| The role of the Mar Chiquita lagoon and its adjacent coastal area as nursery ground for fish larvae and juveniles and the factors which regulate their recruitment process, was evaluated. To do so, we analyzed the fish early life stages composition and spatio-temporal variation over the marine-estuarine gradient of the lagoon and its relationship with environmental factors; the diel variation of these stages in the immediate area at the mouth of the lagoon; and the source of the organic carbon which feed them on the mouth of the lagoon and adjacent coastal area, by using stable isotope analysis. The richness and mean density of larvae were higher at the offshore area than at the lagoon. Inside the lagoon the dominant species in larval stage was Brevoortia... |
