Za. Ansari et al., COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND SEASONAL-VARIATION OF AN INSHORE DEMERSAL FISH COMMUNITY AT GOA, WEST-COAST OF INDIA, Estuarine, coastal and shelf science, 41(5), 1995, pp. 593-610
Structure and seasonal variation of an inshore demersal fish assemblag
e have been described from 52 trawl samples collected between November
1988-November 1989 from Aguada and Marmugao Bays at Goa (west coast o
f India). A total of 12 519 individuals belonging to 59 species were c
ollected. There was a clear seasonal fluctuation in relative abundance
, biomass, species occurrence and species dominance. Families such as
Sciaenidae, Leiognathidae, Cynoglossidae, Clupeidae and Ariidae domina
ted the demersal fish community, both in abundance and in biomass over
the two areas. About 50% of the recorded species regularly occurred i
n the two areas. Density and biomass were high during post- and pre-mo
nsoon seasons and low during the monsoon seasons. The species assembla
ges at the two sites were similar and showed much overlap of dominant
species. Resident and quasi-resident species were dominant throughout
the year and the overall population consisted mainly of marine coastal
species. Cluster analysis showed species segregation into seasonal gr
oups and intense association among different species groups. There was
seasonal fluctuation in diversity indices and a marginal increase in
species richness in Aguada bay was noticed. The dominance of juveniles
in the catches indicate that the two areas serve as nursery grounds f
or the juveniles of several commercially important marine teleosts. (C
) 1995 Academic Press Limited