contains information and numerous 

 references on the insect community 

 of small mangrove keys. 



Prop roots of red mangroves 

 have long been recognized as habitat 

 for a wide variety of invertebrates. 

 Odum et al. (1982) lump the prop 

 root habitat in with the mud flats 

 surrounding the mangroves since many 

 species utilize both areas as tide 

 waters oscillate. These authors 



hypothesize that the two substrates 

 are closely intertwined, with the 

 mangroves serving as a protective 

 refuge and the mud flat as a feeding 

 ground. 



Sessile members of the prop 

 root habitat occur in two zones, an 

 upper zone dominated by barnacles 

 and a lower zone dominated by mus- 

 sels, oysters, and ascidians (Odum 

 et al. 1982). In general, as tidal 

 influence becomes less a factor, the 

 barnacles become singularly dominant 

 (Tabb et al. 1962). These authors 

 identify a number of other conspi- 

 cuous members of this habitat in 

 Whitewater Bay, namely the xanthid 

 crab Eurypanopeus depressus , the 

 porcellanid crab Petrolisthes arma - 

 tus , and the polychaete Neanthes 

 succinea . The intertidal flats of 

 the mangrove prop roots often sup- 

 port large numbers of fiddler crabs, 

 Uca puqilator , U. speciosa , and 

 U. thayeri , and burrows of the xan- 

 thid crab Eurytium limosum . In the 

 lower salinity mangrove forests the 

 crayfish Procambarus alleni and the 

 crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii are 

 common inhabitants (Odum and Heald 

 1972). 



7.33 FISHES 



Fishes of the estuarine and 

 saltwater wetlands have been more 

 frequently studied than inverte- 

 brates. In additon to the more 

 familiar work of Tabb and Manning 



(1961), Tabb et al. (1962), and Odum 

 (1971), a number of other studies 

 also contribute to our knowledge of 

 fishes in this zone. In an unpub- 

 lished document Tabb (1966) reports 

 on fishes in Whitewater Bay and its 

 tributaries. Roessler (1968) re- 



ports and analyzes the occurrence 

 of 102 species from 83 genera in 

 the Buttonwood Canal. Clark (1971) 

 examines factors influencing the 

 abundance and distribution of fishes 

 in Whitewater Bay, while Jannke 



(1971) focuses exclusively on Sciae- 

 nid fishes. Higman (1967) documents 

 catch rates for three commercial 

 sport fishes of the area in relation 

 to environmental factors. A number 

 of masters theses and other docu- 

 ments pertaining either to indivi- 

 dual species or to fisheries in 

 general also exist for this area. 

 Houde (1971) presents a brief liter- 

 ature review and bibliography of the 

 work performed prior to 1971. Moe 



(1972) summarizes information on the 

 movement and migration patterns of 

 south Florida fishes. 



Odum et al. (1982) identify a 

 series of three environmental gradi- 

 ents, (1) salinity, (2) dependence 

 on mangrove detritus, and (3) sub- 

 strate, along which mangrove related 

 fish communities are organized. 

 Figure 54 presents this gradient as 

 it pertains to the present study 

 area. Three of the delineations 



occur within the estuarine and salt- 

 water wetlands zone while two occur 

 within Florida Bay and the Florida 

 Keys. 



The black mangrove basin forest 

 community occurs in the sheltered 

 back water pools and salt marsh 

 settings. Physical and chemical 



conditions here are often extreme 

 due to infrequent flooding and 

 darkly colored, highly organic and 

 acidic waters. As in the harsh 

 Everglades marsh environment, the 



156 



