, early juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> &lt;5 mm in shell length (SL) were present on conspecifics (37 %) and macroalgae (33 %) with similar frequency, but juveniles 5 – &lt;10 mm SL were present on conspecifics (64 %) almost twice as often as on macroalgae (34 %). Meanwhile, juveniles in all larger size classes ≥10 mm SL were present less often on macroalgae (average 4 %) and most often on conspecifics (average 27 %), followed by bare rock and shell for juveniles ≥20 mm SL (average 11 %). These findings indicate that macroalgae serves as a critical attachment substrate for juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> during early development, while conspecific substrate supports the establishment of juveniles throughout later development, alongside rock and shell in a lesser capacity. Additionally, for early juveniles &lt;5 mm SL in emergent rock microhabitats, their presence was 31 % higher on macroalgae than on conspecifics in the upper intertidal but 28 % higher on conspecifics compared to macroalgae in the lower intertidal, indicating that juvenile substrate associations vary between locations within the reef that experience different levels of hydrodynamic force, intraspecific competition, and predation. This study offers valuable insights into the early life history of <em>P. canaliculus</em> that can inform mussel reef restoration practitioners of the types of substrates that; 1) may be limited at restoration sites, 2) are likely to be most effective for facilitating recruitment at restoration sites if applied in close proximity to allow juveniles to transition between substrates during ontogeny, and 3) can be used as a selection criteria for future sites, alongside a set of environmental parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144072708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parasite aggregations: Females attract conspecific males to the hosts in the ectoparasitic isopod Onisocryptus ovalis","authors":"Fumi Matsubara ,&nbsp;Fumio Takeshita ,&nbsp;Yasuhisa Henmi","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For symbionts of marine invertebrates, migration between hosts for mate-searching entails various ecological difficulties. Aggregation in hosts is a behavioral feature sometimes employed by symbionts to overcome such challenges. This can increase mating opportunities, depending on the mating and sexual systems. In this study, we investigated seasonal bias in the ectoparasitic isopod <em>Onisocryptus ovalis,</em> a protandrous hermaphrodite, toward the host ostracod <em>Vargula hilgendorfii</em> using a two-year field survey. We additionally demonstrated the host preference of male isopods through laboratory experiments. Parasitic isopods aggregated on larger and female ostracod hosts in the field during spring, early summer, and sometimes autumn. In laboratory experiments, male parasites, which can move between hosts, consistently showed a preference for host ostracods parasitized by conspecific females compared to hosts without conspecifics. Male parasitic isopods likely select larger female hosts, which can mainly serve more eggs as reproductive resources for female parasitic isopods. Male parasites, in addition, prefer hosts parasitized by female conspecifics. Such preferences and the sexual system of protandrous hermaphrodites may increase the reproductive success of parasitic isopods under limited opportunities to encounter mates. Therefore, these traits of parasitic isopods would produce seasonal aggregation while being influenced by the life history of the hosts associated with overwintering, recruiting, and reproduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperature affects growth rates while dietary lipid influences condition metrics in juvenile Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi)","authors":"Louise A. Copeman ,&nbsp;Samantha M. Mundorff ,&nbsp;Michele L. Ottmar ,&nbsp;Michelle A. Stowell ,&nbsp;Mara L. Spencer","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tanner crab (<em>Chionoecetes bairdi</em>) populations in Alaska have declined since the 1980s. Increasing ocean temperatures have been hypothesized to be a driver of regional crab declines, both via direct thermal effects on their metabolic rates and through indirect effects on predatory-prey interactions and available food quality. Lower juvenile crab energy storage and higher metabolic rates may make early life stages more vulnerable to warming-induced starvation than adults. To characterize the potential synergistic influence of temperature and diet quality (% lipid) on juvenile Tanner crab survival, growth, lipid composition and condition metrics, we collected age-0 crab from nursery grounds in Kodiak, Alaska, during the summer of 2022. We performed an 11-month growth experiment in which crab were reared in individual cells under three temperatures (2, 5, and 9 °C) and on two dietary lipid levels (low and high). Morphometric data were collected within one week of molting and whole-body lipid samples