Fish Habitat Research Unit

Identifying the essential fish habitats that support fisheries and biodiversity
Fish Habitat Research Group
The Fish Habitat Research Unit (FHRU) at the University of Plymouth forms an important pool of expertise investigating how marine habitats support fisheries, sustainability and nature conservation.
From the deepest ocean to the shallowest coastal margin, marine habitats provide places for fish and shellfish to reproduce, develop and feed. The availability and quality of these habitats critically influence the sustainability and productivity of fisheries, as well as the biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Despite their importance, many habitats are heavily impacted by human activities, particularly those in coastal areas and estuaries.
Managers and policy makers are increasingly recognising the need to identify and valuate essential fish habitat in order to establish the processes that drive fluctuations in fish populations and set conservation priorities.
The FHRU leads the way in fish habitat research, combining expertise in fish biology and ecology, field survey techniques, fisheries acoustics, telemetry and innovative applications of camera technology to understand fundamental habitat needs of fish at all life stages. These are combined with core strengths in socioeconomics to put habitat functions in a broader context of social and cultural values. Supporting the work of the unit is a suite of nationally and internationally significant facilities, including state-of-the art biochemical and molecular laboratories , workshops for developing novel technology , a scientific diving unit , aquaria for holding marine and estuarine fish, and a fleet of inshore research vessels .
If you have any queries or would just like to get in touch, please email Dr Benjamin Ciotti

Research focus

The work of the FHRU is global in scope, stretching from the stunning coastline around Plymouth in South West England to the tropical shores of the Indian Ocean. Activities are embedded within pioneering conservation and management initiatives, such as the North Devon Biosphere, Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, or Defra's Marine Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment Programme.
Through a transdisciplinary approach, the unit partners with a range of actors in fisheries and conservation, providing the research capacity to inform robust decision making and management approaches to pressing real-world problems.
Fish Habitats Ben Ciotti carrying equipment
Fish Habitats working on the boat
Fish Habitats using the nets
Fish Habitats using sensors on the boat
 
 
 

Current projects

Fish nurseries in a changing world
Fish nurseries in a changing world
FinVision logo
FinVision
Rachel Turnbull monitoring European Bass
Assessing and evaluating juvenile habitat quality for European seabass
Identifying juvenile fish habitats for sustainable fisheries
Identifying juvenile fish habitats for sustainable fisheries
Ecology and physiology of early life-stage fishes
Ecology and physiology of early life-stage fishes
 
 
 
 
 
 

Past projects

European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax. Credit: Keith Hiscock
FISH INTEL Interreg France (Channel) England
I-BASS tagging project
Immature Bass Acoustic Stock Surveillance (I-BASS)

Key facilities

Find out more about the facilities, equipment and teams that support the Fish Habitat Research Unit.

Aerial view of Brixham Laboratory

Brixham Laboratory
The Brixham Laboratory provides a science- and technology-based business hub, complete with industry-leading marine and freshwater wet lab facilities.

Falcon Spirit

Research vessels
Research at Plymouth is underpinned by access to a fully equipped fleet of boats, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and specialist software.

Diver underwater in Plymouth Sound

Scientific dive team
Our professional diving team have enabled research in some of the most remote and isolated places on the planet, from the Arctic to Antarctica.

Fish Intel Network

The Fish Intel Network (FIN) is a series of underwater acoustic receivers used to track fishes, elasmobranchs and crustaceans. The network has revealed vital habitats for reproduction and feeding, and generated fascinating new insights into species behaviour, including site fidelity and impressive migrations. These novel insights are providing crucial evidence to inform ambitious new sustainable ecosystem-based fisheries management and policy.
With receivers located near to mussel farm sites in Lyme Bay, as well as all along the south coast of the UK and the coast of France, the Fish Intel Network provides critical information for improving our understanding of essential fish habitats.
FISH INTEL

News

Blue Communities study - research in Palawan, Philippines
Research highlights the pressures from human activities on tropical marine ecosystems

