Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V56
Höfundar / Authors: Theresa Henke (1,2), Guðbjörg Ásta Ólafsdóttir (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. University of Iceland, Research Centre of the Westfjords, 2. University Centre of the Westfjords
Kynnir / Presenter: Theresa Henke
In recent years the number of invasive species that have been introduced to new environments have strongly increased, favored by both anthropogenic influence and climate change. Once an invasive species is introduced into an ecosystem it most likely has an impact on native species within in the system. In 1999, the European Flounder (Platichthys flesus), a flatfish species native to central European coasts, was firstly identified in the southwest of Iceland at the mouth of the Ölfusa river and has since then spread around the country. This project aims to investigate the ecological impact of P. flesus on the native European Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) on nursery grounds. The work focuses on two sampling sites; the fjords Borgarfjörður and Önundarfjörður. Fish were caught with a beach seine between July and September 2017. Species composition and juvenile size is determined and stomach content analysis will be used to determine overlap in feeding patterns between both species examined. Preliminary results show that the flounder has been present in all collected samples, but both species composition and length distribution of P. flesus and P. platessa vary between sites and sampling time.