Gulf menhaden, continued 



Table 5.17. Relative abundance of gulf menhaden 

 in 31 Gulf of Mexico estuaries (from Volume I). 



Relative abundance: 



® 



O 



blank 



Highly abundant 



Abundant 



Common 



Rare 



Not present 



Life stage: 



A - Adults 

 S - Spawning 

 J - Juveniles 

 L - Larvae 

 E - Eggs 



domestic animal feeds, aquaculture feeds, cosmetics, 

 and margarine. Most fish meal is used domestically, 

 but a portion is exported. In the past most fish oil was 

 exported, but it is now being used domestically in a 

 greater variety of products and markets (Smith pers. 

 comm.). There has been an increasing use of whole 

 menhaden in the past few years as bait for crabs and 

 crayfish (Christmas et al. 1 988, 0'Bannon 1 993). Small 

 quantities of menhaden are also used for canned pet 

 food (O'Bannon 1993). 



Recreational : The gulf menhaden has little sport fish 

 value since it is a filter feeder and has a poor tasting 

 meat (Simmons and Breuer 1964). It is an important 

 forage fish for many sport and food fish and is also used 

 for fishing bait. Gulf menhaden are considered to be 

 excellent bait for crevalle jack, tarpon, king mackerel 

 (Scomberomorus cavalla), and other large game fish. 



Indicator of Environmental Stress : Gulf menhaden 

 larvae have been used to study uptake and effects of 

 heavy metals on the early life stages of fishes (Hanson 

 and Hoss 1 986). Juveniles have been used to assess 

 the effects of the uptake of aldrin and dieldrin from 

 agricultural applications (Ginn and Fisher 1 974). Stout 

 et al. (1981) reviewed chlorinated hydrocarbon levels 

 in the products of gulf menhaden and reported that 

 levels have decreased with restriction of their use. The 

 chlorinated hydrocarbon levels present are generally 

 safely below U.S. FDA tolerance limits. 



Ecological : Gulf menhaden are an important link in the 

 food chain between primary producers, phytoplankton 

 and detritus, and top predators. It is an extremely 

 important forage fish for a variety of piscivorous birds 

 and fish (Gunter and Christmas 1960, Palmer 1962, 

 Christmas et al. 1988). It is also important in the 

 translocation of energy between estuarine and off- 

 shore ecosystems (Deegan 1 985). Larval gulf menha- 

 den are one of the dominant species of ichthyoplankton 

 in the Gulf of Mexico during the winter months (Raynie 

 and Shaw 1994). 



Range 



Overall : This species is restricted to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 ranging from southwestern Florida near Cape Sable to 

 Vera Cruz, Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. It occurs 

 in estuarine and nearshore marine waters in depths up 

 to 111 m, and is most abundant from Apalachicola, 

 Florida to Galveston, Texas (Reintjes and Pacheco 

 1 966, Lewis and Roithmayr 1 981 , Nelson and Arenholz 

 1 986, Powell and Phonlor 1 986, Christmas et al. 1 988, 

 Ahrenholz1991). 



Within Study Area : Within U.S. Gulf of Mexico estuar- 

 ies, the gulf menhaden occurs from Florida to Texas, 

 but the principal area of abundance in this region is 



135 



