UC San Diego Fish Bulletin Title Fish Bulletin 165. The Marine Resources of Anaheim Bay Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vt2q1wk Authors Lane, E. David Hill, Cliff W Publication Date 1976-06-01 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California STATE OF CALIFORNIA THE RESOURCES AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME FISH BULLETIN 165 The Marine Resources of Anaheim Bay Edited by E. David Lane Environment Canada Edmonton, Alberta Canada and Cliff W. Hill Biology Department California State University Long Beach, California 1975 1 ABSTRACT This report describes 4 years of marine research in Anaheim Bay, Orange County. The history and oceanographic studies describe the background for biological work on marsh plants, invertebrates and fishes. This bulletin attempts to describe what species were present during the study period, their relative abundances, and in some cases a more detailed account of their life histories and population dynamics. The studies were centered on that portion of Ana- heim Bay that is landward of the Pacific Coast Highway, within the U.S. Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach; however, annotated checklists are included on invertebrates and fishes of the outer harbor, seaward of the highway. There are 51 species of marsh plants and algae reported. The invertebrates are noted in annotated checklists, with most attention being centered on the polychaetes and parasitic crustaceans. Some detailed data is given and dis- cussed on polychaete distribution and abundances. Comparisons are given of polychaete populations in pristine Ana- heim Bay and developed Huntington Harbour. Forty five species of fish are recorded from the inner portion of the bay and 42 species from the outer harbor. Information is given on the abundances, food, and capture of these spe- cies. More detailed accounts of the life histories of six of the more common fish species are described. These include the arrow goby, Clevelandia ios; shiner surfperch, Cymatogaster aggregata; California killifish, Fundulus parvipin- nis; Pacific staghorn sculpin, Leptocottus armatus; California halibut, Paralichthys californicus; and diamond turbot, Hypsopsetta guttulata. Life histories include discussions on the numbers, age, growth, food and feeding, and behavi- or in Anaheim Bay. Where applicable comparisons are drawn with populations elsewhere, such comparisons tend to indicate that the Anaheim Bay salt marsh is an area of very high growth rates and productivity. 2 3 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study could not have been attempted without the great help and cooperation of the U. S. Navy. Especially, the authors would like to thank Rear Admiral J. W. Williams Jr., Commandant of the Eleventh Naval District; Captains E. N. Simpson, F. F. Jewett II, W. E. Betzer, and Commander H. P. Madera, U. S. N. commanding officers; Com- mander L. H. Nelson, executive officer; and Lt. Commanders H. R. Frauenfelder and B. H. Edelson, public works officers; all of the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, California. We are grateful to all those who helped in many various ways, particularly thanked are C. L. Hubbs who kindly read and gave valuable comments on many of the papers; D. Lindsey and C. Edwards who assisted with the field work. Individual authors express their gratitude to those other authors who contributed to their studies through the pool- ing and sharing of field data. Credit for the illustrations of the diamond turbot and California halibut goes to Cynthia Klepadlo. Josephine Lane is thanked for editorial help and other assistance. The California State University Foundation provided financial aid in the form of grants to Lane and Hill, Ho, and Lane. Appreciation is expressed to the California Department of Fish and Game for publication assistance. 5 6 INTRODUCTION The research described in this bulletin was conducted in Anaheim Bay, within the U. S. Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, California, and is the result of 4 years of investigations by the faculty and graduate students at Califor- nia State University, Long Beach. The following authors are or were faculty members: Baker, Chen, Hill, Ho, Lane, and Reish. The remaining authors with the exception of J. M. Lane are or were students. Papers by students are the culmination of studies made as master's thesis projects. All papers represent an attempt to describe biology of a pristine southern California salt marsh. All the studies are marine in nature describing elements of aquatic plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates. Terrestial and aerial organisms are not included. Anaheim Bay is located on the north coast of Orange County near the Los Angeles County line. The area within the Naval Weapons Station has been a relatively undisturbed salt marsh since the cut off of river input in 