Abstract:
Introduction: Tropical nature is experiencing an unprecedented threat that includes coastal fish communities
that requires a close monitoring of species presence. The simultaneous use of several monitoring methods should
reduce the bias caused by the selectivity of each method.
Objective: This study used four different sampling methods over two years to assess and compare fish assem-
blages in the Santa Elena Bay Marine Management Area (AMM-BSE), North Pacific of Costa Rica.
Methods: We examined changes in species richness and composition between upwelling and non-upwelling
seasons from July 2019 and February 2020. We applied visual censuses, underwater remote cameras; bottom
lines; and sport fishing.
Results: We identified 140 species of fish (54 families); remote underwater cameras detected 83 %, followed by
underwater visual censuses (65 %), sport-fishing (16 %) and bottom lines (14 %). Only the sport-fishing method
detected differences in species richness and composition between seasons.
Conclusion: Remote cameras appear to be the best method for species counts, and sport-fishing to detect sea-
sonal differences in tropical coasts similar to the one studied here.
Key words: fish diversity; conservation; management; ecological threats; climate change.
