MODDE and ROSS: SEASONALITY OF FISHES OCCUPYING A SURF ZONE HABITAT 



STABLE 5.— List of the first five numerically abundant fish species collected from the surf zone habitat of marine sandy beaches of the 



Gulf of Mexico and temperate Atlantic coast states. 



Region 



Gulf coast: 

 Mustang Island. 



Texas 

 Mustang Island. 



Texas 

 Gilchrist. 



Texas 

 Horn Island, 



Miss. 



Panama City. 



Fla 

 Tampa Bay, 



Fla. 

 East coast: 

 Indian River, 



Fla. 

 Statewide. 



South Carolina 



Folly Island, 



S.C 

 Beaufort, 



N.C. 

 Beaufort, 



N.C. 



Fire Island, 

 N.Y 



Long Island. 

 Conn. 



Pine Orchard. 

 Conn. 



Morris Cove, 

 Conn. 



Major species 



Trachinotus carolmus. Harengula jaguana. Mugil curema. Anchoa mitchilli, 

 Micropogonias undulatus 



Polydactylus octonemus. Menidia beryllina. Mugil cephalus. Menticirrhus 



littoralis. Chloroscombrus chrysurus 

 Brevoortia palronus.' Anchoa mitchilli. Polydactylus octonemus. Arius 



fells. Chloroscombrus chrysurus, Trachinotus carolinus 



Anchoa lyolepis. Harengula jaguana, Brevoortia patronus, Anchoa hepsetus 



Trachinotus carolmus 



Harengula laguana. Menidia beryllina, Lagodon rhomboides. Trachinotus 

 carolmus. Mugil curema 



Harengula jaguana. Lagodon rhomboides, Menticirrhus littoralis, 

 Leiostomus xanthurus, Trachinotus carolinus 



Harengula jaguana, Ophisthonema oglinum. Sardinella anchovia. Anchoa 

 hepsetus, A. mitchilli. A nasuta^ 



Menidia menidia. Anchoa mitchilli. Trachinotus carolinus, Menticirrhus 

 littoralis. Anchoa hepsetus 



Menidia menidia. Anchoa hepsetus, Menticirrhus littoralis, Trachinotus 

 carolinus, Mugil curema 



Menidia menidia. Anchoa mitchilli, Trachinotus carolinus, Menticirrhus 

 sp., Fundulus maialis 



Brevoortia tyrannus. Anchoa hepsetus. Membras martlnica. Lagodon 

 rhomboides. Menticirrhus littoralis 



Sphoeroides maculatus, Alosa aestivalis, Poronotus triacanthus, Morone 

 saxatilis, A. mediocris 



Menidia menidia. Fundulus maialis. Menidia sp. (immature). Brevoortia 

 tyrannus. Fundulus heteroclitus 



Menidia menidia, Sphoeroides maculatus, Brevoortia tyrannus. 



Pseudopleuronectes americanus, Syngnathus peckianus 

 Menidia menidia, Brevoortia tyrannus, Syngnathus fuscus, Clupea harengus 



Pseudopleuronectes americanus 



Total no. 

 of species 



Reference 



'Abundance of Brevoortia patronus was considered distorted due to the coincidence of a large school of adults moving inshore during the sampling effort. 

 ^Equal numbers of Anchoa mitchilli and A. nasuta collected. 



abundant during the summer, although the onset 

 of high fish density varied somewhat between 

 years. High numbers of fishes first appeared in 

 June in 1976, but not until August in 1975 and 

 July in 1977. Annual variability in the time of 

 peak catch may be due, in part, to short-term vari- 

 ation in local water conditions. The low numbers 

 of fishes collected in July 1976 may have been due 

 to unusually calm and clear water which in- 

 creased net avoidance. Large numbers of fishes 

 were collected during the predawn hours of July 

 1976, indicating that fishes were abundant along 

 the beach during this period. 



Similar changes in the abundance of surf zone 

 fishes have been observed in other studies. Gunter 

 (1958) reported that fishes occupying the exposed 

 beach of Mustang Island underwent seasonal suc- 

 cession during which fish abundance was greatest 

 during the summer and least in the winter. Sea- 

 sonal changes in abundance were also reported by 

 Springer and Woodburn (1960), McFarland (1963), 

 Schaefer (1967), and Anderson et al. (1977). 

 McFarland (1963) proposed four categories of sea- 

 sonal occurrence for surf zone fishes: all-year resi- 



dents, spring-summer residents, summer resi- 

 dents, and winter residents. Of the major species 

 common to both McFarland's study and ours, sea 

 catfish, Arius felis; Mugil cephalus; and L. rhom- 

 boides were considered as all-year residents, 

 whereas H. jaguana; Anchoa sp.; T. carolinus; 

 Menticirrhus littoralis; king whiting, M. saxatilis; 

 and southern kingfish, M. americanus, were clas- 

 sified as spring-summer residents. McFarland 

 noted, as we have, that fishes characteristic of the 

 spring and summer dominated the numerical 

 component of the ichthyofauna. 



The influx of denatant migrants collected 

 within the surf zone during the winter in our study 

 has not been reported previously. However, the 

 annual movement of larval menhaden and sciae- 

 nids into estuaries along the Gulf of Mexico and 

 Atlantic coasts during the winter is well docu- 

 mented (Gunter 1967; Dahlberg 1972; Christmas 

 and Waller 1973). These species likely did not 

 utilize the surf zone specifically, but were concen- 

 trated along the island before moving through the 

 barrier island passes. Therefore, their appearance 

 within the surf zone habitat appears dependent 



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