Table 8. Average number of Aedes mosquito larvae per dip of water on the 

 marshes of Egg Island, New Jersey (Ferrigno 1958). 



Vegetation 



Species 



S^. pa tens 



S. patens- S. alterniflora mix 



S. alterniflora 



difficult, even when these areas are 

 flooded. In the case of the green- 

 head flies (Tabanidae), it appears 

 that the larvae drown if they are 

 subjected to more than 2 days of 

 submergence. 



With the exception of Dexter 's 

 (1947) monograph on the intertidal 

 animals of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, 

 and liner's (1974) thesis on a marsh 

 near Stonington, Connecticut, there 

 appears to have been little work on 

 insects or other animals in New 

 England marshes. The most extensive 

 general study of insects on a salt 

 marsh was carried out in North 

 Carolina by Davis and Gray (1966), 

 who found a marked zonation that 

 correlated with vegetation, particu- 

 larly on the high marsh. In general, 

 both S^. al terniflora and Distichlis 

 had more insects than did S^. patens or 

 Juncus roemerianus . Because most 

 insects can escape the tide by flying 

 or hopping, it is likely that the 

 abundance of insects on the marsh is 

 regulated more by food and shelter 

 than by the hydroperiod. 



Crabs and Snails 



Several crab species live in 

 marshes; most inhabit the lower S^. 

 alterniflora zone rather than the 

 high marsh. On the Farm Creek, 

 Connecticut, marsh studied by 

 McCaffrey (1977), the density of 



32 



fiddler crab ( Ilea 

 declined from 254 ± 



the creek-bank S. 



64 + 20/m2 at a site 2 

 inland in S^. patens to 2 + 3/m^ in 

 middle of the ^. patens zone, 

 relative lack of crabs and burrowing 

 animals on the high marsh may be due 

 directly to the lower frequency of 



pugnax ) burrows 

 40 (x± s)/m2 in 

 alterni flora to 

 TO" ft) 

 the 

 The 



those species 

 under water, 

 the dense root 



flooding (especially for 

 which are active only 

 Teal 1959) as well as to 

 and rhizome mat of S. patens (Daiber 

 1977; Frey and Basan 1978). One con- 

 sequence is that there is considerably 

 less bioturbation or mixing of the 

 high marsh sediments (McCaffrey 1977). 



While most of the work on marsh 

 crabs has been performed in southern 

 marshes. Dexter (1942, 1944, 1945) 

 published a series of detailed studies 

 on the molluscs of Cape Ann, 

 Massachusetts, including those of 

 the marshes. In contrast to the 

 distribution of crabs, he found that 

 high marsh S^. patens was the most 

 important habitat for the common 

 coffee bean snail, Melampus biden- 

 tatus . Dexter (1947) identified 

 a Spartina patens - Mel ampus - Orchesti a 

 beach flea) association 

 the seven major marine 

 of the Cape Ann region, 

 marsh snails, Littorina 

 and l^. saxa- 

 on the 



(amphipod, 



as one of 



communities 



The common 



littoria (periwinkle) 



til is , were also 



marsh. 



abundant 



high 



