114 



Fishery Bulletin 104(1) 



seagrasses in this area is important to the preservation 

 of these resources. 



Tidal-creek habitats in the Suwannee River estuary 

 provided resources for many species that had restricted 

 distributions related to salinity tolerances and includ- 

 ed taxa that were also found in the nearby seagrass 

 habitats. We found recreationally important freshwater 

 taxa, such as Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis punc- 

 tatus, in tidal-creek habitats. Other groups restricted to 

 tidal-creeks were those tolerant of low salinity and in- 

 cluded the fundulids, poeciliids, and cyprinodontids. In 

 addition, some economically valuable species were more 

 abundant in tidal-creeks than in seagrass habitats, in- 



cluding M. cephalus. C. arenarius, S. ocellatus, and L. 

 griseus. Tidal creeks also supported a greater density 

 of fishes than did seagrass habitats — a density that 

 could have resulted from habitat preferences, differen- 

 tial mortality between habitat types, or gear avoidance. 

 Because the seine was set along the shoreline in tidal 

 creeks, fishes were trapped between the seine and the 

 shoreline, perhaps making them more vulnerable to the 

 gear, whereas in seagrass habitats, the seine was pulled 

 along the bottom with the end open prior to retrieval 

 and fishes could have used the opening to escape. 



The results of our study showed that there was a more 

 consistent assemblage of fishes in tidal creeks, whereas 



