Nearshore Epifaunal Community of South Biscayne Bay Past, Present, and Future Joan Browder1, Gladys Liehr2, Michael Robblee3, Eric Buck2, and Thomas Jackson1

1NOAA Fisheries Service, Miami 2University of Miami CIMAS, Miami 3US Geological Survey, Ft. Lauderdale Epifaunal Community: Past List of W. F. McCormick of Coconut Grove

• Cited in Smith (1896) • 95 species, but not the smaller epifaunal species • Some more notable species: – Gag, Black grouper, Scamp, Goliath grouper, Sheepshead, Atlantic croaker – Mullet, Pinfish, several flounder species Epifaunal Community: Present

Throw-trap sampling of epifauna »Field Project Description • Sampling twice a year, dry (Jan.-Feb.) and wet (July-Aug.) seasons, 2005-2007, at 47 sites. • Expanded in 2007 to cover 72 sites. • Sampling sites located along the shoreline in conjunction with randomly-sited shoreline- fish transects. • 3 samples at each site with 1-m2 throw-trap. • 4 sweeps to clear the trap for each sample. • Environmental (T, S, pH, and DO), water depth, sediment depth, and SAV data also collected at each site on each visit. S N TP EN Site overview in Biscayne Bay incl. 'Strata' classification:

Æ Æ Overview about dominating species:

Rainwater Killifish Pinfish Lucania parva Lagodon rhomboides

Goldspotted Killifish Bigeye Mojarra Floridichthys carpio Euinostomus havana

Gulf Pipefish Sygnathus scovelli

Gulf Toadfish Hardhead Silverside Opsanus beta Atherinomorus stipes

Code Goby Clown Goby Gobiosoma robustum Microgobius gulosus

http://www.fishbase.org http://fl.biology.usgs.gov Æ Overview about dominating species:

Pink Farfantepeneaus duorarum

© Gladys a. Liehr

Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus

Hermit Crab

Caridean Shrimp

http://www.engr.umd.edu/ http://www.dnr.sc.gov http://hermitcrabcare.files.wordpress.com/ Æ Overview about Total number (%) of each Taxa in each collection:

Dry 2005 Dry 2006 Dry 2007

Total Fish Total Crab Total Shrimp Total Echinodermata Wet 2005 Wet 2006 Wet 2007 » Focus: species composition in relation to salinity

• Density-weighted salinity of individual species • Site distance analysis – cluster analysis • Species halo-habitat groups – MDS analysis

Based on six collections—three dry season and three wet season--and 47 sampling sites ÆDensity-weighted avarage Salinity, by taxa, standardized by the avarage salinity across sites during dry season:

Bandtail Puffer Bigeye Mojarra Blue Crab Checkered Puffer Clown Goby Blue Crab sp. Code Goby Crested Blenny Common mud crab Crested Goby Dusky Pipefish Hermit Crab Dwarf Seahorse Flagfin Mojarra Lesser Blue Crab Fringed Pipefish Goldspotted Killifish Sponge Spider Crab Gray Snapper Grunt sp. Spider Crab Gulf Pipefish Gulf Toadfish Total crabs Hard-head Silverside High Fin Blenny Pink shrimp Killifish sp. Lined Seahorse Snapping Shrimp Mojarra sp. Pinfish Caridean shrimp Pugnose Pipefish Rainwater Killifish Total shrimp Sailfin Molly Sailor's Choice Sheepshead Minnow Silver Jenny Cushion Sea Star Spotted Dry 2005 Dry 2005 Spotted Whiff Dry 2006 Total echinoderms Dry 2006 Total fish Dry 2007 Dry 2007

-0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 Wet 2005 Wet 2006 Wet 2007 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 Blue Crab Brittle Star Total crabs Spider Crab Hermit Crab Hermit Pink shrimp Total shrimp Blue Crab sp. Caridean shrimp Lesser Blue Crab Cushion Star Sea Snapping ShrimpSnapping taxa, standardized by the avarage Total echinoderms Common mud crab mud Common Sponge Spider Crab Wet 2005 Wet 2006 Wet 2007 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 Pinfish Total fish Grunt sp. Code Goby Mojarra sp. Killifish sp. Killifish Clown Goby Silver Jenny Sailfin Molly Sailfin Gulf Pipefish Gulf Gulf Toadfish Spotted Whiff Crested Goby Gray Snapper Gray Bandtail Puffer Bandtail Dusky PipefishDusky Sailor's Choice Bigeye Mojarra Bigeye Flagfin Mojarra Crested Blenny Density-weighted avarage Salinity, by Lined Seahorse Dwarf Seahorse High Fin Blenny Fringed Pipefish Checkered PufferCheckered Spotted Dragonet Pugnose PipefishPugnose Rainwater Killifish Rainwater Goldspotted Killifish Goldspotted Sheepshead MinnowSheepshead Hard-head Silverside

