Fishes Associated with Oil and Gas Platforms in Louisiana's River-Influenced Nearshore Waters
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2016 Fishes Associated with Oil and Gas Platforms in Louisiana's River-Influenced Nearshore Waters Ryan Thomas Munnelly Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons Recommended Citation Munnelly, Ryan Thomas, "Fishes Associated with Oil and Gas Platforms in Louisiana's River-Influenced Nearshore Waters" (2016). LSU Master's Theses. 1070. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1070 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FISHES ASSOCIATED WITH OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS IN LOUISIANA’S RIVER- INFLUENCED NEARSHORE WATERS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences by Ryan Thomas Munnelly B.S., University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2011 May 2016 The Blind Men and the Elephant It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant The Fourth reached out an eager hand, (Though all of them were blind), And felt about the knee That each by observation “What most this wondrous beast is like Might satisfy his mind Is mighty plain,” quoth he: “Tis clear enough the Elephant The First approached the Elephant Is very like a Tree!” And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, At once began to bawl: Said: “E’en the blindest man “God bless me! but the Elephant Can tell what this resembles most; Is very like a wall!” Deny the fact who can This marvel of an Elephant The Second, feeling of the tusk, Is very like a fan!” Cried, “Ho! what have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? The Sixth no sooner had begun To me ‘tis mighty clear About the beast to grope, This wonder of an Elephant Than, seizing on the swinging tail Is very like a spear!” That fell within his scope “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant The Third approached the animal, Is very like a rope!” And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, And so these men of Indostan Thus boldly up and spake: Disputed loud and long, “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant Each in his opinion Is very like a snake!” Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all of them were wrong! —John Godfrey Saxe ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ed and Don, I couldn’t ask for better mentors or a cooler project. Thank you for the opportunities, help, and guidance you have provided me with and some of your perspectives. Thank you further for making sure I will never forget the acronym “KISS”, and bearing with me in my effort to ‘complete the loop’. Thank you Dr. Brian Marx for your dedication to your students. You always went the extra yard to present concepts in multiple formats and took it upon yourself to make sure your students understood. Thank you Dr. Larry Rouse for help and advice that rounded out an oceanography program for a fish person. Thank you Dr. Kevin Xu, for taking the time to train me in sediment grain-size analysis and allowing me to use your lab space. Thank you Dr. Brian Roberts for allowing me to use your auto-titrator, but more importantly for organizing Friday seminars with refreshments. Thank you Dr. Carey Gelpi for keeping us briefed on coastwide conditions throughout the years, and for donating snapper bycatch to the cause. Thank you Dr. Angela Collins and Joe O'Hop for verifying goliath grouper identifications. Thank you Dr. Nan Walker for the LSU Earth Scan Laboratory, and for your helpfulness. Thanks to everybody involved with the Chesney Lab, especially David and Bill. Funding for this project was provided by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and supported by a match from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for a companion project. I’d like to thank both of these organizations for making this research possible, as well as the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, where the research took place. iii Finally, this is dedicated to my folks, Tom and Leslie, my sister Heather, my cousins Henry and Zale, and my terrific friends (even the ones who don’t fish). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... x LIST OF EQUATIONS ............................................................................................................. xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... xvii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... xix CHAPTER I: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 References ........................................................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER II: PHYSICOCHEMICAL FEATURES OF THE LOUISIANA NEARSHORE ZONE (≤ 25 m WATER DEPTH): A HABITAT PERSPECTIVE ................... 12 Epitome ............................................................................................................................ 12 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 13 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 17 Coastwide survey ................................................................................................. 17 Comprehensive hydrographic analyses ................................................................ 19 Results .............................................................................................................................. 22 Coastwide survey ................................................................................................. 22 Comprehensive hydrographic analyses ................................................................ 33 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 40 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 45 References ........................................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER III: COASTWIDE FISH ASSEMBLAGES AROUND SMALL OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS IN LOUISIANA’S NEARSHORE WATERS ........................................... 54 Epitome ............................................................................................................................ 54 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 55 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 59 Field ..................................................................................................................... 59 Video processing .................................................................................................. 61 Statistical analyses ............................................................................................... 64 Results .............................................................................................................................. 66 Observations ........................................................................................................ 66 Statistical analyses ............................................................................................... 70 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 85 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 92 References ........................................................................................................................ 94 v CHAPTER IV: HABITAT SUITABILITY FOR FISHES ASSOCIATED WITH OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS IN THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF LOUISIANA .................... 102 Epitome .......................................................................................................................... 102 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 103 Methods .......................................................................................................................... 108 Field ..................................................................................................................