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NOAA First Assessment of the Field Ecology of Larval Atlantic Silverside (Menidia Menidia)

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NOAA First Assessment of the Field Ecology of Larval Atlantic Silverside (Menidia Menidia) 435 NOAA First U.S. Commissioner National Marine Fishery Bulletin established 1881 of Fisheries and founder Fisheries Service of Fishery Bulletin Abstract—The Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia) is extremely First assessment of the field ecology of larval abundant in estuaries in eastern Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia) North America, is a significant com- ponent of food webs, and is the sub- ject of many laboratory studies; how- Miranda Lopez1 ever, the ecology of the larvae of this Gavino Puggioni2 species in estuaries is poorly known. 1 Using 4 simple collecting gears, we David A. Bengtson (contact author) sampled Atlantic silverside larvae in 2 estuaries in Rhode Island that Email address for contact author: [email protected] differ in anthropogenic inputs, Pet- taquamscutt River estuary and Point 1 Department of Fisheries, Animal, and Veterinary Sciences Judith Pond, to assess the distribu- University of Rhode Island tion and abundance of larvae of this 113 Woodward Hall species. These larvae occur predomi- 9 East Alumni Avenue nantly in waters less than 1 m deep Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 and are patchily distributed. Larvae 2 Department of Computer Science and Statistics collected at depths of 0.2–0.6 m were University of Rhode Island significantly shorter than those col- 246 Tyler Hall lected at depths of 0.6–0.8 m—a dif- 9 Greenhouse Road, Suite 2 ference in mean total length of ~2 Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 mm. We also compared diets and growth rates of larvae in the 2 estu- aries, using gut content analysis and otolith analysis, respectively. Cope- pod eggs made up 76% of the diet of larval Atlantic silverside in Pet- The Atlantic silverside (Menidia me- In Rhode Island, Atlantic silver- taquamscutt River, whereas copepod nauplii made up 73% of their diet nidia) is one of the most abundant side occupy estuaries from March in Point Judith Pond. Growth rates estuarine species along the east coast through December and migrate of the larvae did not differ between of North America from Nova Scotia, to open water during the winter estuaries. Canada, to Florida (Middaugh et al., months. Adults return after winter 1981). Although this species has no in an emaciated condition, then feed commercial fishery value, it serves heavily on zooplankton in March as a forage species for commercially and April to become reproductively important fish, such as bluefish (Po- mature, which occurs between May matomus saltatrix), striped bass (Mo- and early July (Huber and Bengt- rone saxatilis), and Atlantic mackerel son, 1999). Spawning throughout the (Scomber scombrus) (Fay et al., 1983). species range occurs with semilunar It is perhaps best known scientifically periodicity, and eggs are deposited because of the important laboratory in discrete areas in the upper inter- experiments of Conover and Kynard tidal reaches of salt marshes (Mid- (1981), whose work demonstrated daugh, 1981; Middaugh et al., 1981; that sex was determined by environ- Conover and Kynard, 1984; Conover, mental factors, and of Conover and 1985), the latter of which reduces egg Munch (2002), whose investigation predation by open-water predators showed multigenerational reductions (Tewksbury and Conover, 1987). Manuscript submitted 19 November 2015. in fish size after size-selective “fish- In the upper reaches of 2 estuar- Manuscript accepted 28 July 2016. ing” in experimental tanks. Because ies in Rhode Island, the upper Pet- Fish. Bull. 114:435–444 (2016). the adults of this species are easy taquamscutt River (UPR) and upper Online publication date: 23 August 2016. to spawn in captivity (Barkman and Point Judith Pond (UPJP), zooplank- doi: 10.7755/FB.114.4.6 Beck, 1976; Middaugh and Lempesis, ton communities are quite different 1976), larvae have been the subject of in early spring when Atlantic silver- The views and opinions expressed or implied in this article are those of the laboratory studies for decades. How- side adults return to feed and pre- author (or authors) and do not necessarily ever, surprisingly, the larval ecology pare for spawning (Bengtson, 1982; reflect the position of the National of this species in the field is poorly Huber, 1995; Volson, 2012). The zoo- Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. known. plankton community in the UPR is 436 Fishery Bulletin 114(4) of life in an estuary. Because newly hatched lar- vae in the laboratory are attracted to the interface between the water surface and the tank edge (D. Bengtson, personal observ.) and because adults spawn (and embryos hatch) in the upper inter- tidal, we suspected that larvae might be