habitat

Fish conservation zones (FCZs)

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A Fish Conservation Zone (FCZ) located on the Mun River in northeastern Thailand (photo credit: IUCN)

Guest post: Lakshita Dey, George Mason University

Fish conservation zones (FCZs) are areas which are closed off to fishing and other activities in order to protect habitats and restore fish populations. FCZs have emerged as a management strategy in the Mekong Basin to protect and strengthen local communities. These communities benefit by protecting specific areas of water bodies and inland species of fish that reside in the area. 

For more information, please visit: Fish Conservation Zones lead to stronger communities, fewer conflicts and more fish

Substrate

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Substrate in streams, rivers, lakes, and the ocean creates important fish habitat and plays an important role in multiple fish life history processes, daily activity, and prey availability. Substrate in aquatic habitats consists of surface and subsurface materials in the streambed, riverbed, or ocean bottom with different fish preferring different types of substrate.
In freshwater ecosystems, substrate is classified by particle size. For example, boulder is classified as substrate larger than 256 millimeters and very fine sand is classified as substrate between 0.0625 and 0.125 millimeters. Sea grass beds and coral reefs in ocean environments are also a very important substrate for marine fish. Fish rely on specific substrate types for spawning, predation, and shelter. For example, in Moreton Bay in Australia researchers found the double-ended pipefish, eastern trumpeter, and fan-bellied leatherjack all preferred vegetated substrate compared to bare sand substrate.
Changes in substrate can influence growth, survival, and recruitment of fish in aquatic ecosystems. Urbanization, land use, sedimentation, commercial fishing activities, and coral reef bleaching are all factors in shifting substrate habitat with potential negative impacts to fish populations.

Habitat

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Fish out of water! Mudskippers have a very unique habitat

Fish out of water! Mudskippers have a very unique habitat

Habitat, is simply, the location where a fish lives.  It applies to any and all life stages.  It is where a fish survives, feeds, grows, and reproduces.  The habitat of a fish depends on the species, from wetlands, to rivers, to coral reefs, to lakes, and more.

Most fish do require well-oxygenated water.  But, there are a few exceptions in which fish have evolved to tolerate low oxygen conditions or even low water conditions.  Mudskippers (family Gobiidae; subfamily Oxudercinae), for example, are amphibious fish that are adapted to intertidal zones.  Some live in mud flat habitat that is only covered in water at high tides.

Habitat is where it’s at!

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