Æ salinity across site during wet season: - Site Distance Analysis -

Premises: • Sites located nearest to each other geographically will have the most similar species composition. • Interruption of the salinity pattern by freshwater inflow can interfere with this relationship. • Changing from point-source discharge (from canals) to distributed flow across wetlands might change the relationship of inter-site distance to freshwater discharge. Approach: Determine within-cluster pair-wise similarity of sites

Steps: • Identify clusters of sites based on similarity of species composition (dendrogram). • Determine pair-wise geographic distance between sites within each cluster • Calculate average within-cluster pair-wise distance between sites for each collection. • Examine distance in relation to salinity (used as an index of freshwater inflow) Æ Example for cluster analysis results for sites (Dry Season):

a b c d

a. Site number c. Salinity range b. Strata d. Cluster group Æ Example for cluster analysis results for sites (Wet Season):

a b c d

a. Site number c. Salinity range b. Strata d. Cluster group Æ Average within cluster distances between site pairs (°Lat), by Collection, with 95% confidence intervals:

0.09 CFL = 95%

0.08

0.07

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01 Average Distance (Lat) between Distance Average sites

0.00 Dry 05 Dry 06 Dry 07 Wet 05 Wet 06 Wet 07 Season Æ Average geopgraphic distance vs. median measured salinity, by collection:

0.08

Wet '05 Dry '06

0.06 Wet '06 Dry '07

Wet '07

0.04

Dry '05 Distance (°Lat) Distance

0.02

y = 0.0941 - 0.0016x R2 = 0.3645

0.00 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 Salinity (psu) S N TP EN Salinity (psu) Wet 05 Wet 06 Wet 07 Wet 0 1020304050

0 3 6 9

12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 Site S N TP EN Salinity (psu) Dry 05 Dry 06 Dry 07 Dry 0 1020304050 Salinity overview for each site and collection: 0 3 6 9

12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 Æ Site - SPECIES ANALYSIS -

Premise: • Species with similar “halo-habitat” would be grouped because they would have similar geographic distributions. • MDS groups species based on geographic distributions—i.e., similar patterns of abundance across sites. - SPECIES GROUP - • All fish and crustacean species occurring at more than one site (in specific collection) were included • Species were categorized based on halo-habitat as – estuarine (E) – non-estuarine (NE) – polyhaline (P) – estuarine-polyhaline (E-P) – non-estuarine-polyhaline (NE-P) – and unknown/other (O). • MDS analysis for each of the six collections – 2005 wet and dry – 2006 wet and dry – 2007 wet and dry (sites 1-47) lts for variables (Dry Season): Example for cluster analysis resu

Æ lts for variables (Wet Season): Example for cluster analysis resu

Æ Æ Example for MDS analysis results for variables (Dry Season):

Dry 2005 Æ Example for MDS analysis results for variables (Dry Season):

Dry 2006

Dry 2007 Dry 2005 Æ Example for MDS analysis results for variables (Wet Season):

Wet 2005 Æ Example for MDS analysis results for variables (Wet Season):

Wet 2006

Wet2007 Wet 2005 Summary of MDS Results: Species occurring in the main cluster EpifaunalEpifaunal Community:Community: FuturePast Building the Universe: List of Potential Estuarine Species to Populate a Restored Nearshore

• Based on selected papers and reports – Grant Gilmore’s (1996) dominant species of marginal tidal wetlands and oligohaline zone – Lorenz and Serafy’s 2006 species classified as found in oligohaline, mesohaline, and polyhaline waters – Browder et al.’s 1986 and 1988 species list’s (combined) from trawl collections and ichthyoplankton tows in Faka Union, Fakahatchee, and Pumpkin bays and associated passes – Ley et al. 1999 • With help in classification to “halo-habitat” from FISHBASE.ORG (“environmental habitat”) Analysis Results

• Species occurring along the shoreline are found, on average, both below and above the average salinity across sites. • Pink shrimp is distributed along the Biscayne Bay shoreline similarly to many other species, supporting its designated role of an indicator species. • Average within-cluster pair-wise salinity is roughly correlated with average salinity across sites—supporting the hypothesis that point-source freshwater inflow interrupts the similarity of species composition at nearby sites—and providing a potential indicator of ecological change with changed freshwater inflow. Prediction

• At least 51 species—many that probably could be captured in the throw trap— represent a universe of species that could eventually be found along the shoreline of Biscayne Bay—if a suitable salinity regime were established. Acknowledgments

Years 1 & 2: Partly funded by the South Florida Water Management District

Year 3: Funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District as MAP Project SE-3.2.4.5 of the Southern Estuaries Module of the RECOVER Monitoring and Assessment Program of CERP