Tampa Bay National Estuary Program Technical Publication #lo-92 Estuary ==-AProgram SYNTHESIS OF BASIC LIFE HISTORIES OF TAMPA BAY SPECIES FINAL REPORT L December 1992 10-92 SYNTHESIS OF BASIC LIFE HISTORIES OF TAMPA BAY SPECIES Prepared for Tampa Bay National Estuary Program 11 1 7th Avenue South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Prepared by Kristie A. Killam Randall J. Hochberg Emily C. Rzemien Versar, Inc. ESM Operations 9200 Rumsey Road Columbia, Maryland 21045 December 1992 Wc~.rrnt"e Foreword FOREWORD This report, Synthesis of Basic Life Histories of Tampa Bay Species, was prepared by Versar, Inc under the direction of Dick Eckenrod and Holly Greening of the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program. The work was performed under contract to Versar, Inc. This is Technical Publication #10-92 of the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program. ... ~h!oaaL Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program director, Dick Eckenrod, and project manager, Holly Greening for their guidance in completing this project. We also would like to thank our consultant, Ernst Peebles (University of South Florida) for his help in completing this project. We greatly appreciate the contributions of many members of the Tampa Bay scientific community. Many individuals provided assistance and information, including unpublished data, manuscripts and reports. First we would like to thank many of the biologists from Florida Department of Natural Resources- Florida Marine Research Institute. Bob McMichael, Keven Peters, Eddie Matheson, Roy Crabtree, Mike Murphy, Behzad Mahmoudi, Brad Weigle, Beth Beeler, Bruce Ackerman, Scott Wright, Ron Taylor, Phil Steele, and Bill Arnold contributed information and reviewed portions of the draft final report, and Ben McLaughlin, Greg Vermeer, Steve Brown, Mike Mitchell, Dan Marelli. Dave Camp, Tom Perkins, David Crewz, Dan Roberts, Mike Byerly, Kelly Donnelly, and Gerry Bruger provided valuable assistance and information. Mark Berrigan (FDNR-Tallahassee) and Mark Fonseca (National Marine Fisheries Service) provided data and reviewed portions of this report. Professors and scientists at University of South Florida provided information for this report. We thank Jose Torres, Joe Simon, Susan Bell, and Greg Brooks for their assistance. Don Hesselman (FDNR), Doug Farrell (FDER), Bruce Barber (Virginia institute Marine Science), and Coastal Environmental Services also provided information and assistance. Holly Greening (TBNEP), Bob McMichael (FMRI), Bob Day (Indian River National Estuary Program), Jim Beever (Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission), Ernst Peebles (USF) and Bill Richkus (Versar) reviewed and provided comments on the draft final report. Preparation of this document was assisted by Fred Kelley, Carol DeLisle, Gail Lucas, Brenda Fowler and Sherian George. Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OVERVIEW One of the goals of the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program is to acquire information necessary for maintaining or improving the condition of the estuary's natural resources. The purpose of this project was to characterize habitat types critical to the survival of endemic fish and wildlife species. This information will be used to guide the development of effective strategies for habitat restoration and protection and to identify information necessary for future management decisions. Determinations of which species were important to the estuary were based on ecological importance, significance to commercial or recreational fisheries, aesthetic value and designations of endangered, threatened, or protected status. Data collected for each selected species were synthesized into individual species summaries, each containing information on life history, ecological role, contaminants and habitat requirements. Both water quality and structural habitats were considered. Water quality habitats included' information on factors such as salinity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH. Structural habitats included information on factors such as bottom substrate, water currents and submerged aquatic vegetation. An extensive literature search was conducted to identify information necessary for species summaries. During this data acquisition stage, it became apparent that most of the research conducted within the Tampa Bay estuary has been directed at commercially and recreationally important species such as snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, striped mullet and blue crabs. Very little information was available to document environmental requirements of species which can be considered of little economic importance, but which are probably critical to the structure of the ecosystem. These include species such as silver