Community Characteristics of Dominant Forage Fishes and Decapods in the Whitewater Bay: Shark River Estuary, Everglades National Park

摘要

The report presents the results of studies on the community characteristics (relative abundance, seasonal occurrence, size, reproductive activity, and food habitats) on the following dominant epibenthic forage fish and decapod crustacean species: pink shrimp (Pendeus durorarum), blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), silver jenny (Eucinostomus gula), pigfish (Orthopristis chrysoptera), and silver perch (Bairdiella chrysura). Juveniles and adults were collected with trawl and gill nets from five sites among open water bay habitats in the Whitewater Bay-Shark River system, March 1979 through May 1980. In summary, variations in abundance of the dominant species among sites were related to feeding habits as a reflection of prey availability and vegetative cover, while recruitment and reproductive activity were associated with season effects. It may be that patterns of estuarine abundance, as reported in the study, are influenced by long-term evolutionary adaption than by short-term ecological or behavioral response to environmental parameters.