Spatial and temporal changes in the demersal fish community of the Ría de Arosa (NW Spain)

Abstract

The demersal fish community was sampled seasonally in three. habitats (beach, raft and middle) of the inner, middle, and outer Ria de Arosa (NW Spain). A total of 73 species of demersal fish, dominated by the family Gobiidae, were found. There were no irportant seasonal changes in abundance, with sim ilarity values always higher than 60% between samples from two different sampling periods. Raft stations in the ria show the highest values of abundunce all year, containing almost 1 individual m-2 in winter. The highest diversity indices were those from beach areas (2.11 to 2.27) and the lowest ones those from middle areas (1.13 t0 1.86). Similarity indices and factorial analysis revealed three major groupings of species and samples. related to water depth and nature of the bottom.