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Recruitment of Estuarine-Dependent Nekton Through a New Tidal Inlet: the Opening of Packery Channel in Corpus Christi, TX, USA

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Abstract

The US Army Corps of Engineers recently dredged and permanently reopened Packery Channel, historically a natural tidal inlet, to allow water exchange between the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre, TX, USA. The main objective of this study was to characterize estuarine-dependent recruitment and community structure in seagrass habitats adjacent to Packery Channel pre- and post-channel opening. We sampled fish and crustacean abundance using an epibenthic sled in Halodule wrightii seagrass meadows in both control and impact locations over 2 years, 1 year before the opening of Packery Channel (October 2004–May 2005) and 1 year after (July 2005–April 2006). Using the before–after control–impact design, we found significantly fewer nekton post-channel opening. However, we found significantly higher mean densities of newly settled estuarine-dependent species (Sciaenops ocellatus, Micropogonias undulatus, Lagodon rhomboides, Callinectes sapidus, and penaeid shrimp) post-opening. Multivariate analyses showed significant community assemblage changes post-opening with increased contribution of estuarine-dependent species post-opening. Our results show that estuarine-dependent nekton are using Packery Channel as a means of ingress into areas of the upper Laguna Madre’s seagrass meadows that were previously inaccessible, which may lead to higher fisheries productivity for some of these economically and ecologically important fishery species.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, Texas A and M University - Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC), NOAA Sea Grant #NA06OAR4170076, and the Coastal Conservation Association for funding this research. We thank Dr. Paul Montagna, Terry Palmer, Dr. Kim Withers, and John Froeschke for their assistance with the analysis. We also thank Deidre Williams and Lanmon Aerial Photography, Inc. for providing aerial photography. This project would not have been possible without the members of the Fisheries Ecology Lab at TAMU-CC and their numerous hours of field and laboratory help. We particularly would like to thank Sarah Bayer, Heather Barackman, Annette Cardona, Rafael Calderon, Alyssa Dailey, Ryan Fikes, Todd Neahr, and Brooke Stanford.

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  1. Department of Life Sciences, Texas A and M University-Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX, 78412, USA

    Megan M. Reese & Gregory W. Stunz

  2. Division of Inland Fisheries, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 20830 Great Smoky Mountain Expressway, Waynesville, NC, 28786, USA

    Amanda M. Bushon

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  1. Megan M. Reese
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Correspondence to Gregory W. Stunz.

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Reese, M.M., Stunz, G.W. & Bushon, A.M. Recruitment of Estuarine-Dependent Nekton Through a New Tidal Inlet: the Opening of Packery Channel in Corpus Christi, TX, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 31, 1143–1157 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-008-9096-x

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