Figure 53. 



Distribution of 15 

 zooplankters in re- 

 lation to salinity 

 in the Shark River 

 estuary (adapted 

 from McPherson 1971). 



Tabb and Manning (1961) and 

 Tabb et al. (1962) report a total of 

 432 species of plants, macroinverte- 

 brates, and fish from 7 locations, 

 4 of which are in the estuarine and 

 salt water wetlands zone; the re- 

 maining 3 are in Florida Bay. In 



Coot Bay, dominant macroinverte- 

 brates during low salinity (5-18 

 ppt) are the ivory barnacle Balanus 

 eburneus , the pink shrimp Penaeus 

 duorarum , the bivalve Anomalocardia 

 anomeris , and the gastropod Nassa - 

 rius vibex . Under high salinity 



conditions (18-35 ppt) the isopod 

 Sphaeroma destructor , the ivory bar- 

 nacle, the mollusks mentioned above, 

 and the echinoderm Ophiophraqmus 

 filoqraneus are dominant. 



Western Whitewater Bay is domi- 

 nated by the ivory barnacle, the 

 mussel Brachiodontes exustus , and 

 the gastropod N. vibex under low 

 salinity; and by the oyster Crasso- 

 strea virqinica , the gastropod 



Cerithium muscarum , and the echino- 

 derm Echinaster spinulosus during 

 high salinity. 



Odum (1971) presents data on 

 invertebrates from the North River 

 estuary, concentrating primarily on 

 their food habits rather than their 

 seasonality. A number of species 

 were identified as strict herbi- 

 vores/detritovores. These include 

 the mussels B. exustus and Conqeria 

 leucophaeta . The prawn P^ interme - 

 dius also showed a heavy dependence 

 on plant detritus with only 5% of 

 its diet being animal remains. The 

 pink shrimp, snapping shrimp, my- 

 sids, and the crab R hithropanopeus 

 harrissi exhibited a slightly great- 

 er dependence on a wider variety of 

 small animals and animal detritus. 



The arboreal invertebrate com- 

 munity consists of the insects, mol- 

 lusks, and crustaceans inhabiting 

 the mangrove canopy. In the present 

 study area virtually no studies 

 exist that document the compositon 

 of this community. However, it is 

 likely that the mangrove tree crab 

 Aratus pisonii is an important mem- 

 ber along with a wide variety of 

 insects and other invertebrates. 

 The following section on Florida Bay 



155 