were taken at mid-molt following the second full molt cycle, or at the end of 11 months of culture. Results show that temperature significantly impacted growth and survival, with shorter intermolt periods and high mortality observed at 9 °C. Morphometric-based condition was highly variable and not significantly differ between treatments. In contrast, lipid-based condition metrics revealed that crab fed high dietary lipids had elevated triacylglycerols and total lipids per weight relative to crab fed low-lipid diets. Crab reared in elevated temperatures had higher proportions of sterols and saturated fatty acids than crab at low culture temperatures. Our findings in this fully crossed experiment suggest that increasing temperatures in Alaska waters have the potential to impact juvenile crab populations both directly through accelerated growth and indirectly via declining lipid content available in the benthic food web.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143908191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Negative impacts of pumice drifting on reef-building corals","authors":"Zongyan Shi ,&nbsp;Xiangyu Yin ,&nbsp;Takashi Nakamura","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A submarine volcano erupted near “Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba” in the Ogasawara region of Japan in August 2021. In November 2021, substantial pumice deposition was observed in the coral reef areas around Okinawa Island. <em>Re</em>-suspended pumice afloat from May to June 2022, coinciding with coral spawning, was observed. The effects of pumice on corals are largely unexplored, prompting this study to assess the potential effects of pumice on the various life histories of corals through field surveys and laboratory experiments. Pumice deposition, particle composition, and direct injuries to the surface of corals were examined in the field between November 2021 and May 2022. The effects of varying amounts of pumice were tested on the embryos and larvae of <em>Acropora digitifera</em>, a dominant shallow-water corymbose coral species. Our results, based on larval morphology and survival, indicate that high levels of pumice can lead to an increased abnormal development of embryos with higher mortality rates. This study provides the first evidence of the direct impact of pumice on the early life stages of <em>A. digitifera</em> and offers crucial insights into the potential consequences of pumice on coral reef ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152104"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143882533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fine-scale spatial and temporal dynamics of subtidal reef fish assemblages and implications for monitoring","authors":"Stijn Bruneel ,&nbsp;José Ponton-Cevallos ,&nbsp;Lenin Riascos ,&nbsp;Wout Van Echelpoel ,&nbsp;Long Ho ,&nbsp;Andrea Mishell Rosado-Moncayo ,&nbsp;Rebeca Parra ,&nbsp;Rafael Bermudez ,&nbsp;Peter Goethals","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fine-scale spatial (i.e. less than one hectare) and temporal (i.e. less than one week) dynamics of reef fish assemblages are often not properly accounted for in sampling designs, impeding the proper assessment of the effects of broad-scale processes such as climate change and anthropogenic pollution. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the fine-scale spatial and temporal drivers of variability of subtidal reef fish assemblage structure. On the island of Santa Cruz (Galapagos, Ecuador), video transects were used to assess daily, diel and spatial trends in the structure of the observed fish assemblages and environmental measurements were taken to evaluate the effect of water conditions and physical habitat characteristics. Biological variability was explained by physical habitat characteristics, spatial auto-correlation, daily variability and water conditions. There was no significant diel variability although most water conditions showed clear diel rather than daily trends, suggesting that the prevailing water conditions were not important at the studied scale. Fine-scale spatial variability in combination with daily fluctuations of the structure of reef fish assemblages are likely linked to food availability and fish movement. Studies aiming to understand broad-scale processes, while accounting for fine-scale variability, typically rely on labor intensive power and sample size estimations to guide the distribution of sampling effort. However, we show that fine-scale variability can be attributed up to 42 % to spatial, temporal and environmental drivers, thereby indicating that ecological knowledge can be used to select the most appropriate sampling design. Accounting for habitat characteristics and sampling variability, through multiple transects and repetitions respectively, proved most important in the study of reef fish assemblages of the Galapagos.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"587 ","pages":"Article 152102"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}