Utilization by fishes of shallow, seagrass-covered banks in Florida Bay: 1. Species composition and spatial heterogeneity
Sogard SM, Powell GV, Holmquist JG. 1989. Utilization by fishes of shallow, seagrass-covered banks in Florida Bay: 1. Species composition and spatial heterogeneity. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 24(1):53-65
Species composition and relative capture rates of water column fishes occurring on the shallow (<1m), seagrass-covered mudbanks of Florida Bay were assessed using small-mesh gillnets. The fauna was largely temperate, with few tropical representatives, and was similar to the fish community in adjacent basins. There was a high variability in the catch across the Bay, reflecting heterogeneity in both the physical environment and various aspects of the seagrass canopy. The Gulf site, in the northwestern section of the Bay, had the highest species richness and highest capture rates of individual species, relative to other sites. Higher densities of potential prey, greater available foraging area, and organically rich, fine sediments are probably influential in the greater fish utilization of this bank. The greater exchange of western Florida Bay with open Atlantic or Gulf waters is proposed as a secondary factor influencing species rechness; the probability of non-resident species occasionally appearing on western banks is greater than in isolated interior sections of the Bay. Abstract given by author.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Sogard, Susan; Powell, George; Holmquist, Jeff
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Community Structure, Crustaceans, epibenthic fish, Estuaries, Fish, Florida Bay, foraging habitat, Gamefish, Gillnets, Habitat quality, Ichthyology, Mudbanks, Population Density, Salinity, Seagrass-covered banks, Seining method, spatial heterogeneity, Species Composition, Trawling method, Water Temperature