detritus and inoculate it with microbes in 

 the course of feeding (Welsh 1975). 

 Cammen et al. (1980) found that the 

 epifauna assimilated (i.e., used for their 

 own life processes) only about one-tenth 

 of what they consumed. Thus, nine-tenths 

 passed through their bodies as feces, 

 ground and inoculated with microbes in the 

 process. The macrofauna are important 

 consumers of algae, detritus, and 

 meiofauna on the surface of the mud; they, 

 in turn, are fed upon by fish and birds, 

 thereby linking them to the productivity 

 of the salt marsh. 



4.2.2. Fishes 



Salt marsh fishes are among the most 

 highly valued animals of the marsh because 

 of their commercial and recreational 

 importance. The fishes of the salt marsh 

 can be divided into the relatively 

 permanent residents and those that spend 

 only their early life stages there 

 (Table 2). Werme (1981) provided an 

 excellent description of the marsh fishes 

 of the Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh, and 

 the bulk of the following comes from that 

 work. 



The silverside is a small, schooling 

 fish that is resident in inshore waters 

 throughout its life. The species is 

 present in Cape Cod marshes from spring 

 through summer and reaches its maximum 

 abundance in August. Silversides 

 generally live only 1 year. The 

 relatively few that survive the winter by 

 retreating to deeper water return in 

 spring to spawn and produce the next 

 generation. Nevertheless, silversides are 

 the most abundant fish in the marshes by 

 midsummer. Silversides occur mostly in 

 midwater in the marsh creeks, though as 

 much as 30% of the population may be found 

 in the Spartina on the creek banks at high 

 tide (Werme 1981) (Figure 14). The 

 omnivorous silversides feed mostly on 

 planktonic animals, but algae and detritus 

 have also been found in their guts after 

 they have been on the marsh surface. 

 Horseshoe crab eggs and small amphipods 

 from the marsh may be their major food 

 items in summer; mysid shrimp and copepods 

 are important foods in autumn. 



The mummichog (Figure 15), which can 

 live for several years, is the fish most 



Table 2. Fishes inhabiting Great 

 Sippewissett Salt Marsh, Massachusetts 

 (from Werme 1981). They are listed in 

 approximate order of abundance within each 

 group. 



Common name/ 

 Scientific name 



Fishes that spend most of their lives 

 within the marsh: 



Atlantic silverside 

 Menidia menidia 



mummichog 



Fundulus heteroclitus 



striped killifish 



Fundulus majalis 



sheepshead minnow 



Cyprinodon variegatus 



four-spined stickleback 

 Apeltes quadracus 



three-spined stickleback 



Gasterosteus aculeatus 



common eel 



Anguil la rostrata 



Fishes that use the marsh mostly as a 

 nursery area: 



winter flounder 



Pseudopleuronectes americanus 



tautog 



Tautoga onitis 



sea bass 



Centropristes striata 



alewife 



Alosa pseudoharengus 



menhaden 



Brevoortia tyrannus 



bluefish 



Pomatomus saltatrix 



mullet 



Mugil cephalus 



sand lance 



Ammodytes americanus 



striped bass 



Morone saxatilis 



23 