perch, clown goby, striped killifish, grass shrimp and benthic organisms. Some species, including tarpon, bay anchovy, spot, American oyster and hard clam had adequate amounts of information available to identify environmental requirements, although very little was available specific to Tampa Bay. Two general life history patterns emerged from the species summaries. Some species, including spotted seatrout, clown goby, striped killifish, manatee, hard clam and American oyster remain in the estuary their entire life cycle. Others, such as blue crabs, striped mullet, tarpon, spot, and pink shrimp spawn just outside the estuary or some distance offshore. Currents or tides transport eggs, larvae or juveniles of these species back into the estuary. In either situation, the estuary serves as a nursery area for larval and juvenile stages of these species, and as a forage area for subadults and adults. Degradation of nursery habitats or forage areas within the estuary could seriously affect the populations of many of these species. Species chosen for this project were representative of many trophic levels within the Tampa Bay estuary. In general, an adequate amount of information existed to characterize feeding ecology of the selected species. However, in many instances, this vii information was not specific to the Tampa Bay estuary. Ecological studies being conducted by the Florida Marine Research Institute should provide a more thorough examination of the feeding ecology of many of the selected finfish species. With the exception of American oyster, very little information was available to assess concentrations or effects of contaminants in the estuary. Studies recently initiated by the Florida Marine Research Institute are directed at identifying toxicants in fish tissues and should provide some baseline data in which to direct further research. Distribution and habitat utilization within the estuary was dependent on species and stage of life cycle. Some species, such as the bay anchovy, had a ubiquitous distribution throughout the estuary, and didn't appear to be influenced by any particular water quality or structural habitat. Many species showed a habitat preference for shallow areas characterized. by submerged aquatic vegetation. Spotted seatrout, silver perch, clown goby, pink shrimp, grass shrimp and the manatee were common residents of these habitats. Backwater areas (including mangrove and marsh areas) and tidal rivers provided critical habitats for many of the selected species. Red drum, snook, striped mullet and spot preferred these habitats, especially during their larval and juvenile stages. More information is necessary to accurately describe the distribution of the benthic organism, Diopatra cuprea. Water quality requirements of many species was variable, depending on life stage and seasonality. Most estuarine species are highly tolerant of fluctuations in water temperature; however, cold water mortalities of snook and tarpon have been observed in Tampa Bay. Many species have a high degree of tolerance to salinity fluctuations although most exhibited preferences to different salinity regimes. Hogchoker prefer the oligohaline and freshwater portions of tidal rivers. Many of the species were highly tolerant of a wide range of salinities. These included red drum, snook, spot, tarpon, blue crabs, and American oyster. Species such as spotted seatrout, silver perch, lined sole, and striped killifish preferred higher salinities in the meso and polyhaline areas of the estuary. In many estuarine finfish species, tolerance to low salinity waters was greater at juvenile stages and decreased with growth. Varying amounts of information existed for the remaining environmental requirements, including dissolved oxygen, pH, water current, turbidity or depth preferences. Data suggested that species such as spot, striped killifish, American oyster and hard clams are somewhat tolerant of low dissolved oxygen conditions, depending on the duration of exposure. Juvenile tarpon are able to survive in areas of severe hypoxia. In general, it appeared that preference for the remaining environmental requirements was dependent on species and stage of life cycle. \iw!!oaniz= Executive Summary SPECIES SUMMARIES A discussion of critical habitats (structural and water quality) of each selected species are summarized in the following paragraphs and are presented in tabular format at the end of this section. Tarpon Tarpon is an important recreational species in the Tampa Bay area. Very little information was available to assess critical habitats of tarpon in Tampa Bay. Most information on juveniles and adults was obtained from research in other Florida estuaries. Tarpon spawn in Gulf of Mexico waters offshore of Tampa Bay and their eggs and larvae are transported into the estuary by tides and currents.