1862. Dis- turbance of the marsh area due to the operation of this weapons station has been minimal. Dredging of the mouth and adjacent harbor area has in fact enhanced the marsh since it prevented formation of a beach dam and permitted uninterrupted tidal flow. There are three main areas in the marsh; that part covered with vegetation, the tidal mud flats, and that portion of the channels that is permanently under water. All scientific work conducted on the Naval Weapons Station at Seal Beach is supervised by members of an advis- ory board to the U. S. Navy Wildlife Management Plan, Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. This board includes members from the U. S. Navy, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, U. S. Department of the Interior, California Department of Fish and Game, and the Ecological Advisory Committee, California State University, Long Beach. 7 8 1. A HISTORY OF ANAHEIM BAY J. M. LANE Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and ALAN WOODS California State University Long Beach, California Anaheim Bay, located at 33°44'N, 118°04'W, is just south of Seal Beach, California, and is part of a physiographic region known as the Sunset Gap. This gap is bordered by Landing Hill to the northwest and Bolsa Chica Mesa to the southeast (Figures 1, 2). Landing Hill is a part of the Seal Beach dome, and Bolsa Chica Mesa is a part of the Hunt- ington Beach anticline. The bay overlies a Pleistocene syncline depression that has been partially backfilled by allui- val deposits of riverine and tidal origin (California Department of Water Resources, 1968). This area is a part of the floodplain of the San Gabriel and Santa Ana Rivers (Houghton, 1970) although neither river flows through the bay area at present. Because of the proximity of the San Gabriel River mouth to Anaheim Bay, the river has had great ef- fect on the sediments and salinity of the immediate area; especially since the 1867–68 flood when the San Gabriel shifted its course from the present Los Angeles River bed (Troxell, 1942). Sunset Gap is mostly flat, typical of the coastal floodplains; however, there are some irregularities in the surface, such as Hog Island. This island is a part of a dissected scarp of the Newport-Inglewood Fault; a fault that runs paral- lel to the coast some 3000 to 5500 feet inland. The fault has not only affected the structure of this area, but acts as a hydraulic barrier to lateral ground water movement (California Department of Water Resources, 1968). Coastward of this fault a barrier beach shelters the tidal marsh. Tidal marshes made up the majority of Sunset Gap's area at one time, but during the flood of 1862 the Santa Ana River shifted its course to capture much of the drainage area of Anaheim Bay. Previous to this flood the marsh was much larger and was polyhaline in nature. Because of the area's rapid transition from a largely semirural complex to a metropolitan area in the last 2 decades, much of the tidal marsh has undergone change. Anaheim Bay has shrunk approximately 30% in size in 95 years (U.S. Coast and Geo- detic Survey Map, 1949). Practically all that is left of Sunset Gap's salt marsh is found in Anaheim Bay, within the U.S. Naval Weapons Station, an area approximately 674.3 acres in size. The existing marsh remains relatively un- changed. Anaheim Bay became a part of the U.S. in 1849 and detailed recorded history started from that time. Middens (refuse heaps of shells) found on Hog Island and north of the marsh itself at the present site of the military housing provide evidence of early Indian habitation. The Anaheim Bay area was known historically as a port. In 1849 General Stockton established a trench position near Landing Hill to repulse an expected landing of munitions by a French schooner from Mazatlan. These positions were renewed in 1860 for an artillery base for Captain Shinn's Light Artillery detachment to repulse a reported Con- federate threat (Grimshaw, 1937). Anaheim Landing at the bay's ocean exit has been an important regional port for over a hundred years. It was es- tablished in 1868 when the California Legislature 9 granted the Anaheim Lighter Company, with August Langenberger, a store-owner of Anaheim as general manager, a 20 year franchise to operate this new port (Friis, 1965). Cargo was handled not only for Anaheim but for the inland FIGURE 1—Location of Anaheim Bay on the California Coast centers of San Bernardino, Yuma, and Salt Lake City (Anaheim Gazette, 1932). By 1875 with the advent of the Southern Pacific Railroad, business waned to such a point that the Anaheim Lighter Company was taken over by Westminster, a settlement only 4.5 miles away. This acquisition diminished Anaheim Landing's importance as a re- gional port. 10 When Orange County was established in March 1889, Anaheim Bay was included. It was around this time that the Bay became a resort of considerable fame.