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Environmental Engineering and Management Journal December 2010, Vol.9, No. 12, 1589-1592

http://omicron.ch.tuiasi.ro/EEMJ/

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DIVERSITY OF MACROZOOBENTHIC COMMUNITY FROM FISH

FARMS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

Milca Petrovici1∗

, Mihail-Sorin Bălan1, Romulus Gruia

2, Oliviu Grigore Pop

2

1West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Chemistry, Biology and Geography, 16A Pestalozzi Street, 300115 Timisoara, Romania2

“Transilvania” University of Bra şov, Faculty of Food and Tourism, 1-3 Politehnicii Street, 500024 Bra şov, Romania

Abstract

The present paper approaches the relationship between the semi-intensive carp growing fishing management and the diversity of

the benthic invertebrate aquatic fauna. In order to do this, there has been set a program to collect bent quantitative samples everytwo months during the intensive fodder feeding of the fish (April - October 2009). Sample processing and data analysis showed

that this type of management causes tremendous transformations in the structure and dynamics of the community. Moreover, thewater physical-chemical factors are also affected, especially the being much higher in the ponds than in the canal systems whichhelp bring the water into the ponds. The quantity of organic substances in the water and in the deposits, resulting from the fishing

management activities, is reflected very clearly in the composition and dynamics of the macrozoobenthic communities. Thisorganic substance is processed by the benthic community, generally by oligochaetes and particularly by chironomids. These

results clearly indicate the importance of maintaining the macrozoobentos fauna in fish farms sediments to enhance

decomposition of organic wastes.

Key words: benthic macroinvertebrate, diversity, fish farm, fisheries management

Received: July, 2010; Revised: December, 2010; Accepted: December, 2010

∗ Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed: e-mail: [email protected]; Phone: 0732900287

1. Introduction

Aquaculture can impact the environment in anumber of ways. It can generate user conflicts, alter the hydrological regime, induce exotic species to thewild, and pollute water resources (Meghea et al.,

2008; Midlen and Redding, 2000; Paulovits et al.,2007). An intensive feeding of fish increases theamount of organic matters in the ecosystem, whichtogether with fish excrete largely contribute to theaquatic environment pollution downstream to thefarms. Deterioration of the water quality is indicated by the increased nitrogen and phosphorus fractions,

decreased dissolved oxygen, and enhanced biologicalorganic discharge (Kirkagaç et al., 2004; Romanescuand Cojocaru, 2010).

The macroinvertebrates usually serve tomeasure the water degradation degree in the fishfarmsdue to the fact that these organisms are very sensitive

to this type of pollution (Dascălu et al., 2009; Epler et

al., 2010; Heilskov and Holmer, 2001; Murugesan etal., 2009, Paulovits et al., 2007).

One of the advantages of using them is thatmost of the tolerance limits to the different pollutantsare known (Dascalu et al., 2009; Meghea et al., 2008).The macrozoobentos has also a major importance in

the management strategy for these aquatic habitats asthe benthic fauna plays an important role in thesupply as well as mineralization of organic matter.

Benthic deposit-feeders redistribute organicmatter deposited on the sediment surface by sedimentreworking, and oxidize the sediment by ventilation(Aller, 1982; Romanescu and Cojocaru, 2010).

The present paper analyzes the structure of the benthic aquatic fauna communities as a consequenceof the fishing management in the carp semi-intensive breeding fisheries, choosing the Cefa fishing complexas a showcase. The effect of the fishing farmmanagement on the benthic macroinvertebrate

community was analyzed in terms of species richness,diversity indices and evenness.

“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania



Petrovici et al./Environmental Engineering and Management Journal 9 (2010), 12, 1589-1592

1590

2. Material and methods

2.1. Study area

The Cefa fisheries complex is located betweenthe canal that connects Crişul Repede to Crişul Negru

and the border (North-West of Romania). It stretches

over an area of 750 ha, of which 680 ha represents the body of water, with a volume of approximately 7million m3 annually and a water inflow of 430 L/s.The total number of basins is 47, of which: 20growing ponds, 10 breeding, 9 hibernation ponds and

8 parking ponds. All the ponds were stocked principally with Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio),and auxiliary with European Catfish (Silurus glanis),Pike ( Esox lucius), Tench (Tinca tinca), Grass Carp(Ctenopharyngodon idella), Silver Carp( Hypophthalmichtys molitrix) and Big Head Carp

( Aristichtys nobilis). Fish were fed daily with proteinconcentrates (production cycle of 2-3 years). After

finishing a production cycle, the basins are emptied of the contained water, especially during the autumnseason, and they are refilled in the spring and populated with the fish spawn. The feed conversion

ratio (FCR) recorded was 1:1.5. In this semi-intensivesystem, a small part of the water contained in the basin is replaced a throughout the year and the fishare transferred in the winter time to the hibernation basins. The maximum production obtained is 2 tfish/ha.