Essential to communities in Southeast Asia, fishing and tourism are among the most damaging activities from an environmental perspective

21 November 2024
 
 
 
 
 

Publications

2024
Watson, J. W., Radford, Z., Bannister, H., Bradley, R., Brown, M., Ciotti, B. J., Goodwin, D., Graham, J. A., Nash, R. D. M., Roche, W. K., Wogerbauer, C. & Hyder, K., (2024). Assessing the coherence in biological and environmental drivers of young sea bass abundance across important estuarine nursery areas of the northern European sea bass stock. In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 10, 1209311. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1209311
Hepburn, R., Scott, T., Prodger, S. & Ciotti, B. J., (2024). Drivers of variability in surf zone habitat use by sandy beach fish: Unwitting citizen scientists reveal detailed spatiotemporal patterns. In: Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. 309, 11 p., 108957. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2024.108957
Alvarez-Cienfuegos, I., Ciotti, B., Billington, R., Sutton, P. & Fraser, K., (2024). Life in the margins: the effect of immersion/emersion and tidal cycle on the North Atlantic limpet Patella vulgata protein synthesis rates. In: Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 194, 6, p. 779-792 14 p. doi.org/10.1007/s00360-024-01582-0
Stamp, T., Pittman, S. J., Holmes, L. A., Rees, A., Ciotti, B. J., Thatcher, H., Davies, P., Hall, A., Wells, G., Olczak, A. & Sheehan, E. V., (2024). Restorative function of offshore longline mussel farms with ecological benefits for commercial crustacean species. In: Science of the Total Environment. 951, 174987. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174987

2023
Graham, J. A., Watson, J. W., García, G. L., Bradley, K., Bradley, R., Brown, M., Ciotti, B. J., Goodwin, D., Nash, R. D. M., Roche, W. K., Wogerbauer, C. & Hyder, K., (2023). Pelagic connectivity of European sea bass between spawning and nursery grounds. In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9, 0. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1046585

2022
Stamp, T., West, E., Colclough, S., Plenty, S., Ciotti, B., Robbins, T. & Sheehan, E., (2022). Suitability of compensatory saltmarsh habitat for feeding and diet of multiple estuarine fish species. In: Fisheries Management and Ecology. 0, 0. doi.org/10.1111/fme.12599

2021
McCarroll, R. J., Scott, T., King, E. V., Masselink, G., Ciotti, B. J., Cloete, A., Steyn, P. P., Britz, P., Vine, N. G., Deyzel, S. H. P., Witte, A. & Clark, R., (2021). Modelling regional and local-scale larval seeding strategies for abalone (H. midae) ranching in South Africa. In: Aquaculture. 540, 0. doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.736668
Morris, M. T., Hauton, C., Baylay, A. J., Peruzza, L., Targett, T. E. & Ciotti, B. J., (2021). Spatial variation in the gastrointestinal microbiome, diet, and nutritional condition of a juvenile flatfish among coastal habitats. In: Marine Environmental Research. 170, 0, p. 105413-105413. doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105413

2020
Hart, M. B., Arratia, G., Moore, C. & Ciotti, B. J., (2020). Life and death in the Jurassic seas of Dorset, Southern England. In: Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 131, 6, p. 629-638. doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2020.03.009

2019
Ciotti, B. J. & Planes, S., (2019). Within‐generation consequences of post‐settlement mortality for trait composition in wild populations: An experimental test. In: Ecology and Evolution. 0, 0. doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4911

2018
Whiteley, N. M., Suckling, C. C., Ciotti, B. J., Brown, J., McCarthy, I. D., Ian, D., Gimenez, L., Luis, Hauton, C. & Chris, (2018). Sensitivity to near-future CO₂ conditions in marine crabs depends on their compensatory capacities for salinity change. In: Scientific Reports. 8, 1, p. 0-0. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34089-0

