Ross: Relative value of different estuarine nursery areas for juvenile marine fishes in North Carolina 



385 



76' '30' 



Upper 



TS'SO" 



35-30' 



PAMLICO f 



SOUND y 



35°00: 



78°0(t 



77"5a' 



Figure 1 



Pamlico Sound (A) and Cape Fear Estuary (B) in coastal North Carolina. Gen- 

 eral areas (e.g. upper, middle, lower) and sampling locations during March-June 

 1987 (solid dots) are labeled in the enlargements. Numbers correspond to station 

 descriptions in Table 1. 



croaker across wide ranges of densities in these systems. 

 The similarity in these rates imply that PNAs were below 

 carrying capacities. Thus, I did not consider density as a 

 variable affecting growth or mortality for the following 

 comparisons of PNA quahty. 



Methods 



Study area 



To encompass the greatest variability possible in estuarine 

 habitats, I sampled nursery creeks in two widely separated, 

 geophysically different North Carolina estuarine systems: 

 1) Pamlico Sound and River and 2) the Cape Fear River 

 ( Fig. 1 ). Each system was partitioned into general areas (e.g. 



upper, middle, lower) and stations were selected to repre- 

 sent these areas. Stations were located in creeks through- 

 out both systems that previous sampling (Weinstein, 1979; 

 Ross and Epperly, 1985; NC Division of Marine Fisheries^ 

 indicated were consistently productive for juvenile marine 

 fishes during the spring-summer season. All creeks were 

 similar in depth, size, and sediment type. The greatest phys- 

 ical differences between stations were the salinities, tidal 

 regimes, and distances from the nearest inlets (Table 1). 



Pamlico Sound is a shallow lagoon estuary whose 

 hydrography is controlled by wind (Giese et al., 1979; 

 Pietrafesa et al., 1986a; Pietrafesa and Janowitz, 1988). 



NC (North Carolina) Division of Marine Fisheries. Unpubl. 

 data. Program 120 Nursery Area Survey, P.O. Box 769, More- 

 head City, NC 28557. 



