© 2004 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
Contrasting years in the Gironde estuary (Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic) springtime outflow and consequences for zooplankton pyruvate kinase activity and the nutritional condition of anchovy larvae: an early view
Laboratoire Ecologie Halieutique, Direction des Ressources Vivantes, IFREMER, Centre de Nantes BP 21105, F-44311 Nantes Cedex 03, France
*Correspondence to J-P. Bergeron: tel: 33 2 40374162; fax: 33 2 40374075. e-mail: jean.Pierre.Bergeron{at}ifremer.fr.
A major spawning ground of the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) population in the Bay of Biscay is located near the mouth of the Gironde estuary. Variations in the river discharge affect the supply of nutrients to the coastal marine area encompassing anchovy spawning grounds. Two "Pegase" cruises (May–June 1997 and 1998) observed two contrasting situations: with and without a superficial layer of less saline water. Two new nutritional indices were used to assess potential effects (1) on carbohydrate assimilation rates by zooplankton estimated via pyruvate kinase (PK) activity measurements and (2) on nutritional condition of the anchovy larvae measured with the DNA/C index. Both indices indicated a much poorer situation in 1997 compared to 1998. Results of this study implicate river outflow rate as a potential factor influencing larval anchovy condition and perhaps to some extent recruitment variability.
Keywords: anchovy larvae, Bay of Biscay, DNA/C index, pyruvate kinase, river outflow
Received 30 May 2003; accepted 15 June 2004.