goby at a similar wetland habitat in Mission 

 Bay (25 km north of Tijuana Estuary) and 

 determined that tidal translocation was the 

 major source of mortality for this species. 



The Gobiidae larvae that dominate Tijuana 

 Estuary are common to other southern 

 California enclosed bays and estuaries. While 



not of commercial importance, except as 

 baitfish, these low-trophic-level species are 

 important ecologically in that they make the 

 primary productivity of the estuarine system 

 available to higher order consumers. For 

 example, arrow gobies have been shown to be 

 important food items for California halibut as 

 well as other sport fishes (MacDonald 1975). 



Figure 3.22. The fish community includes killifish (upper left and upper right, in shallow water), 

 mullet (above water and left center), topsmelt (center, near surface), barred sandbass (right, in 

 water column), diamond turbot (lower left, on substrate), California halibut (center, on 

 substrate), staghorn skulpin (center foreground, on bottom), cheekspot goby, longjaw mudsucker 

 (in lower burrow) and arrow gobies (in upper burrow). Enlarged below are the longjaw 

 mudsucker and barred sandbass. Mclntire collection, © 1986 by Zedler. 



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