Samples were collected from following sites:

- Fish pond (lentic ecosystem), fisheries code:H12 (46°54'23,30"N, 21°39'56,12"E), water depth:

1.5 m, abundant natant vegetation (water chestnut,Trapa natans) forming compact associations thatcover almost 80% of the lake surface and well-developed submerged vegetation (water milfoil,

Myriophyllum sp.). Fish age: 2 years.- The main channel water fisheries (lotic

ecosystem) (46°54'34,42"N, 21°39'52,76"E.),fluctuating flowing speed, depending on the fishingmanagement, channel bed width: 5-6 m, 80% coveredin riparian vegetation (Salix sp., Prunus sp.,

Crataegus sp.), maximum depth of 2 - 2.5 m, clayishsubstratum, with large deposits of fine detritus andsand and with no submerged vegetation.

2.2. Biological parameters

Three replicate benthic samples were collectedin each site, once every two months, from April toOctober 2009, with a grab dredge (240.25 cm

2). After

collecting, the samples were sieved through a 250 µmmesh screen, transferred into plastic bottles and preserved in situ with formalin 4% solution. In the

laboratory, the samples were washed through a sieveof 250 µm mesh size.

The organisms were sorted and identified witha stereomicroscopic microscope and counted (Tachetet al., 2000). Organisms were identified to the familylevel (Belfiore, 1983; Brinkhurst, 1986; Di Sabatino

et al., 2000, Dussard and Defaye, 2001; Negrea, 1983,Wallace et al., 2003).

2.3. Physico-chemical parameters

Water temperature, dissolved oxygen,

conductivity and pH were measured in situ, with pH-

meter Consort Model P 902; conductivity-meter Consort Model K 911 and oxygen-meter YSI Model52.

2.4. Indices

To quantify the response of the benthiccommunity to the quality of its environment, thefollowing indices were used: density (individuals/m2),richness, Simpson’s index, Shannon-Wiener indexand evenness. Richness (S) was calculated at the

family level to indicate the number of macroinvertebrate families. Simpson’s index (D)

represents the probability that two randomly selectedindividuals in the community belong to the samecategory by the equation D=sum(pi

2), where pi is theratio of individuals of one family to the total numbers

of individuals (Simpson, 1949). Shannon-Wiener index (H) measures habitat quality that may bedegraded by human activity and is expressed as H =-sum(pi*lnpi) (Buckland et al., 2005). Evenness (E)measures similarities in the abundance of differentfamilies where E=H/lnS (Magurran, 2003).

All analyses were carried out with the

Statistica version 9.0 for Windows (StatSoft, Inc.).

3. Results and discussion

All throughout the research, the conductivityhas been the parameter with the highest difference

registered between the two ecosystem types (Table 1),the differences being significant (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.001). In the pond, the presence of an abundantvegetation determines a higher oxygen concentrationin the water, as compared to the canal water, whichdue to the uniformity of the sublayer (made up of

mud and sand), has a flow resembling the flow of thelaminar one (which does not contribute to oxygenatethe water).

Macroinvertebrate communities includedDiptera (Chironimodae, Ceratopogonidae),Oligochaeta (Tubificidae), Trichoptera

(Limnephilidae, Rhyacophilidae, Polycentrodidae,Hydropsychidae, Phryganeidae), Ephemeroptera(Baetidae - Cloeon dipterum, Baetis vernus, Caenidae- Caenis horaria, C. robusta), Acaria (Pionidae – Piona sp.), Hemiptera (Pleidae - Plea minutissima),Gastropoda (Planorbidae - Planorbarius cornaeus,

Viviparidae - Viviparus contectus, Viviparusacesorus), Hirudinea (Erpobdellidae), Isopoda(Asellidae – Asellus aquaticus), Hidrozoa (Hydridae),Coleoptera (Dytiscidae, Haliplidae). As regards biological entities, two types of ecosystems are verydifferent.



Diversity of macrozoobenthic community from fish farms as a consequence of the fisheries management

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Table 1. Physical and chemical water parameters measured

at sampling stations

Lotic

ecosystems

Lentic

ecosystem

Mean SD Mean SD

pH 8.0 0.45 8.06 0.21

Conductivity 220.1 87.2 835 116.6

Salinity 116.95 3.7 130 1.9

Oxygen dissolved (mg/L) 11.88 2.75 12.9 1.88

Water temperature (0C) 9.6 4.7 15.7 3.4(SD = standard deviation)

Thus, in fish ponds, oligochaetes are predominant (47.58%), represented by just onefamily, Lumbriculidae. This group has recorded thehighest density during the month of June (14457.16

individuals/m2). The following as far as the

predominance is concerned are the chironomid dipters(31.5%) and the nematodes (16.2%). The number of these last invertebrates, which reached the highest

value in October (6354.49 ind/m2), together with theoligochaetes, show an important organic substanceload in the fishpond deposits, due to the protein

fodder intensive carp feeding system, which producesa large quantity of refuse which deposit themselves inthe sublayer. In the lotic ecosystem (channel),nevertheless, the chironomidae dipters were dominant(54.89%), reaching maximum density in October (ind/m2 4675.69), followed by oligochaetes

(40.27%), with maximum density throughout themonth of October (2663.89 ind/m2). The shallowdepth of fishponds and the low temperatures in thewinter determines the formation of a think ice cap

