MORTALITY OF JUVENILE FISHES OF THE GENUS DIPLODUS IN PROTECTED AND UNPROTECTED AREAS IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Mortality patterns from peak of settlement to dispersal from the nurse ry area, concurrently with integration of juveniles into adult populat ions, of 3 littoral fishes of the genus Diplodus (D. puntazzo, D. sarg us, and D. vugaris) (Family Sparidae) were studied between May 1993 an d June 1996. Twenty-one stations were censused weekly, weather conditi ons permitting, along the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France, and I taly. Eight stations were located in protected areas and 13 in unprote cted zones. Declines in abundance in all 3 species were particularly m arked in the first month after settlement. Patterns of survivorship in dicated that the 3 species were subject to density-dependent mortality from settlement to recruitment to the adult population. The effect of this mortality pattern was to reduce the variability in year-class st rength, though without changing the rank order of abundance between ye ars. The mortality rates for D. sargus were higher than for D. puntazz o and D. vulgaris. The results of this study indicated that mortality rates in protected areas did not differ significantly from those in un protected zones, suggesting that marine reserves are not necessarily a sink for post-settlement fishes.