Claassens L, Hodgson A N
Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa.
Knysna Basin Project, Knysna, 6570, South Africa.
J Fish Biol. 2018 Jun;92(6):2000-2015. doi: 10.1111/jfb.13639. Epub 2018 May 14.
This study investigated aspects of the population ecology of the endangered Knysna seahorse Hippocampus capensis within different habitat types. High densities of H. capensis were found within artificial Reno mattress habitat, within the Knysna Estuary, South Africa. Monthly surveys at three sites were conducted from October 2015 to August 2016 to compare population densities of H. capensis in this artificial habitat with natural eel grass Zostera capensis habitat. Hippocampus capensis densities varied significantly across all sites and highest population densities were consistently observed within the Reno mattress habitat. Hippocampus capensis were also found to be significantly larger within the Reno mattress habitat and pooled data showed that males were significantly larger than females. The overall sex ratio for all three sites was female biased, although this varied across seasons at two sites. The findings suggest that artificial Reno mattresses provide novel habitat for this endangered species and consideration should be given to the usefulness of these structures in future conservation actions.
本研究调查了濒危的克尼斯纳海马（Hippocampus capensis）在不同栖息地类型中的种群生态学特征。在南非克尼斯纳河口的人工雷诺床垫栖息地内发现了高密度的克尼斯纳海马。从2015年10月至2016年8月，在三个地点进行了月度调查，以比较该人工栖息地中克尼斯纳海马的种群密度与天然鳗草（Zostera capensis）栖息地中的密度。克尼斯纳海马的密度在所有地点之间存在显著差异，并且在雷诺床垫栖息地中始终观察到最高的种群密度。还发现克尼斯纳海马在雷诺床垫栖息地中体型明显更大，汇总数据表明雄性比雌性体型显著更大。所有三个地点的总体性别比例偏向雌性，尽管在两个地点随季节有所变化。研究结果表明，人工雷诺床垫为这种濒危物种提供了新的栖息地，未来的保护行动应考虑这些结构的实用性。