(10-30 cm) on the fishponds. In such circumstances, both the fish (when they have not been transferred

into the hibernation basins), and the invertebratesmust spend several weeks under the ice layer,oxygenated through several loops, by including in theice mass a few straw packs, which allow the water under the ice cap to receive enough oxygen. One of the species of insects from the fishponds which

spends the cold season as larvae is the mayfly Cloeondipterum. This species is famous for its capacity to

resist under conditions of total lack of oxygen caused by the fact that the lake surface freezes deep, inwinter, so in laboratory conditions the speciessurvived for 120 days with 0% O2, even in association

with large quantities of H2S (Nagell, 1977). Due to

this capacity of adopting an anaerobe metabolismduring winter, when lakes freeze completely, thisspecies is the most frequently found in Cefa fish ponds. The presence of Caenis horaria and Cloeon

dipterum are dependent on the trophic state. Both of them are closely associated with hypertrophic

conditions and different levels of total phosphorus

concentrations. A probable consequence of theserelations is that Baëtidae family are always presentwhen Caenidae family are also present (Menetrey etal., 2008), a situation that also occurs in Cefa fish ponds are, where due to the intensive carp cultures,

the water in ponds and evacuation canals is heavilyloaded with organic matter. Biodiversity indices aregiven in Table 2 and show the existence of certainminimal values of all indexes for the month of Augustin the lotic eco-system – channel and for the month of June in the lentic ecosystem – fishpond.

The explanations are different: in August, oneof the fishery ponds was filled with water which led

to an increase in the main feeding channel flow, inorder to bring the necessary water volume into thefishpond tank. This high inflow determined the benthic fauna to be washed and brought into the water

mass, which made it impossible to be detected in thesamples collected during that time. The onlyspecimens that were identified were a few nematodes(7 individuals). The lower ratios registered in June for the lentic ecosystem – fishpond is determined by thedecrease in the number of taxa (families),synchronous with a very high increase in the density

of the oligochaetes from the Lumbricidae family.These organisms reach a density over 1440

ind/m2 in June, while the rest of the macrozoobenthiccommunity lacks any other groups of invertebrates,which are present all throughout the rest of thesampling months (Diptera – Ceratopogonidae, Acaria

– Pionidae, Ephemeroptera – Baetidae, Caenidae).This decrease in the number of taxa with a fewmembers and the increase in the number of larger communities takes place under stressfulcircumstances for the respective ecosystem, stresswhich can be induced by an increase in the organic

substance system input (fodder), synchronized withmaximum temperatures and the almost perfectcovering of the lake surface with natant vegetation

during this month, which obstructs the oxygendiffusion.

Table 2. Measures of diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates: richness (S), Simpson’s index (D), Shannon-Wiener index (H) andevenness (E), in lotic ecosystem (channel) and lentic ecosystem (fish pond) from Cefa Fishery Complex, 2009

No individuals S D H E

Apr 1762.04 6 0.54 0.95 0.43

Jun 2122.75 13 0.60 1.21 0.26

Aug 7 1 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Oct 7519.93 8 0.49 0.79 0.28

Channel

Total 11404.78 16 0.54 0.95 0.16

Apr 471.72 6 0.68 1.36 0.65

Jun 17440.16 5 0.29 0.52 0.33Aug 1165.45 5 0.63 1.12 0.61

Oct 22240.71 10 0.68 1.35 0.38

Fish pond

Total 41318.05 12 0.65 1.23 0.29



Petrovici et al./Environmental Engineering and Management Journal 9 (2010), 12, 1589-1592

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All these also affect the fish fauna, which prompts the farm management to take the following

measures: mowing the vegetation by using floatingmowers on as larger areas as possible, removing the

resulting vegetal material, or even applying selectivesubstances on this almost compact layer of natant

vegetation.The fauna diversity in the lotic ecosystem is

smaller than in the lentic ecosystem, both each month,and generally.

This is mainly due to the fact that only here, onthe canal, more taxa were spotted (all caddisfliesfamilies Limnephilidae, Rhyacophilidae,Polycentrodidae, Hydropsychidae, Phryganeidae,

Isopoda – Asellidae, Hirudinea - Erpobdellidae),which are missing from the samples collected from

the lentic ecosystem. The dominance of theoligochaetes – Tubificidae and dipters – Chironomidae, show that in both ecosystem types that

have been analyzed there is an important quantity or organic substance present in the deposits.

By their feeding habits and life style, these

invertebrates process the fine organic substance, thuscontributing to water’s self-filtering, and beingessential in the energy and matter transfer process inthe ecosystems they are part of.

4. Conclusions

The quantity of organic substance in thewastewaters and deposits, resulting from the fishingmanagement activities undertaken for the semi-

intensive carp breeding process, clearly reflects in thecomposition and dynamics of the macrobenthic

communities.The fish feeding practices determine the

transfer of a large quantity of organic substance in thedeposits, which is processed by the benthiccommunities in general, and by the oligochaetes andchironomids in particular.

These results clearly indicate the importance

of maintaining the macrozoobentos fauna in fishfarms sediments to enhance decomposition of organicwastes.

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2010PetroviciBalan_etal