NOAA's Estuarine Living Marine Resources Program 



The Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) Division of NOAA's Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and 

 Assessment (ORCA) was created in response to the need for comprehensive information on the effects of human activities 

 on the nation's coastal ocean. The SEA Division performs assessments of the estuarine and coastal environments and of the 

 resources of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). SEA Divison's Biogeographic Characterization Branch develops and 

 disseminates information on the distribution and ecology of living marine resources throughout the Nation's estuarine and 

 coastal environments (Monaco and Christensen 1997). 



In June 1985, NOAA began a program to develop a comprehensive information base on the life history, relative abundance, 

 and distribution of fishes and invertebrates in estuaries throughout the nation. The Estuarine Living Marine Resources (ELMR) 

 program has been conducted jointly by the SEA Division, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and other agencies 

 and institutions. The nationwide ELMR data base was completed in 1994, and includes data for 153 species found in 122 

 estuaries and coastal embayments. Ten reports and reprints are now available free upon request. This report, Distribution 

 and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in Gulf of Mexico Estuaries, Volume II: Species Life History Summaries, 

 summarizes information on the estuarine life history characteristics of 44 fish and invertebrate species of the Gulf of Mexico. 

 It complements distribution and abundance information presented in Volume I: Data Summaries (Nelson et al. 1 992). A national 

 report summarizing the data and results from the ELMR program is planned for publication in late 1997. 



Three to five salinity zones, as defined in NOAA's National Estuarine Inventory Program (NOAA 1985) provided the spatial 

 framework for organizing information on species distribution and abundance within each estuary. The primary data developed 

 for each species include spatial distribution by salinity zone, temporal distribution by month, and relative abundance by life 

 stage, e.g., adult, spawning, juvenile, larva, and egg. In addition, life history summaries and tables are developed for each 

 species. 



Additional information on this or other programs of NOAA's SEA Division is available from: 



NOAA/NOS SEA Division, N/ORCA1 



1305 East-West Hwy., 9th Floor 



Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 



Phone (301) 713-3000, Fax (301) 713-4384 



Selected reports and reprints available from NOAA's Estuarine Living Marine Resources program include: 



Monaco, M.E., et al. 1990. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in west coast estuaries, Vol. I: Data 

 summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 4. NOAA/NOS Strategic Assessment Branch, Rockville, MD. 232 p. 



Emmett, R.L., et al. 1 991 . Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in west coast estuaries, Vol. II: Species life 

 history summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 8. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Rockville, MD. 329 p. 



Nelson, D.M., et al. 1991 . Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in southeast estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 

 9. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Rockville, MD. 167 p. 



Monaco, M.E., et al. 1992. Assemblages of U.S. west coast estuaries based on the distribution of fishes. Journal of 

 Biogeography 19: 251-267. 



Nelson, D.M. (editor), et al. 1992. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Gulf of Mexico estuaries, Vol. 

 I: Data summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 10. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Rockville, MD. 273 p. 



Bulger, A. J., et al. 1993. Biologically-based salinity zones derived from a multivariate analysis. Estuaries 16: 31 1-322. 



Stone, S.L., et al. 1994. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Mid-Atlantic estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 



12. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Silver Spring, MD. 280 p. 



Jury, S.H., et al. 1994. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in North Atlantic estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 



13. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Silver Spring, MD. 221 p. 



Christensen, J.D., et al. 1997. An index to assess the sensitivity of Gulf of Mexico species to changes in estuarine salinity 

 regimes. Gulf Res. Rep. 9(4):21 9-229. 



Pattillo, M.E., et al. 1997. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Gulf of Mexico estuaries, Vol. II: Species 

 life history summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 11. NOAA/NOS SEA Division, Silver Spring, MD. 377 p. 



