Fish use of saltmarsh varies spatially, temporally, and with environmental conditions. The specific impact of these effects on fish assemblages in southern temperate Tasmania, Australia—the only mangrove-free Australian state—is as yet largely unknown. Seasonal variation in fish abundance, richness, diversity, and size was investigated in succulent saltmarshes in three estuaries (Marion Bay, Barilla Bay, and Ralphs Bay) in south-eastern Tasmania. All parameters varied between sampling locations. Greater numbers of fish were recorded at two sites (Marion Bay, mean density and standard error of 396.9 ± 71.3 individuals per 100 m²; Barilla Bay, mean density and standard error of 94.1 ± 30.1 individuals per 100 m²) than have been previously reported in Australian saltmarshes. Fish abundance was greatest in July–August (mean density and standard error of 200.2 ± 49.7 individuals per 100 m²) reflecting the breeding patterns of the numerically dominant Atherinosoma microstoma. Both abundance and species richness responded positively to water temperature in ordinal logistic regression models, and species richness and diversity increased with water depth in the models. It is likely that the strong differences between sampling locations are partly related to differences in water depth and water temperature between the estuaries. They may be also related to the habitat context of each estuary, especially the presence or absence of seagrass. The greater numbers of fish found in the present study relative to abundances reported in mainland Australia may relate to the absence of mangroves and the consequent differences in seascape habitat context, including greater water depths in marshes. Importantly, these results demonstrate that temperate southern hemisphere saltmarshes are year-round habitat for fish, thus emphasising their importance as a fish habitat.

鱼类对盐沼的利用随空间、时间和环境条件的不同而变化。这些影响对澳大利亚南温带塔斯马尼亚州（澳大利亚唯一没有红树林的州）鱼类群落的具体影响目前尚不清楚。研究人员对塔斯马尼亚东南部三个河口（马里昂湾、巴里拉湾和拉尔夫斯湾）的多汁盐沼中鱼类丰度、丰富度、多样性和大小的季节变化进行了调查。所有参数在采样地点之间都有所不同。两个地点记录的鱼类数量比以前多（马里恩湾，平均密度和标准误差为 396.9 ± 71.3 条/100 m ²；巴里拉湾，平均密度和标准误差为 94.1 ± 30.1 条/100 m ² ）。澳大利亚盐沼有报道。 7 月至 8 月鱼类丰度最高（平均密度和标准误差为 200.2 ± 49.7 条/100 m ^{2 ），反映了数量上占优势的}Atherinosoma microstoma的繁殖模式。在序数逻辑回归模型中，丰度和物种丰富度都对水温呈正向响应，并且物种丰富度和多样性随着模型中水深的增加而增加。采样地点之间的巨大差异可能部分与河口之间水深和水温的差异有关。它们还可能与每个河口的栖息地背景有关，特别是海草的存在或不存在。相对于澳大利亚大陆报告的丰度，本研究中发现的鱼类数量较多，可能与红树林的缺乏以及随之而来的海景栖息地环境的差异有关，包括沼泽中更深的水深。重要的是，这些结果表明南半球温带盐沼是鱼类全年栖息地，从而强调了它们作为鱼类栖息地的重要性。