Sarasota Bay Year 2 Report
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Data Summary Report: Nekton of Sarasota Bay and a Comparison of Nekton Community Structure in Adjacent Southwest Florida Estuaries for Year Five (June 2013 – April 2014) T.C. MacDonald; R.F. Jones; E. Weather; R.H. McMichael, Jr. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5095 Prepared for Sarasota Bay Estuary Program 111 S. Orange Avenue, Suite 200W Sarasota, Florida 34236 March 17, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................. i LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ vii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 9 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Study Area .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Sampling Design .................................................................................................................................... 11 Gear Specifications and Deployment ..................................................................................................... 15 Sample Processing ................................................................................................................................ 16 RESULTS and DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 19 Physiochemical conditions ..................................................................................................................... 19 Composition of overall nekton community ............................................................................................. 24 Shallow water habitats sampled with 21.3-m seines .......................................................................... 25 Nearshore habitats sampled with 183-m haul seines ........................................................................ 29 Deeper-water habitats sampled with 6.1-m otter trawls ..................................................................... 33 Species Profiles...................................................................................................................................... 36 Pink Shrimp, Farfantepenaeus duorarum .......................................................................................... 37 Blue crab, Callinectes sapidus ........................................................................................................... 41 Ladyfish, Elops saurus ....................................................................................................................... 45 Bay anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli ............................................................................................................ 47 Common Snook, Centropomus undecimalis ...................................................................................... 51 Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus ......................................................................................................... 53 Pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides ............................................................................................................. 57 Sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus ..................................................................................... 63 Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus ............................................................................................ 67 Striped Mullet, Mugil cephalus ........................................................................................................... 71 LITERATURE CITED .................................................................................................................................. 75 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................. 83 Appendix A. Animals designated as Selected Taxa because of their commercial or recreational importance. .................................................................................................................................... 85 i Appendix B. Summary of species collected, by sampling event (bi-monthly), during Sarasota Bay nekton sampling, June 2013 to April 2014. Effort, or total number of hauls, is labeled 'E'. Taxa are arranged alphabetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name. .................................... 87 Appendix C. Summary of species collected, by gear and stratum, during Sarasota Bay nekton sampling, June 2013 to April 2014. Effort, or the total number of hauls, is labeled 'E'. Taxa are arranged alphabetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name. .................................................... 93 Appendix D. Summary of species collected, by embayment, during Sarasota Bay stratified- random sampling, June 2013 to April 2014. Effort, or the total number of hauls, is labeled 'E'. Taxa are arranged alphabetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name ..................................... 99 Appendix E. Catch summary for taxa collected during five years, June 2009 to April 2014, of nekton sampling in Sarasota Bay with 21.3-m seines. Su is the density-weighted average salinity (salinity at each sampling site weighted by the number of animals collected). Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name. .................................................. 105 Appendix F. Catch summary for taxa collected during five years, June 2009 to April 2014, of nekton sampling in Sarasota Bay with 183-m haul seines. Su is the density-weighted average salinity (salinity at each sampling site weighted by the number of animals collected). Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name. ............... 109 Appendix G. Catch summary for taxa collected during five years, June 2009 to April 2014, of nekton sampling in Sarasota Bay with 6.1-m otter trawls. Su is the density-weighted average salinity (salinity at each sampling site weighted by the number of animals collected). Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. Species of commercial or recreational importance (Selected Taxa) are denoted with an asterisk (*) after the species name. ............... 113 Appendix H. Species overview plots for dominant taxa (≥200 animals collected and ≥10 occurrence in a gear type) collected in 21.3-m shoreline seines in Sarasota Bay, June 2009 to April 2014. Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. ..................................................................... 117 Appendix I. Species overview plots for dominant taxa (≥200 animals collected and ≥10 occurrence in a gear type) collected in 21.3-m offshore seines in Sarasota Bay, June 2009 to April 2014. Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. ..................................................................... 139 Appendix J. Species overview plots for dominant taxa (≥200 animals collected and ≥10 occurrence in a gear type) collected in 183-m haul seines in Sarasota Bay, June 2009 to April 2014. Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. ......................................................................... 159 Appendix K. Species overview plots for dominant taxa (≥200 animals collected and ≥10 occurrence in a gear type) collected in 6.1-m otter trawls in Sarasota Bay, June 2009 to April 2014. Taxa are arranged phylogenetically. ......................................................................... 177 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Stations sampled (dots) between June 2013 and April 2014 (Year 5), and geographic strata (solid lines) in Sarasota Bay. ................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 2. Temperature and total rainfall during the five years of the study (2009 - 2014) and during a thirty-year historical reference period (January 1979 to December 2008). Data are from Tampa International Airport (GHCND:USW00012842) and were downloaded from the National Climatic Data Center ((http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/search accessed on 03/06/2015). ................................. 20 Figure 3. Mean (±standard deviation) water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen (water column average) by embayment, from the nekton sampling in Sarasota Bay, June 2009-April 2014. ............ 23 Figure 4. Relative abundance and length-frequency distribution of Pink Shrimp collected