Distribution and sediment preference of mudskippers in Wazihwei Nature Reserve
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Huang, Shu-Yann
Abstract
Located at Tamsui estuary, Wazihwei Nature Reserve is a tidal mudflat ecosystem. With so many creatures blooming in this area, Wazihwei mudflat is one of the most valuable ecological wetland resources of Taiwan. Mudskippers are euryhaline and amphibious fish, and play important roles in tidal mudflats, Such as stabilizing the food web and considered as environmental pollutant indicator. Due to human development, anthropogenic disturbance and pollution, wetlands are currently deteriorating and disappearing at an accelerating rate. Therefore, understanding how environmental changes will influence the mudskippers requires more research; especially knowing the habitat preference of mudskippers. However, there is a lack of studies in Taiwan about the habitat preference of mudskippers. The factors that influence the distribution of mudskippers in the field are still unclear. This study focuses on how sediment conditions such as soil water content, particle size and soil organic content, affects the distribution of mudskippers in Wazihwei Nature Reserve. According to the result, three species of mudskippers were recorded in our study site, including Periophthalmus modestus, Boleophthalmus pectinirostris and Scartelaos histophorus. S. histophorus is the most abundant species which occupied almost the entire mudflat area. B. pectinirostris were found at open mudflat areas and the riverbank at low tide level. In contrast, only a few individuals of P. modestus were found scattered at the mangrove edge. There is significant preference of soil water content in three mudskippers. B. pectinirostris were distributed where the soil water content was high, and P. modestus were distributed near lower soil water content areas while S. histophorus were distributed across both high and low soil water content areas. There is no significant preference in sediment particle size for the three species of mudskippers since they all prefer fine sediment. On the other hand, B. pectinirostris were distributed where the soil organic content was high, P. modestus were distributed where the soil organic content was much lower. This research shows the different distribution of three mudskippers at Wazihwei Nature Reserve which is mainly due to their sediment preference. Understanding the habitat preference of mudskippers can evaluate and monitor their populations more efficiently. This study provides a preliminary research of mudskippers’ distribution and their sediment preference at Wazihwei wetland.
Subjects
Mudskippers
Population distribution
Sediment
Habitat preference
Wazihwei Nature Reserve
Type
thesis
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