SEASONAL PATTERNS IN THE FISH AND CRUSTACEAN COMMUNITY OF A TURBID TEMPERATE ESTUARY (ZEESCHELDE ESTUARY, BELGIUM)

Fish and crustaceans were sampled for 1 year ic the upper reaches of a temperate estuary characterized by high turbidity and a tidal range o f up to 5 m. Samples were taken in the cooling-water circuit of the Do el Nuclear Power station (Zeeschelde, Belgium). Between July 1994 and June 1995, 55 fish species, two shrimp species and four crab species w ere recorded. The fish community was composed of 36 marine species, 16 freshwater species and three diadromous species. Shrimps, Gobiidae an d Clupeidae dominated the samples both in numbers and biomass. An exce ptionally clear seasonal succession was observed in the species compos ition. It is argued that young fish and crustaceans use the highly tur bid Zeeschelde Estuary as a refuge from predators. (C) 1998 Academic P ress.