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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Arcata Fisheries Technical Report TR 2006-04 Environmental Variables of Northern California Lagoons and Estuaries and the Distribution of Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi) Charles D. Chamberlain U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office 1655 Heindon Road Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 882-7201 2006 Funding for this study was provided by the U.S. Geological Survey Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle through their Dixon, California Field Station and California Cooperative Fishery Unit at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services Program. Disclaimer: The mention of trade names or commercial products in this report does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the Federal government. Key words: estuarine habitat, northern California, tidewater goby The correct citation for this report is: Chamberlain, C.D. 2006. Environmental variables of northern California lagoons and estuaries and the distribution of tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi). U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, Arcata Fisheries Technical Report Number TR 2006-04, Arcata, California. ii Table of Contents page List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures.................................................................................................................... iv List of Appendices ..............................................................................................................v Introduction......................................................................................................................... 2 Study Area .......................................................................................................................... 4 Water body descriptions ................................................................................................. 6 Methods............................................................................................................................... 9 Site selection ................................................................................................................... 9 Water Quality Measurement......................................................................................... 10 Physical Habitat Classification ..................................................................................... 10 Fish Collection.............................................................................................................. 12 Tidal connectivity ......................................................................................................... 13 Data analysis ................................................................................................................. 13 1997 site re-visits .......................................................................................................... 14 Results............................................................................................................................... 14 Water Quality................................................................................................................ 15 Physical Habitat ............................................................................................................ 19 Compare 1996 to 1997.................................................................................................. 20 Tidal connectivity ......................................................................................................... 28 Discussion......................................................................................................................... 28 Habitat assessment........................................................................................................ 33 Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... 34 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 34 Personal Communications ................................................................................................ 36 Appendices........................................................................................................................ 38 iii List of Tables page Table 1. A sample of the range of reported preference and range of tolerance or observation exhibited by tidewater goby for various environmental attributes.......... 3 Table 2. Substrate types used in visual classification.................................................... 11 Table 3. Vegetation types used in visual classification................................................. 12 Table 4. Locations where tidewater goby were and were not detected in 1996............ 15 Table 5. Results of generalized linear modeling and analysis of covariance on relationship of water quality parameters to log-transformed tidewater goby density for all water bodies where the species was detected by seining in 1996...... 19 Table 6. Density of tidewater goby (number/m of seine set length) in samples collected 1997. .......................................................................................................... 24 Table 7. Surface salinity measurements collected in 1997............................................ 26 Table 8. Dissolved oxygen measurements collected near water’s surface in 1997....... 27 Table 9 Tidal connectivity and tidewater goby presence in 1996................................. 28 List of Figures page Figure 1. Range of survey conducted in 1996................................................................. 5 Figure 2. Tidewater goby density for 1996 seine samples transformed by Log10 (density + 1) and plotted against surface salinity...................................................... 17 Figure 3. Tidewater goby density for 1996 seine samples transformed by Log10 (density + 1) and plotted against bottom salinity...................................................... 18 Figure 4. Lake Earl salinity as measured near the surface for all visits 1996 and 1997; sample sites positive and negative for tidewater goby detection are presented side-by-side............................................................................................... 21 Figure 5. Stone Lagoon salinity as measured near the surface for all visits 1996 and 1997; sample sites positive and negative for tidewater goby detection are presented side-by-side............................................................................................... 22 Figure 6. Big Lagoon salinity as measured near the surface for all visits 1996 and 1997; sample sites positive and negative for tidewater goby detection are presented side-by-side............................................................................................... 22 Figure 7. Estero Americano salinity as measured near the surface for all visits 1996 and 1997; sample sites positive and negative for tidewater goby detection are presented side-by-side. ........................................................................................ 23 Figure 8 Humboldt Bay “perched” habitats found to harbor tidewater goby................ 33 iv List of Appendices Page Appendix A. Box plots of water quality parameters measured at all locations sampled for tidewater goby in 1996.......................................................................... 38 v Arcata Fisheries Technical Report TR 2006-04 Environmental variables of northern California lagoons and estuaries and the distribution of tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi) Charles D. Chamberlain U. F. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office 1655 Heindon Road; Arcata, California [email protected] Abstract. Northern California lagoon and estuary habitats were sampled in summer and early fall 1996 and 1997 to describe the relation of microhabitat variables to the distribution of tidewater goby. Twenty of the then twenty- one historically known locations for the species north of San Francisco Bay were sampled. Presence of tidewater goby was re-confirmed at 12 of the 20 sites visited. Little correlation was found between presence or absence of tidewater goby and point measurements of salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH vegetation and substrate). Relatively high catch rates of tidewater gobies occurred at some sites characterized as having environmental conditions outside the range of those reported as optimal in the literature. For example, this study found tidewater goby in water with dissolved oxygen concentrations less than 1 mg/l at Rodeo Lagoon; salinities less than 5 ppt at Lake Earl, Davis Lake, and Salmon Creek; and hyper-saline water as high as 37.9 ppt in the upper portion of Estero Americano. Infrequent but occasional connectivity to tidal fluctuation appeared to increase the likelihood of encountering tidewater goby, regardless of water quality and habitat conditions encountered in these predominantly tidally- isolated waters. This suggests that descriptive measures of physical characteristics like substrate and vegetation and point measurements of water quality provide limited insight to a water body’s suitability for tidewater goby. Rather than indicate inherent habitat preferences for the species, the range of physical