killifish, and the 

 (Stevenson 1976) . 



sailfin molly 



Florida Gar 



Uepisosteus platyrhincus ) 

 Bowf in 



( Anna calva) 

 Tarpon 



( Meqalops at lantica ) 

 American Eel 



( Anqui 1 la rpstrata) 

 Golden Shiner 



( Notemiqonus crysoleucas ) 

 Lake Chubsucker 



( Erymizon succetta ) 

 Channel Catfish 



( Ictalurus punctatus ) 

 Brown Bullhead 



( Ictalurus nebulosus ) 

 Velio* Bullhead 



( Ictalurus natalis ) 

 Tadpole Madtom 



( Noturus qyrinus ) 

 Walking Catfish 



( Clarias batrachus j 

 Bluefin Killifish 



( Lucania qoodei ) 

 Diamond Killifish 



( Adinia xenica ) 

 Gulf Killifish 



( Fundulis grandis ) 

 Seminole Killifish 



( Fundulus seminolis ) 

 Harsh Killifish 



( Fundulus confluentus ) 

 Golden Topminnow 



( Fundulis chrysotus ) 

 Sheepshead Minnow 



( Cyprmodon varieqatus l 

 Flagfish 



( Jordanella floridae ) 

 Mosquitof ish 



( Gambusia aff mis ) 

 Least Killifish 



( Heterandria formasa ) 

 Sailfin Molly 



( Poec'lia latipinna ) 

 Brookside Si Iverside 



( Labidesthes sicculus ) 

 Common Snook 



( Centropomus undecimalis ) 

 Everglades Pygmy Sunfish 



( Elassoma evergladei ) 

 Largemouth Bass 



( Micrppterus salmoides ) 

 warmouth 



( Lepomis qulosus ) 

 Spotted Sunfish 



( Lepomis punctatus ) 

 Redear Sunfish 



( Lepomis micro lophus ) 

 Ool tar Sunfish 



( Lepomis marqinatus ) 

 Bluegill 



( Lepomis macrochirus ) 

 Blue-spotted Sunfish 



( Enneacanthus qloriosus ) 

 Swamp Darter 



( Etheostoma fusiforme ) 



MAR PRA CYP HAM THI DIS PON 



Black Acara 



(Cichlasoma bimaculatum) 



Habitats are: MAR - marsh; PRA - prairies; CYP - cypress; HAM 

 DIS - disturbed; PON - pond; THI - thicket. 

 Status within each habitat shown by P = present; C ■ common; U = 



uncommon. 



Table 25. Habitat use by lower 

 Everglades fishes 

 (adapted from SFRC 

 1980). 



Since the lower Everglades 

 fluctuate widely between flood and 

 drought conditions, those fishes 

 that use the marshes and wet prai- 

 ries have developed adaptive mech- 

 anisms that help to carry them 



through adverse conditions. As 



drought conditions intensify, one 

 particularly common adaptation is to 

 move with the waters into the reced- 

 ing pools and alligator holes. This 

 tends to increase fish concentra- 

 tions and hence predation, as well 

 as increasing the potential for fish 

 kills. Kushlan (1976) reports dis- 

 tinctly different effects on fish 

 diversity and survival between a 

 system exploited heavily by preda- 

 tors and one allowed to go the fish 

 kill route. In the former, a before 

 and after analysis of the effects of 

 feeding by a mixture of wading birds 

 revealed a consumption of 75% of the 

 fish biomass by the birds and yet no 

 species were totally eliminated. In 

 the fish kill situation, 93% of the 

 biomass was killed and only 6 of 26 

 species survived locally. 



In the harsh environment of the 

 shallow marsh, oxygen and habitat 

 (simple water depth) often become 

 limiting factors for fish. Many 



fishes such as the bowfin, the Flor- 

 ida gar, and the mosquito fish are 

 capable of burrowing into the marsh 

 sediments and aestivating through 

 the dry season. Carr (1973) specu- 

 lates that the unique upturned mouth 

 and flattened head of the killi- 

 fishes and the mosquito fish allow 

 them to extract necessary oxygen 

 from the thin surface layers of the 

 water in otherwise oxygen deficient 

 pools. Fishes without this unique 

 adaptation must find other means of 

 surviving the drought, such as 

 migration to the deeper waters of 

 sloughs and canals. 



Consistent with this, Dineen 

 (1968) reports seldom finding bass 

 larger than 1.4 kg (3 lbs) more than 

 1.6 km (1 mi) away from the nearest 

 canal. Bass above the yearling 



stage generally cannot survive in 

 waters less than 0.3 meters (1 ft) 

 in depth. An interesting exception 

 to this general picture has been 



134 



