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Abstract: This study analyzed the factors structuring demersal fish community in a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil. The results were used to quantify the partitioning of ecological variation among the environmental, spatial and temporal components molding the fish community. Three bay zones (inner, middle and outer) were defined according to depth and salinity gradient. Monthly samplings were conducted by bottom trawl tows during daylight hours, between October 1998 and September 1999. In each zone, three replicate samples were taken. Ninety-three fish species from 73 genera and 37 families were recorded in the 108 samples. Two demersal fish assemblages were evidenced, one in the inner and the other in the outer zone. These assemblages were characterized by changes in species composition and relative abundance. Depth, followed by transparency and salinity, influenced spatial pattern of fish assemblages. The largest part of the explained variation occurred as a result of the spatial structure of environmental variables, which means that both species and environmental variables presented similar spatial structure. The spatial effect, not the seasonal, explained the highest part of species variations. The amount of unexplained variation was relatively high (76%), even assuming that part of it is due to nondeterministic fluctuation, which could be due to local effects of unmeasured (biotic and abiotic) controlling variables. Knowing the relative importance of these factors can be of decisive importance when applying casual hypotheses in the framework of some precise ecological theory and should facilitate management, planning, and usage of bay resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Estuaries, lagoons and mudflat habitats represent a crucial biodiversity component in coastal waters and may act as vital nurseries and shelters for the juvenile stages of many commercial fish species. A study of the spatial distribution of inshore fish fauna around the shallow coastal habitats of North Bull Island (Dublin Bay, Ireland) was carried out during summer and autumn of 2005, in order to characterise the fish community present therein. Four stations were examined, situated along a putative environmental gradient, between the mudflat and the open sea shore. Stations were surveyed at both high and low tide and sampling was repeated weekly for eight weeks, spanning over four spring and four neap tidal events. A total of 17 fish species were caught, belonging to 13 families. The community was largely dominated by the lesser sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus) and the common goby (Pomatoschistus microps). Ordination techniques were used to generate hypotheses as to the general patterns in the fish community; Shannon–Wiener index was employed to estimate spatial, temporal and tidal trends in diversity; and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to test for the influence of time of the year, habitat, tidal phase and tidal state on the spatial distribution of fishes. Results reveal that time of the year and habitat variation across the environmental gradient are the major factors in determining fish community structure. The influence of tidal dynamics seem to have a lesser impact on the overall community, but can significantly and variably affect the distribution of individual species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]