Aquatics, Ichthyology & Wetland Ecology Texas Master Naturalist Program El Camino Real Chapter Dec 6, 2013 Aquatic Ecology Module • Water • Watersheds • Streams & stream habitats • Ponds & pond management 540 ¤£77 §¨¦ ¤£62 Oklahoma City Fort Smith Amarillo §¨¦40 Norman ¤£287 §¨¦44 §¨¦35 LittleLittle RockRock LawtonLawton §¨¦27 ¤£69 §¨¦30 £70 ¤ Brazos River Witchita Falls ¤£75 ¤£82 LubbockLubbock ¤£75 ¤£81 87 ¤£ Plano Dallas Metro Area Fort Worth Bossier City Abilene Tyler 35W§¨¦ §¨¦35E Midland §¨¦49 Odessa Brazos River 20 Waco §¨¦ San Angelo §¨¦10 45 Bryan §¨¦ 210 Austin §¨¦ Beaumont ¤£59 Port Arthur Houston Metro Area ¤£281 San Antonio §¨¦37 Copperas Creek Bosque River Childress Creek Aquilla Creek Spring Creek Leon River Brazos River Navasota River South Leon River Meridian Creek Christmas Creek Neils Creek Big Creek Middle Bosque River Hog Creek Coryell Creek Tehuacana Creek Big Creek Big Bennett Creek Cowhouse Creek Cow Bayou Steele Creek Simms Creek Lampasas River Owl Creek Pond Creek Sulphur Creek Little Brazos RiverBig Elm Creek Walnut Creek Cedar Creek Mesquite Creek Salado Creek Little River Wickson Creek Berry Creek Cedar Creek San Gabriel River Davidson Creek Gibbons Creek Brushy Creek Old River Yegua Creek West Yegua Creek Types of aquatic systems • Lotic – streams, rivers • Lentic – ponds, lakes, reservoirs Lotic systems – springs, streams, rivers • Energy source is from the • Flow is important outside (exogenous) • Gradient • Allochthonous production • Meanders and Bends (from elsewhere) • Flood plains • Organisms near/on/in • Erosion, Deposition substrate • Mesohabitats: • Typically more productive – Riffles than lentic systems – Runs • Protect riparian areas – Pools with > 50-ft buffer Lotic system Energy Web NRG River/Fluvial Geomorphology Stream mesohabitat types • Riffle – water surface broken • Run – water surface smooth – has thalweg = valley way • Pool/Glide – relatively deep and still • Backwater – slow water • Slackwater • Snag – woody debris, structure/shelter • Bank (cutbank = erosion, point bar = deposition) • Channel – main/side, wide, narrow Lentic systems – ponds, lakes, reservoirs • Very little flow • Standing/non-flowing • Light is very important • Water is retained • Nutrients are important • Littoral zone – edges, light • Tend to fill up with sediment, penetrates – emergent veg. become a wetland • Limnetic zone – open water, light • Energy source is from the inside penetrates (endogenous) • Profundal zone – open water, no • Autochthonous (from within) light, anaerobic • Organisms suspended in water • Benthic zone – bottom can be column productive, sediment • Turbidity = “cloudiness” • Eutrophication: [nutrients] • 212 Reservoirs built in Texas – Eutrophic • Only 1 “natural” lake – Oligotrophic – Mesotrophic Lentic System Energy Web NRG Pond management > 1-acre < 1-acre • Can be managed for • Should be managed for largemouth bass and sunfish catfish (<350/ac) – Bluegill sunfish alone provide adequate forage for LMB, are – Channel or blue not yellow multiple spawners and will not – Do well on pelleted ration compete with LMB – Tolerate high densities – Catfish and redear sunfish are also compatible • Fathead minnows, 500/ac. – Most other species will have negative impacts on LMB • Remove 10-lbs bass/acre to avoid stunting Fishes • Hagfishes – 43 spp. (1 in TX, Gulf hagfish) • Lampreys – 41 spp. (2 in TX) • Cartilaginous fishes – 1,000 spp. (78 in TX) – Sharks, skates, rays, etc. – mostly marine • Ray-finned fishes – > 24,000 spp. (243 in TX) Phylogeny of fishes Hagfishes – Myxinidae Myxine glutinosa (Atlantic Hagfish) “myx” = slime (Gk.) “slime eel”, <=2.5 ft long > 300 M y.o. – most primitive vert. Marine, on continental shelves Gulf of Mexico Deep water, up to 5600 ft. depth Bury in sea floor. Partial skull, no jaw, no bones. No vertebrae. Cartilage skeleton. Eyes reduced. Rasping tongue. Feeds on dead fish, from inside out. Feeds on worms, etc. on ocean floor. Gulf hagfish (Eptatretus springeri) lives in brine pools on ocean floor. Lampreys – Petromyzontidae Ichthyomyzon castaneus (Chestnut Lamprey) <= 15 in. Gk. “sucker of fish”, Gk. “of chestnut color” East Texas (Red, Sabine, Neches R. basins) Slow water rivers and reservoirs Juveniles are herbivorous filter feeders (diatoms, etc.) Adults are parasitic carnivores (blood of other fish) Suckers – Catostomidae • Carpoides carpio (River Carpsucker) <= 27 in. • L. “carp-like”, L. “carp” • Deep body, subterminal mouth • Suction and filter feeder, periphyton, plankton • Texas statewide, large rivers and reservoirs • Abundant in quiet, silt-bottomed pools of rivers (muddy) Suckers – Catostomidae • Moxostoma congestum (Gray Redhorse) <= 20 in. • Gk. “sucking mouth”, L. “swollen” (lower lip) • Terete (tapered cylinder) body, small inferior mouth • Opportunistic