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Pinna rudis ( Linnaeus , 1758 ) in a Western Mediterranean Marine Protected Area
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Nebot-Colomer, E. Vázquez-Luis, Maite Deudero, Salud |
| Copyright Year | 2019 |
| Abstract | Coastal ecosystems are being extensively degraded by human activities. Benthic, slow-growing and long-lived species are highly vulnerable to these impacts. Marine protected areas may avoid biodiversity losses through habitat protection. The pen shell Pinna rudis is a protected species, but scarce data are available on its ecology and biology. The present study is a comprehensive ecological study encompassing several unknown aspects of the growth and inner record in relation to habitat types, density and size distribution. During the summers of 2011, 2012 and 2013, a total of 418 strip transects were conducted by scuba diving in the Marine Protected Area of Cabrera National Park (39.14° N, 2.96° E). Samples were conducted across different habitats and depths, exploring 152,146.35 m2 in total. A large range of sizes and ages were recorded within the park with densities ranging from 0 to 6.89 ind./100 m2. Most pen shells were patchily distributed and concentrated mainly in caves. Two hotspots represented the highest densities ever recorded worldwide, showing a potential link to high larval accumulation and settlement. The population size structure showed a unimodal distribution with shell width ranging from 6.2 to 25.0 cm, with an average shell width of 16.0 ± 3.4 cm. The absolute growth was asymptotic, with a maximum age of 28-31 years and length of 45 cm. This study on the biology and ecology of a well-established population of Pinna rudis in the Western Mediterranean could set a baseline for the conservation of this species in other areas. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/hcmr-med-mar-sc/article/download/13353/12568.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |