WEINSTEIN SHALLOW MARSH HABITATS AS PRIMARY NURSERIES 



Table 5 —Pooled species abundance for all collections at seine and rotenone sites in the Cape Fear River estuary, N.C.. listed in order 

 of abundance- Only species composing 0.5'7c of the total number of individuals and their corresponding percentages are shown. 

 Bamards Creek was not collected until April 1977. 



tures might be fatal to the young of many species, 

 especially since they were prolonged (Gunter and 

 Hildebrand 1951; June and Chamberlain 1959; 

 Massman and Pachecho 1960; Joseph 1972). 



Seasonality and Growth 



In the Cape Fear estuary tidal marshes, peak 

 seasonal abundance ( Figure 3 ) for young commer- 

 cially and recreationally important species was 

 always associated with the recruitment of postlar- 

 vae or early juveniles into the area and sub- 

 sequent decreases in numbers were due to mortal- 

 ity and/or emigi-ation from the primary nurseries. 

 Although very few postlarval Micropogonias un- 

 dulatus were captured in early 1977, recruitment 

 was improved at the beginning of the 1977-78 lar- 

 val year, with densities in November 1977 at up- 

 river sites reaching a mean of 31 mdividuals/400 



m^ (Figure 3, upper left). Concentrations of this 

 species in the river mainstem were much higher 

 than in the marshes (Hodson"). Red drum, Sci- 

 aenops ocellata. were captured in relatively low 

 numbers in the fall although their density ap- 

 proached 34 individuals/400 m^ in the Dutchman 

 Creek collections in October. Leiostomus .xanthu- 

 rus postlarvae dominated the sciaenid catches 

 with average densities in March of 3,099 

 individuals/400 m^. 



Except during the cold period in early 1977, 

 Mugil cephalus were fairly common throughout 

 the estuary (Figure 3, lower left), with primary 

 recruitment of early juveniles occurring in March 

 and April. Mugil curema, however, displayed a 



"R. G. Hodson, Director, Cape Fear Estuarine Laboratory, 

 North Carolina State University, Southport, N.C, pers. com- 

 mun. July 1978. 



345 



