Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Use of Shallow Lagoon Habitats by Nekton of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We compared nekton use of prominent habitat types within a lagoonal system of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). These habitat types were defined by combinations of structure (cover type) and location (distance from shore) as: Spartina edge (≤1 m from shore), Spartina (3 m from shore); Juncus edge (≤1 m from shore); seagrass located 3, 5, and 20 m from shore; and shallow non-vegetated bottom at various distances from shore. Although seagrass and Spartina edge sites differed little in environmental characteristics, the density and biomass of most abundant taxa, including pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum), were higher in seagrass. Most species within seagrass and Spartina did not differ in abundance or biomass with distance from shore. Our study revealed a shift in peak habitat use in the northeastern GoM to seagrass beds from the pattern observed to the west where nekton is concentrated within shoreline emergent vegetation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvarado Bremer, J.R., J.G. Ditty, J.S. Turner, and B.L. Saxton. 2010. Molecular species identification of commercially important penaeid shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico using a multiplex haplotype-specific PCR assay. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 38: 715–721.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baltz, D.M., C. Rakocinski, and J.W. Fleeger. 1993. Microhabitat use by marsh-edge fishes in a Louisiana estuary. Environmental Biology of Fishes 36: 109–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, M.W., K.L. Heck Jr., K. Able, D. Childers, D. Eggleston, B.M. Gillanders, B. Halpern, C. Hays, K. Hoshino, T. Minello, R. Orth, P. Sheridan, and M. Weinstein. 2001. The identification, conservation, and management of estuarine and marine nurseries for fish and invertebrates. Bioscience 51: 633–641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, J.C. 1974. Marine zoogeography. New York: McGraw Hill, 475 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, P.T., and J.S. O’Connor. 1971. Comparisons of shore-zone fishes over naturally vegetated and sand-filled bottoms in Great South Bay. New York Fish and Game Journal 18: 15–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brusher, H.A., and L.H. Ogren. 1976. Distribution, abundance, and size of penaeid shrimps in the St. Andrew Bay system, Florida. Fishery Bulletin 74: 158–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos, D.L., and L.P. Rozas. 2001. Nekton use of submerged aquatic vegetation, marsh, and shallow unvegetated bottom in the Atchafalaya River Delta, a Louisiana tidal freshwater ecosystem. Estuaries 24: 184–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, R.M. 1994. A comparison of fish assemblages from seagrass and unvegetated areas of a southern Australia estuary. Australian Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research 45: 1033–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corona, A., L.A. Soto, and A.J. Sánchez. 2000. Epibenthic amphipod abundance and predation efficiency of the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum (Burkenroad, 1939) in habitats with different physical complexity in a tropical estuarine system. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 253: 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantin, D.D., W.S. Fisher, S.J. Jordan, and J.T. Winstead. 2005. Fishery resources and threatened coastal habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. EPA/600/R-05/051. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, FL, 52 pp.

  • Deáth, G. 2002. Multivariate regression trees: A new technique for modeling species–environment relationships. Ecology 83: 1105–1117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deegan, L.A., J.W. Day Jr., J.G. Gosselink, A. Yáñez-Arancibia, G.S. Chávez, and P. Sánchez-Gil. 1986. Relationships among physical characteristics, vegetation distribution and fisheries yield in Gulf of Mexico estuaries. In Estuarine variability, ed. D.A. Wolfe, 83–100. Orlando, FL: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ditty, J.G., and J.R. Alvarado Bremer. 2011. Species discrimination of postlarvae and early juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) and pink shrimp (F. duorarum) (Decapoda: Penaeidae): Coupling molecular genetics and comparative morphology to identify early life stages. Journal of Crustacean Biology 31: 126–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glancy, T.P., T.K. Frazer, C.E. Cichra, and W.J. Lindberg. 2003. Comparative patterns of occupancy by decapod crustaceans in seagrass, oyster, and marsh-edge habitats in a northeast Gulf of Mexico estuary. Estuaries 26: 1291–1301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greening, H.S., and R.J. Livingston. 1982. Diel variation in the structure of seagrass-associated epibenthic macroinvertebrate communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 7: 147–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handley, L., D. Altsman, and R. DeMay, eds. 2007. Seagrass status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1940–2002. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5287 and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 855-R-04-003, 267 pp.

  • Heck Jr., K.L., L.D. Coen, and S.G. Morgan. 2001. Pre- and post-settlement factors as determinants of juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus abundance: Results from the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 222: 163–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heck Jr., K.L., G. Hays, and R.J. Orth. 2003. Critical evaluation of the nursery role hypothesis for seagrass meadows. Marine Ecology Progress Series 253: 123–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoese, H.D. and R.S. Jones. 1963. Seasonality of larger animals in a Texas turtle grass community. Publications of the Institute of Marine Science, University of Texas 9:37–47.