benthic invertivore (insects/mollusks) • Texas Edwards Plateau streams (Brazos, Colorado, etc.) • Found in rock, sand, gravel pools and deep runs, riffles Sunfishes – Centrarchidae • Lepomis gulosus (Warmouth) <= 11in. • Gk. “scaled gill cover”, L. “large-mouthed” • Body somewhat elongate and robust • Mouth terminal • Adults feed on insects, crayfish, insects, small fishes • Texas statewide except panhandle– ponds, streams, lakes, rivers • Prefers heavily vegetated sites with limited flow and dense cover • Habitats: Riffle, run, snag, bank, channel, pools, backwaters Sunfishes – Centrarchidae • Lepomis macrochirus (Bluegill) <= 15in. (breeding male above) • Gk. “scaled gill cover”, Gk. “large hand” (body shape) • Body deep, laterally compressed • Mouth terminal, oblique • Wide spectrum feeder, feeds during daylight hours • Texas statewide – ponds, streams, lakes, rivers, oxbows • Shallow, warm, slow-flowing waters with abundant aquatic vegetation, pools, backwaters Sunfishes – Centrarchidae • Lepomis cyanellus (Green Sunfish) <= 10 in. • Gk. “scaled gill cover” (operculum), Gk. “blue” • Body strongly compressed laterally • Mouth terminal oblique (larger than most sunfishes) • Young feed on zooplankton • Adults feed on insects, crayfish, insects, small fishes • Texas statewide – ponds, streams, lakes, rivers • Prefers sites with low velocity Sunfishes – Centrarchidae • Lepomis megalotis (Longear Sunfish) <= 8in. • Gk. “scaled gill cover”, Gk. “great ear” • Deep-bodied • Mouth terminal, slightly oblique • Invertivore (aquatic & terrestrial), piscivore • Texas statewide – ponds, streams, reservoirs • Abundant in clear, small upland streams with rocky bottoms (clear water) Sunfishes/Black Bass – Centrarchidae • Micropterus punctulatus (Spotted Bass) <= 24in. • Gk. “small fin”, L. “dotted” (rows of dark spots) • Body slender • Mouth terminal, slightly supraterminal, moderately large • Feeds on insects, crayfish, fishes – shad, sunfish, minnows • Eastern Texas – excluding Edwards Plateau • Streams, rivers – faster water than LMB Sunfishes/Black Bass – Centrarchidae • Micropterus salmoides (Largemouth Bass) <= 27in. • Gk. “small fin”, L. “trout” • Mouth terminal, slightly oblique, extending well beyond posterior eye margin • Sight feeder – midwater attack, benthic attack • Bluegill, shad, minnows, darters, insects • Texas statewide excluding Panhandle • Lakes, ponds, reservoirs, backwaters, slow-water rivers, streams • Prefers clear, quiet waters with aquatic vegetation Sunfishes/Black Bass – Centrarchidae • Micropterus treculii (Guadalupe Bass) <= 15 in. • Gk. “small fin” • Elongate body moderately compressed with large mouth • Insects, crayfish, hellgrammites, fishes • Endemic to the streams of the northern and eastern Edwards Plateau • A species of Special Concern (TPWD) – the official state fish • Streams and reservoirs • Small lentic environments, flowing water Sunfishes/Black Bass – Centrarchidae • Pomoxis annularis (White Crappie) <= 20 in. • Gk. “opercle sharp” L. “having rings” (irregular vertical bars) • Body laterally compressed • Mouth terminal, somewhat oblique • Invertivore/carnivore - shad, etc. • Eastern 2/3 of the state • Streams, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, oxbows (deeper water) Cichlids– Cichlidae • Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum (Rio Grande Cichlid) <= 12 in. • Gk. “body of a wrasse” Gk. “blue-spotted” • Body “general oval shape” • Mouth terminal, somewhat oblique • Omnivore - fish eggs, insects, small fishes, vegetation • Rio Grande and Pecos River basins – introduced Central TX (EP) • Ponds, springs, lagoons creeks, rivers (pools, backwaters) Cichlids– Cichlidae Invasive. Competes with natives for spawning areas, food & space. Contributes to unionid mussel decline. Do not release! • Oreochromis aureus (blue tilapia) <= 20 in. • Gk. “of the mountains” Gk. “color” L. “golden” (ref. color breeding female) • Body – deep and compressed – resembles sunfishes but has uninterrupted lateral line • Mouth – oblique, Maternal mouthbrooder – 160-1600 eggs/female • Omnivore/detritivore – phytoplankton, detritus, small invertebrates • Introduced to Texas and Florida (aquaculture) - • Native to Middle East, Mediterranean, North Africa (freshwater and brackish water) • Warm waters, cooling plant reservoirs – associated with threadfin shad • Some hybrids with O. mossambicus (Mozambique tilapia) Shads/Herrings – Clupeidae • Dorosoma cepedianum (Gizzard shad) <= 20 in. • Gk. “lanceolate body ” • Deep body, laterally compressed – mouth subterminal • Most often found in large schools • Filter zooplankton, microcrustaceans, detritus • Statewide, highly abundant in reservoirs (> 50% of fish biomass) • Lakes, ponds, pools and backwaters Carps & Minnows – Cyprinidae • Campostoma anomalum (Central Stoneroller)