Spatial and temporal patterns of abundance of juvenile black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in Maryland coastal bays

摘要

Black sea bass (Centropristis striata) is a warm temperate species that is associated with structured habitats along the U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico. The northern stock is considered data poor, and the lack of information on the life history, especially at the juvenile stage, is a concern. We analyzed trawl survey data collected during 1989-2013 from the Maryland coastal bays (MCBs) by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and used catch-per-unit-of-effort (CPUE) to determine spatial and temporal patterns in abundance of black sea bass. The highest CPUE occurred at sites close to the MCBs inlets, suggesting the presence of suitable habitats for this species in these areas. Spatial patterns of abundance of black sea bass showed no consistent relationship with temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and Secchi disk depth, a measure of water transparency (P>0.05), but CPUE was positively correlated with water depth (P=0.025). Average growth rate of the fish was 0.58 mm total length (TL)/day, ranging from 0.46 to 0.72 mm TL/day. Results of a generalized linear model with a Poisson distribution indicated that salinity and the North Atlantic Oscillation index best predicted interannual variation in CPUE of age-0 fish, but not CPUE of age-1 black sea bass. Information from this study can be used to form a basis for future studies in the coastal bays of Maryland and other coastal lagoon systems.