found in extremely shallow water. The feeding ecology of lar- val Atlantic silverside in the field is undocumented (Fay et al., 1983). Therefore, knowledge of critical elements of the field ecology of this important spe- cies during the larval period is lacking. The goals of our study, therefore, were 1) to determine the depth distribution of Atlantic silverside larvae, 2) to compare abundance and distribution of Atlantic silverside larvae between estuaries, 3) to compare feeding habits of the larvae in the 2 estuaries by analyzing gut contents, and 4) to compare growth of larvae in the 2 estuaries through age–length re- lationships based on otolith analysis. Materials and methods Study sites Field collections took place in the UPJP and UPR (Fig. 1). These estuaries are approximately 5 km apart, located in Washington County, Rhode Island, and have different physical characteristics (Table 1). Point Judith Pond is a shallow coastal lagoon, 1 of 7 along the southern coast of Rhode Island, Figure 1 connected to Block Island Sound by a breachway Map of the upper portions of the Pettaquamscutt River es- (Lee1). The Pettaquamscutt River is an annual tuary and Point Judith Pond, the 2 estuaries in Rhode flooded river valley that drains into Narragansett Island where larvae of Atlantic silverside (Menidia menid- Bay (Gaines, 1975). ia) were sampled in 2012 for this study. The rectangle on the smaller map indicates the location of both estuaries in Abundance and distribution southern New England. The dots on the larger map show the approximate sampling locations in each estuary. To determine distribution patterns and densities (abundance per cubic meters) of Atlantic silverside dominated by crustaceans during early spring; their larvae in the field, 4 sampling devices were used: 1) a presence indicates a fairly pristine environment. The cylindrical polycarbonate quadrat (with a diameter of UPJP is dominated by polychaete larvae, which require 0.5 m to sample the land–water interface); 2) an aquar- a eutrophic environment. Given the general propensity ium net, 19.05×26.03 cm with 500-µm mesh, to collect of marine larval fish to feed on copepods, an a priori larval samples in water that was 0.05–0.80 m deep; assumption might be made that Atlantic silverside in 3) a plankton net with a diameter of 0.2 m, length of the UPR feed on higher quality prey than those in the 0.6 m, and 200-µm mesh to collect samples in water UPJP. Volson (2012) examined effects of the nutrition- 0.15–0.91 m deep, and 4) a second plankton net with a al quality of zooplankton prey from these 2 estuaries diameter of 0.5 m, length of 1.8 m, and 100-µm mesh on adult Atlantic silverside and on their eggs, along to collect samples in water with depths slightly greater with the hatching length of their larvae after incuba- than 1 m. tion in the laboratory. Surprisingly, in each of 2 years, At both estuaries, collections occurred 7 days af- length at hatching was greater for fish from the UPJP ter the new moon of 20 May 2012 and continued for 2 than for fish from the UPR. It has remained unclear weeks. A second 2-week period of sampling occurred 7 whether a greater length at hatching translates into days after the full moon of 4 June 2012. These dates different larval growth rates during the first 2 weeks of were chosen to collect larvae hatched during those pre- life in the field. Therefore, in this study, we examined whether it does. 1 Lee, V. 1980. An elusive compromise: Rhode Island coastal Very little is known about the habitat ecology of ponds and their people. Univ. Rhode Island, Coast. Resour. Atlantic silverside larvae during their first 2–3 weeks Cent., Mar. Tech. Rep. 73, 65 p. [Available at website.] Lopez et al.: Field ecology of Menidia menidia 437 Table 1 Physical parameters of 2 estuaries, the upper Pettaquamscutt River (UPR) and upper Point Judith Pond (UPJP), from May through July 2012 documented within the program of the University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch (website). Parameters Time Depth (m) UPR Depth (m) UPJP Temperature May 2012 0.1 19.5 0.5 19.8 (°C) June 2012 24.0 21.0 July 2012 27.0 25.3 Average: 24 22 Practical salinity May 2012 0.1 16.5 0.5 – June 2012 15.0 27.5 July 2012 16.0 30.5 Average: 16 29 Fecal coliform May 2012 <10 478 (per 100 mL) June 2012 <10 189 July 2012 <10 84 Enterococci May 2012 <10 124 (per 100 mL) June 2012 <10 20 July 2012 124 30 Dissolved phosphorus May 2012 0.5 5 0.5 7 (µg/L) June 2012 <3 8 July 2012 4 29 Ammonium-nitrogen May 2012 0.5 45 0.5 60 (µg/L) June 2012 40 45 July 2012 25 75 Total phosphorus May 2012 0.5 16 0.5 42 (µg/L) June 2012 23 72 July 2012 35 107 sumed semilunar spawning periods Sampling began net was pushed along a 10-m transect. However, on and at 0630, an important time for determining foraging after June 14, the aquarium net was pushed along a habits because this is the time when Atlantic silver- 1-m transect.
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