Recruitment and food composition of juvenile thin-lipped grey mullet, Liza ramada (Risso, 1826), in the Neretva River estuary (Eastern Adriatic, Croatia)

Abstract

        The present paper describes the recruitment and food composition of thin-lipped grey mullet, Liza ramada (Risso, 1826) juveniles in the estuary of the Neretva River in the southeastern Adriatic. Thin-lipped mullet appeared in the Port of Ploče in February. The relationships between total length, standard length, and weight showed a remarkably good fit to the expected allometric model, with b=3 for total length. Twelve different animal food categories were identified. The greatest diversity was recorded in April at the Port of Ploče when 10 categories were present. In addition, six diatom taxa were noted. Harpacticoid copepods were the most common prey (39%) in these samples, followed by insects (32%) and cladocerans (12%). All other prey accounted for less than 4%. Insects represented 99% of prey in the stomachs of specimens sampled from the freshwater Crna Rijeka River. Thin-lipped mullet juveniles were not found on sandy beaches or natural bays around the port. It thus appears that juveniles find the port area to be a habitat with the favorable characteristics of a brackish water nursery: of predators, lower salinity, and high food availability. These all promote better survival and recruitment in this area of the Croatian Adriatic.