SPECIES-SPECIFIC PATTERNS OF FISH ABUNDANCE AND SIZE ALONG A SUBTROPICAL MANGROVE SHORELINE: AN APPLICATION OF THE DELTA APPROACH

摘要

From 1998 to 2005, 537 visual fish surveys were conducted along a 50-km stretch of mangrove-lined shoreline in the vicinity of Biscayne Bay (southeastern Florida, USA). The shoreline lies directly downstream of a major wetlands restoration project that aims to return more natural salinity regimes to the western margin of the region's coastal bays. As part of a "baseline" ecological assessment, we applied the delta approach to examine spatial and temporal patterns of mangrove habitat use by three fishes: Lutjanus griseus (Linnaeus, 1758), Sphyraena barracuda (Walbaum, 1792), and Floridichthys carpio (Gunther, 1866). Along a north-south gradient, seasonal variation in their size-composition and three abundance metrics (occurrence, concentration, and density) was quantified and overall correlations with water salinity, depth, and temperature were evaluated using multiple regression. Results indicated that the shoreline is used by subadult and adult L. griseus and by mostly juvenile S. barracuda; for both species, highest abundance metric values occurred during the wet season, generally increasing southwards. In contrast, F. carpio were almost exclusively of adult (mature) sizes, with greatest values during the dry season at the shoreline's northern extent. For all species, water depth and/or temperature had a significant effect on abundance metrics. Positive correlations were found for L. griseus and S. barracuda abundance metrics, whereas the reverse was true for F. carpio. To date, most mangrove-fish studies have evaluated a single measure of fish abundance, usually density. We suggest consideration of occurrence and concentration, in addition to density, has value in an assessment and monitoring context as well as for gaining insight into how a given fish species disperses and clusters within habitats and across gradients.