Chapter 12
Biophysical Processes Determining
the Connectivity of the Alboran Sea Fish
Populations
Jesus Garcia-Lafuente, Jose C. Sanchez-Garrido, Alberto Garcia,
Manuel Hidalgo, Simone Sammartino, and Raul Laiz
12.1 A Short Review on Connectivity Issues
Hydrodynamics is an essential ingredient for the vital developmental rates conditioning the survival of fish populations. This is of special relevance in regions such
as the Alboran Sea—Strait of Gibraltar-Gulf of Cadiz area, where the inflow of
Atlantic waters through the Strait features a strong surface current in the Alboran Sea
that plays a key role in the advection of propagules, either by propitiating their westto-east transport or by hampering the north-to-south conveyance. A thorough understanding of the physical oceanography of the region is therefore essential for a
comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to the study of the early life history and
biology of the involved species. Two main concepts arise when dealing with the
topic dynamics-of-population: dispersal and connectivity. The former describes the
mechanism employed to disperse early life stages of the biological cycle (spores,
J. Garcia-Lafuente (*) · J. C. Sanchez-Garrido
Grupo Oceanografía Física, Universidad de Málaga, Instituto de Biotecnología y Desarrollo
Azul, IBYDA, Malaga, Spain
e-mail: glafuente@ctima.uma.es; jcsanchez@ctima.uma.es
A. Garcia · R. Laiz
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: raul.laiz@ieo.es
M. Hidalgo
Instituto Español de Oceanografia, Centro Oceanografico de Baleares, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
e-mail: jm.hidalgo@ieo.es
S. Sammartino
Grupo Oceanografía Física, Universidad de Málaga, Instituto de Ingeniería Oceánica, Malaga,
Spain
e-mail: ssammartino@ctima.uma.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_12
459
Biophysical Processes Determining
the Connectivity of the Alboran Sea Fish
Populations
Jesus Garcia-Lafuente, Jose C. Sanchez-Garrido, Alberto Garcia,
Manuel Hidalgo, Simone Sammartino, and Raul Laiz
12.1 A Short Review on Connectivity Issues
Hydrodynamics is an essential ingredient for the vital developmental rates conditioning the survival of fish populations. This is of special relevance in regions such
as the Alboran Sea—Strait of Gibraltar-Gulf of Cadiz area, where the inflow of
Atlantic waters through the Strait features a strong surface current in the Alboran Sea
that plays a key role in the advection of propagules, either by propitiating their westto-east transport or by hampering the north-to-south conveyance. A thorough understanding of the physical oceanography of the region is therefore essential for a
comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to the study of the early life history and
biology of the involved species. Two main concepts arise when dealing with the
topic dynamics-of-population: dispersal and connectivity. The former describes the
mechanism employed to disperse early life stages of the biological cycle (spores,
J. Garcia-Lafuente (*) · J. C. Sanchez-Garrido
Grupo Oceanografía Física, Universidad de Málaga, Instituto de Biotecnología y Desarrollo
Azul, IBYDA, Malaga, Spain
e-mail: glafuente@ctima.uma.es; jcsanchez@ctima.uma.es
A. Garcia · R. Laiz
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: raul.laiz@ieo.es
M. Hidalgo
Instituto Español de Oceanografia, Centro Oceanografico de Baleares, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
e-mail: jm.hidalgo@ieo.es
S. Sammartino
Grupo Oceanografía Física, Universidad de Málaga, Instituto de Ingeniería Oceánica, Malaga,
Spain
e-mail: ssammartino@ctima.uma.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_12
459