2017
Poulter, R., Oliver, P. G., Hauton, C., Sanders, T. & Ciotti, B. J., (2017). Infestation of shore crab gills by a free-living mussel species. In: Marine Biodiversity. 0, 0. doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0631-x

2016
Morgan, E., Brown, A., Ciotti, B. & Panton, A., 1 (2016). Effects of temperature stress on ecological processes. Stressors in the Marine Environment. Vol. 0. p. 213-227. doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198718826.003.0012

2015
Pratt, N., Ciotti, B. J., Morgan, E. A., Taylor, P., Stahl, H. & Hauton, C., (2015). No evidence for impacts to the molecular ecophysiology of ion or CO 2 regulation in tissues of selected surface-dwelling bivalves in the vicinity of a sub-seabed CO 2 release. In: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. 38, 0, p. 193-201. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.10.001

2014
Ciotti, B. J., Targett, T. E., Nash, R. D. M. & Geffen, A. J., (2014). Growth dynamics of European plaice Pleuronectes platessa L. in nursery areas: A review. In: Journal of Sea Research. 90, 0, p. 64-82. doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2014.02.010
Fox, C. J., Targett, T. E., Ciotti, B. J., de, K. K., Hortsmeyer, L. & T., B. M., (2014). Size variation of 0-group plaice: Are earlier influences on growth potential a contributing factor? In: Journal of Sea Research. 88, 0, p. 59-66. doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2013.12.015

2013
Ciotti, B. J., Targett, T. E. & Burrows, M. T., (2013). Decline in growth rate of juvenile European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) during summer at nursery beaches along the west coast of Scotland. In: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 70, 5, p. 720-734. doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2012-0331
Ciotti, B. J., Targett, T. E., Nash, R. D. M. & Burrows, M. T., (2013). Small-scale spatial and temporal heterogeneity in growth and condition of juvenile fish on sandy beaches. In: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 448, 0, p. 346-359. doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2013.08.003
Ciotti, B. J., Targett, T. E. & Burrows, M. T., (2013). Spatial variation in growth rate of early juvenile European plaice Pleuronectes platessa. In: MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES. 475, 0, p. 213-232. doi.org/10.3354/meps10087

2012
Rees, B. B., Targett, T. E., Ciotti, B. J., Tolman, C. A., Akkina, S. S. & Gallaty, A. M., (2012). Temporal dynamics in growth and white skeletal muscle composition of the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus during chronic hypoxia and hyperoxia. In: Journal of Fish Biology. 81, 1, p. 148-164. doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03319.x

2010 and earlier
2010
Ciotti, B. J., Targett, T. E., Nash, R. D. M., Batty, R. S., Burrows, M. T. & Geffen, A. J., (2010). Development, validation and field application of an RNA‐based growth index in juvenile plaice Pleuronectes platessa. In: Journal of Fish Biology. 77, 10, p. 2181-2209. doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02786.x
2009
D. L. Breitburg, J. K. Craig, R. S. Fulford, K. A. Rose, W. R. Boynton, D. C. Brady, B. J. Ciotti, R. J. Diaz, K. D. Friedland, J. D. Hagy, D. R. Hart, A. H. Hines, E. D. Houde, S. E. Kolesar, S. W. Nixon, J. A. Rice, D. H. Secor, T. E. Targett. (2009). Nutrient enrichment and fisheries exploitation: interactive effects on estuarine living resources and their management. In: Hydrobiologia. 629, 1, p. 31–47. doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9762-4
Breitburg, D., Craig, J., Fulford, R., Rose, K., Boynton, W., Brady, D., Ciotti, B., Diaz, R., Friedland, K., Hagy, J., Hart, D., Hines, A., Houde, E., Kolesar, S., Nixon, S., Rice, J., Secor, D. & Targett, T. (2009). Nutrient enrichment and fisheries exploitation: interactive effects on estuarine living resources and their management. Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems. Vol. 0. p. 31-47. doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3385-7_4
 
 
 
 

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A tractor mowing a field in a coastal area

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