WENNER AND WENNER: CRUSTACEANS FROM COASTAL HABITATS 



Table 2.— Number of individuals (N) and number of species (S) 

 for pooled replicate samples of invertebrates at each station. 



Table 3 —Seasonal stratified mean catch per tow for total number 

 and weight of decapod and stomatopod crustaceans, and density 

 estimates based on a swept area of 2.24 hectares during a stan- 

 dard station. 



Stratified mean 

 catch/tow 



Season 



No. of 

 individuals 



Biomass 



Mean 

 density 

 No./ha 



Mean 



biomass 



kg/ha 



Winter 

 Spring 

 Summer 

 Fall 



99 

 298 

 277 

 248 



1.969 

 4.491 

 5.666 

 4283 



44 

 133 

 124 

 111 



0879 

 2.005 

 2.529 

 1.912 



Hoese (1973) attributed a higher density and bio- 

 mass of invertebrates in Doboy Sound than in in- 

 shore and offshore areas of Georgia to a proximity 

 to productive salt marsh. Comparisons of study 

 results writh biomass and density estimates obtained 

 for decapod crustaceans from high salinity areas 

 sampled in Charleston Harbor, SC (Wenner et al. 

 1984) support Hoese's findings of a decrease in 

 biomass and density from estuarine to nearshore 

 habitats. 



Species Assemblages 

 and Distributional Patterns 



Normal cluster analysis classified pooled collec- 

 tions from each stratum into seven groups which 

 corresponded to season of collection and latitudinal 

 location (Fig. 2). Within each of two major group- 

 ings of the dendrogram (Groups 1-4 and Groups 

 5-7), latitudinal-related groups occurred seasonal- 



ly. Group 1 contained collections having similar 

 faunal composition which were primarily off South 

 Carolina and Georgia during spring. Collections in 

 this group were least similar faunistically to those 

 in groups 2-4. Collections in group 2 were also 

 faunistically distinct and were mainly taken off 

 Florida and South Carolina in fall. Group 3 repre- 

 sented a highly similar latitudinal grouping of col- 

 lections with most taken off Georgia during fall and 

 winter. This group contained collections that were 

 similar in species composition to those in group 4. 

 Group 5 was least similar to groups 5-6 and con- 

 tained collections from Georgia, Florida, and South 

 Carolina from fall, spring, and summer. Collections 

 in group 6 were from all locations but were taken 

 only in summer and fall. Some latitudinal grouping 

 of collections was evident in group 7 which mostly 

 contained those off Florida. 



The species assemblages identified by inverse 

 cluster analysis (Table 4) displayed generally low 

 constancy for site groups, except for Groups A and 

 B which contained the numerically dominant deca- 

 pod species. Species in these groups had moderate 

 to high constancy for all site groups and, conse- 

 quently, were not restricted to any group (Fig. 3). 



Table 4.— Species groups resulting from inverse cluster analysis 

 using the Bray-Curtis similarity coefficient and flexible sorting. 



Group A 

 Porlunus gibbesii 

 Squilla empusa 

 Penaeus setiferus 

 Penaeus duorarum 

 Trachypenaeus constrictus 

 Ovalipes stephensoni 

 Ovalipes ocellatus 

 Squilla neglecta 

 Callinectes sapidus 

 Pagurus pollicaris 

 Persephona mediterranea 

 Hepatus epheliticus 

 Portunus spinimanus 

 Libinia emarginata 

 Libinia dubia 

 Penaeus aztecus 

 Callinectes similis 

 Arenaeus cribrarius 

 Callinectes ornatus 



Group B 

 Exhippolysmata opiophoroides 

 Porcellana sayana 

 Xiphopenaeus kroyeri 



Group C 

 Albunea paretii 

 Hepatus pudibundus 

 Petrochirus diogenes 

 Speocarcinus carolinensis 

 Portunus sayi 

 Pagurus impressus 

 Caiappa sulcata 



Group D 

 Dromidia antillensis 

 Panopeus occidentalis 

 Hypoconcha sabulosa 

 Podochela sidneyi 



Group E 

 Pilumnus dasypodus 

 Metoporhaphis calcarata 

 Pilumnus sayi 

 Neopanope sayi 

 Podochela nisei 

 Pagurus longicarpus 

 Hexapanopeus angustifrons 

 Cancer irroratus 

 Sicyonia brevirostris 

 Menippe mercenaria 

 Porcellana sigsbeiana 

 Caiappa flammea 

 Lysmata wurdemanni 



161 