  • Holmquist, J.G., G.V.N. Powell, and S.M. Sogard. 1989. Decapod and stomatopod communities of seagrass-covered mud banks in Florida Bay: Inter- and intra-bank heterogeneity with special reference to isolated subenvironments. Bulletin of Marine Science 44: 251–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, J.C., and R.K. Wallace. 2000. Relative abundance of postlarvae and juvenile penaeid shrimps in submerged aquatic vegetation and emergent marsh habitats. Gulf of Mexico Science 2000: 130–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irlandi, E.A., and M.K. Crawford. 1997. Habitat linkages: The effect of intertidal saltmarshes and adjacent subtidal habitats on abundance, movement, and growth of an estuarine fish. Oecologia 110: 222–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leber, K.M. 1985. The influence of predatory decapods, refuge, and microhabitat selection on seagrass communities. Ecology 66: 1951–1964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, R.J. 1984. The relationship of physical factors and biological response in coastal seagrass meadows. Estuaries 7: 377–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubbers, L., W.R. Boynton, and W.M. Kemp. 1990. Variations in structure of estuarine fish communities in relation to abundance of submersed vascular plants. Marine Ecology Progress Series 65: 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matheson, R.E., D.K. Camp, S.M. Sogard, and K.A. Bjorgo. 1999. Changes in seagrass-associated fish and crustacean communities on Florida Bay mud banks: The effect of recent ecosystem changes? Estuaries 22: 534–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, L., G. Cicchetti, and M. Chintala. 2004. Nekton habitat quality at shallow water sites in two Rhode Island coastal systems. Estuaries 27: 740–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merino, J.H., J. Carter, and S.L. Merino. 2009. Mesohaline submerged aquatic vegetation survey along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, 2001 and 2002: A salinity gradient approach. Gulf of Mexico Science 27: 9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minello, T.J. 1999. Nekton densities in shallow estuarine habitats of Texas and Louisiana and the identification of essential fish habitat. In Fish habitat: Essential fish habitat and habitat rehabilitation, ed. Benaka L., 43–75. American Fisheries Society Symposium 22.

  • Minello, T.J., and L.P. Rozas. 2002. Nekton in Gulf Coast wetlands: Fine-scale distributions, landscape patterns, and restoration implications. Ecological Applications 12: 441–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello, T.J., and J.W. Webb. 1997. Use of natural and created Spartina alterniflora salt marshes by fishery species and other aquatic fauna in Galveston Bay, Texas (USA). Marine Ecology Progress Series 151: 165–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello, T.J., R.J. Zimmerman, and R. Medina. 1994. The importance of edge for natant macrofauna in a created salt marsh. Wetlands 14: 184–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello, T.J., K.W. Able, M.P. Weinstein, and C.G. Hays. 2003. Salt marshes as nurseries for nekton: Testing hypotheses on density, growth and survival through meta-analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 246: 39–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello, T.J., G.A. Matthews, P. Caldwell, and L.P. Rozas. 2008. Population and production estimates for decapod crustaceans in wetlands of Galveston Bay, Texas. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137: 129–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, W.G. 1981. Experimental studies of decapod and fish predation on seagrass macrobenthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series 5: 141–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orth, R.J., K.L. Heck Jr., and J. van Montfrans. 1984. Faunal communities in seagrass beds: A review of the influence of plant structure and prey characteristics on predator–prey relationships. Estuaries 7: 339–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perez-Farfante, I. and B. Kensley. 1997. Penaeoid and sergestoid shrimps and prawns of the world: Keys and diagnoses for the families and genera. Mémoires du Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle, Volume 175, Paris, France, 233 pp.

