Juvenile and Small Resident Fishes of Florida Bay, a Critical Habitat in The
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NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 6 U.S. Department of Commerce March 2007 Juvenile and small resident fishes of Florida Bay, a critical habitat in the Everglades National Park, Florida Allyn B. Powell Gordon Thayer Michael Lacroix Robin Cheshire U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA Professional Carlos M. Gutierrez Secretary National Oceanic Papers NMFS and Atmospheric Administration Vice Admiral Scientific Editor Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., Dr. Adam Moles USN (ret.) Under Secretary for Technical Editor Oceans and Atmosphere Elizabeth Calvert National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA National Marine 17109 Point Lena Loop Road Fisheries Service Juneau, AK 99801-8626 William T. Hogarth Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Managing Editor Shelley Arenas National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Publications Office 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115 Editorial Committee Dr. Ann C. Matarese National Marine Fisheries Service Dr. James W. Orr National Marine Fisheries Service Dr. Bruce L. Wing National Marine Fisheries Service The NOAA Professional Paper NMFS (ISSN 1931-4590) series is published by the Scientific Publications Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, The NOAA Professional Paper NMFS series carries peer-reviewed, lengthy original NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, research reports, taxonomic keys, species synopses, flora and fauna studies, and data-in- Seattle, WA 98115. tensive reports on investigations in fishery science, engineering, and economics. Copies The Secretary of Commerce has of the NOAA Professional Paper NMFS series are available free in limited numbers to determined that the publication of government agencies, both federal and state. They are also available in exchange for this series is necessary in the transac- tion of the public business required by other scientific and technical publications in the marine sciences. Professional Papers law of this Department. Use of funds are published online in PDF format at http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov for printing of this series has been ap- proved by the Director of the Office NOTICE: This series was established in 2003 to replace the NOAA Technical Report of Management and Budget. NMFS series. NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 6 Juvenile and small resident fishes of Florida Bay, a critical habitat in the Everglades National Park, Florida Allyn B. Powell Gordon Thayer Michael Lacroix Robin Cheshire March 2007 U.S. Department of Commerce Seattle, Washington Suggested reference Powell, Allyn B., Gordon Thayer, Michael Lacroix, and Robin Cheshire. 2007. Juvenile and small resident fishes of Florida Bay, a critical habitat in the Everglades National Park, Florida. NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 6, 210 p. Online dissemination This report is posted online in PDF format at http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov (click on Professional Papers link). Copyright law Although the contents of the Professional Papers have not been copyrighted and may be reprinted entirely, reference to source is appreciated. Proprietary products The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NMFS, or to this publication fur- nished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales promotion which would indicate or imply that NMFS approves, recommends, or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this NMFS publication. ii CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction . 1 Chapter 2. Methods . 4 Field and laboratory methods . 4 Sampling strategy . 4 Collection methods . 4 Processing of specimens . 6 Data analysis and presentation . 6 Temperature and salinity . 6 Seagrasses . 6 Fishes . 6 Chapter 3. Environmental variables . 9 Temperature . 9 Salinity . 9 Seagrasses . 9 Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass) . 9 Halodule wrightii (shoalgrass) . 11 Syringodium filiforme (manatee grass) . 11 Chapter 4. Family Clupeidae . 19 Brevoortia smithi (yellowfin menhaden) . 19 Harengula jaguana (scaled sardine) . 21 Opisthonema oglinum (Atlantic thread herring) . 26 Sardinella aurita (Spanish sardine) . 31 Chapter 5. Family Engraulidae . 36 Anchoa hepsetus (striped anchovy) . 36 A. mitchilli (bay anchovy) . 41 Chapter 6. Family Ariidae . 46 Arius felis (hardhead catfish) . 46 Chapter 7. Family Synodontidae . 50 Synodus foetens (inshore lizardfish) . 50 Chapter 8. Family Batrachoididae . 54 Opsanus beta (gulf toadfish) . 54 Chapter 9. Family Hemiramphidae . 58 Chriodorus atherinoides (hardhead halfbeak) . 58 Hemiramphus brasiliensis (ballyhoo) . 61 Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (halfbeak) . 64 Chapter 10. Family Belonidae . 69 Strongylura notata (redfin needlefish) . 69 S. timucu (timucu) . 74 iii Chapter 11. Families Fundulidae and Cyprinodontidae . 76 Floridichthys carpio (goldspotted killifish) . 76 Lucania parva (rainwater killifish) . 80 Chapter 12. Families Atherinidae and Atherinopsidae . 84 Atherinomorus stipes (hardhead silverside) . 84 Hypoatherina harringtonensis (reef silverside) . 87 Membras martinica (rough silverside) . ..