Lindeman and Snyder: Nearshore hardbottom fishes of southieast Florida 



517 



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TO 30 



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C 



A: All species 



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10 



NS EJ J A 



PE 



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20 



TO 

 T3 



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B: Grunts 



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NS EJ J A PE 



Life stage abundances 



Figure 6 



Abundances of different life history stages at the Jupiter 

 hardbottom sites (with 95'7f confidence intervals). A: All 

 species pooled. B: Pooled grunt species only. Only pre- 

 dredging data were used for Carlin Park site. NS: Newly 

 Settled; EJ: Early Juvenile (for grunts only I; J: Juveniles; 

 A: Adults; PE: Pooled Early Stages (=NS+EJ+J). 



surveys in September 1995 recorded no exposed out- 

 crops or fishes. During the following winter, erosion 

 occurred and the width of the new beach was reduced. 

 Some outcrops were re-exposed by the loss of dredge- 

 fill. However, wind and waves prohibited visual sam- 

 pling during this period. Surveys in February, April, 

 and May of 1996 ( 22 transects total ) recorded no spe- 

 cies (Fig. 9). 



Discussion 



Fish assemblages of nearshore hardbottom 



The diversity of fishes utilizing nearshore hard- 

 bottom habitats of mainland Florida has not been 

 quantified. Qualitative studies by ichthyologists ex- 

 perienced with the substantial taxonomic problems 



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Newly settled 



Jjia fEa_ 



Early juveniles 



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Juveniles 



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Adults 



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Figure 7 



Comparative abundances of grunts among 12 taxa and 4 

 life history stages. Data pooled from all Coral Cove sur- 

 veys and predredging Carlin Park surveys (260 transects 

 total). Species represented by abbreviated genus and spe- 

 cies names. 



within these diverse, largely juvenile assemblages 

 are also lacking. Three studies have included sec- 

 tions on nearshore hardbottom fishes as part of larger 

 project goals. Gilmore (1977) listed 105 species in 

 association with "surf zone reefs" at depths less than 

 two m. Two additional species were added in later 

 papers (Gilmore et al., 1983; Gilmore, 1992). Using 

 visual surveys, Vare (1991) recorded 118 species from 

 nearshore hardbottom sites in Palm Beach County. 

 Futch and Dwinell (1977) included a list of 34 spe- 

 cies obtained from several ichthyocide collections on 

 "nearshore reefs." Including species from these prior 

 studies, 192 species have now been recorded in asso- 

 ciation with nearshore hardbottom habitats of main- 

 land southeast Florida (Table 3.3 in Lindeman, 

 1997a). Numbers of labrisomid, blenniid, gobiid, and 

 apogonid species may be underestimated owing to 

 their small size or cryptic behaviors. Other hard- 

 bottom habitats of the southeast United States oc- 

 cur in areas with substantially different physi- 