  • Peterson, G.W., and R.E. Turner. 1994. The value of salt marsh edge vs. interior as a habitat for fish and decapod crustaceans in a Louisiana tidal marsh. Estuaries 17: 235–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raposa, K.B., and C.A. Oviatt. 2000. The influence of contiguous shoreline type, distance to shore, and vegetation biomass on nekton community structure in eelgrass beds. Estuaries 23: 46–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W.R. 1989. Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43: 223–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and T.J. Minello. 1997. Estimating densities of small fishes and decapod crustaceans in shallow estuarine habitats: A review of sampling design with focus on gear selection. Estuaries 20: 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and T.J. Minello. 1998. Nekton use of salt marsh, seagrass, and nonvegetated habitats in a South Texas (USA) estuary. Bulletin of Marine Science 63: 481–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and T.J. Minello. 2006. Nekton use of Vallisneria americana Michx. (wild celery) beds and adjacent habitats in coastal Louisiana. Estuaries and Coasts 29: 297–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and T.J. Minello. 2010. Nekton density patterns in tidal ponds and adjacent wetlands related to pond size and salinity. Estuaries and Coasts 33: 652–667.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and R.J. Zimmerman. 2000. Small-scale patterns of nekton use among marsh and adjacent shallow nonvegetated areas of the Galveston Bay estuary, Texas (USA). Marine Ecology Progress Series 193: 217–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez, A.J. 1997. Habitat preference of Penaeus duorarum Burkenroad (Crustacea: Decapoda) in a tropical coastal lagoon, southwest Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 217: 107–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, P.F. 1992. Comparative habitat utilization by estuarine macrofauna within the mangrove ecosystem of Rookery Bay, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 50: 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, P., G. McMahan, G. Conley, A. Williams, and G. Thayer. 1997. Nekton use of macrophyte patches following mortality of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, in shallow waters of Florida Bay (Florida, USA). Bulletin of Marine Science 61: 801–820.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, P., and C. Hays. 2003. Are mangroves nursery habitat for transient fishes and decapods? Wetlands 23: 449–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, P., and T.J. Minello. 2003. Nekton use of different habitat types in seagrass beds of lower Laguna Madre, Texas. Bulletin of Marine Science 72: 37–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sogard, S.M., and K.W. Able. 1991. A comparison of eelgrass, sea lettuce macroalgae, and marsh creeks as habitats for epibenthic fishes and decapods. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 33: 501–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solis, R.S., and G.L. Powell. 1999. Chapter 2: Hydrography, mixing characteristics, and residence times of Gulf of Mexico estuaries. In Biogeochemistry of the Gulf of Mexico estuaries, ed. T.S. Bianchi, J.R. Pennock, and R.R. Twilley, 29–61. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stunz, G.W., T.J. Minello, and P.S. Levin. 2002. A comparison of early red drum densities among various habitat types in Galveston Bay, Texas. Estuaries 25: 76–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J.L., T.J. Minello, and R.J. Zimmerman. 1990. Abundance patterns of juvenile blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in nursery habitats of two Texas bays. Bulletin of Marine Science 46: 115–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, R.E. 2001. Of manatees, mangroves, and the Mississippi River: Is there an estuarine signature for the Gulf of Mexico? Estuaries 24: 139–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, R.J., and R.J. King. 1996. Marine, brackish, and freshwater fish communities in the vegetated and bare shallows of an Australian coastal river. Estuaries 19: 31–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, S.D. 1997. The effects of marsh edge and surface elevation on the distribution of salt marsh infauna and prey availability for nekton predators. MS thesis, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

  • Williams, A.H., L.D. Coen, and M.S. Stoelting. 1990. Seasonal abundance, distribution, and habitat selection of juvenile Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 137: 165–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, R.J., T.J. Minello, and G. Zamora. 1984. Selection of vegetated habitat by brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus, in a Galveston Bay salt marsh. Fishery Bulletin US 82: 325–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, R.J., T.J. Minello, D.L. Smith, and J. Kostera. 1990. The use of Juncus and Spartina marshes by fisheries species in Lavaca Bay, Texas, with reference to effects of floods. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-251, 40 pp.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted through the NOAA Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center by personnel from the Fishery Ecology Branch (FEB) located at the Galveston Laboratory and the Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. The assistance of everyone in the FEB was essential for the successful completion of this project. In particular, we thank Jim Ditty, Jennifer Doerr, Shawn Hillen, Juan Salas, Katie Turner, and Elizabeth Wilson for help in collecting and processing samples and Philip Caldwell for producing Fig. 1. We acknowledge John A. Dittmar III (EPA Gulf Ecology Division) for computing the aerial coverage of habitat types. We also thank Kevin Caillouet (Tulane University), Heather Pace Dyer (Nicholls State University), Janet A. Nestlerode (EPA Gulf Ecology Division), and Dominic Guadagnoli (Georgia Department of Natural Resources) for assisting in collecting nekton samples. Alejandro E. Almario with the EPA Gulf Ecology Division assisted by providing tidal data. We thank Jack Mobley and Mike Mitsud (Natural Resources Department, Tyndall Air Force Base) for providing logistical support at the study site. We acknowledge the EPA Gulf Ecology Division and the NOAA Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center for funding this research project. Two anonymous reviewers and the editor suggested changes that improved the original manuscript. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NOAA Fisheries Service.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service/SEFSC, Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Center, 646 Cajundome Boulevard, Room 175, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA

    Lawrence P. Rozas

  2. NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service/SEFSC, Galveston Laboratory, 4700 Avenue U, Galveston, TX, 77551, USA

    Thomas J. Minello

  3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Gulf Ecology Division, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL, 32561, USA

    Darrin D. Dantin

Authors
  1. Lawrence P. Rozas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas J. Minello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Darrin D. Dantin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lawrence P. Rozas.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 4 Comparison of biomasses, mean per square meter and (SE), in grams of dominant (contributing most biomass) decapod crustaceans and fishes collected among seven habitat types including Spartina edge and Juncus edge ≤1 m from shore; Spartina 3 m from shore; seagrass 1, 5, and 20 m from shore; and SNB in May–June and September 2006
Full size table

Appendix 2

Table 5 Comparison of environmental characteristics among habitat types
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rozas, L.P., Minello, T.J. & Dantin, D.D. Use of Shallow Lagoon Habitats by Nekton of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 35, 572–586 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9449-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9449-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation