Relationships between adult population size, recruitment, and year-class strength in a labrid fish in the Mediterranean Sea

The influence of distinct demographic factors on determining population size in a littoral nesting fish (Symphodus roissali) was studied. Differences in the overall abundances were studied at three sites in the NW Mediterranean Sea for three years, to examine whether: 1) the adult population determined the number of successful nests; 2) the number of successful nests determined recruitment levels; 3) recruitment levels were subsequently related to the number of young of the year (YOY) joining the population after the recruitment period; and 4) the YOY value determined the size of the year class 1 cohort in the following year's adult reproductive population. The results show that there was a significant relationship between the number of spawners and the number of successful nests. However, the number of successful nests does not always correlate well with recruitment level. Furthermore, recruitment levels are not good indicators of the Young of the Year (measured three months after settlement) in number joining the populations, though YOY in number was related to the strength of the year class joining the adult reproductive population the following year. Therefore, the magnitude of the recruitment and probably the size of the adult population did not determine the year-class strength in S. roissali.