toadfish, Opsanus tau, 



Gobiesox strumosus, seaboard 



qi nsburqi , crested 



geminatus , and 



hentzi , 



Oyster 

 skilletfish, 

 gobies, Gobi osoma 

 blennies, Hypleurochilus 

 feather blennies, Hypsoblennius 



were all common on the South Carolina 

 jetties studied by Van Dolah et al . 

 (1986). These fishes are cryptic and tend 

 to be less mobile, and thus less seasonal, 

 than the other fishes common on rubble 

 structures in the South Atlantic Bight. 

 They appear to be among the only fishes 

 that overwinter on the jetties and that do 

 not migrate seasonally to warmer waters. 

 Winter densities of these fishes appear to 

 be lower than densities in warmer months. 

 However, this could be a sampling artifact 

 since most blennies and gobies become 

 inactive and shelter in crevices at low 

 water temperatures. This behavior would 

 increase their probability of being 

 undersampled during the winter. 



decapods. Skilletfish, blennies, and 

 seaboard gobies consumed a diet of mixed 

 invertebrates. 



The skilletfish is the only clingfish 

 on the U.S. coast that occurs north of 

 Florida, its range extending from New 

 Jersey to Brazil. Oyster toadfish occur 

 between Cape Cod and Florida. Because of 

 their size and hardiness (ability to 

 withstand pollution and other stresses), 

 they have become important experimental 

 and bioassay organisms. Seaboard gobies 

 occur from Massachusetts to Georgia, 

 feather blennies from New Jersey to Texas, 

 and crested blennies from North Carolina 

 to Texas (Robins et al . 1986). 



Large schools of Atlantic 

 silversides, Menidia menidia , sometimes 

 aggregate over shallow portions of jetties 

 and consume the epifaunal amphipods that 

 occur there (Van Dolah et al . 1986). 

 Since Atlantic silversides are typically 

 found along sandy shore lines and at the 

 mouths of inlets, their occasional 

 association with jetties is more likely 

 explained by the location of jetties at 

 inlet mouths than by their attraction to 

 the jetties themselves. Atlantic 



silversides occur from the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence to the northeastern coast of 

 Florida (Robins et al . 1986). In addition 

 to epifaunal amphipods, they consume other 

 small benthic and planktonic crustaceans, 

 polychaetes, bivalves, and juvenile fishes 

 (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928; Adams 

 1976a; Bengston 1984; Van Dolah et al . 

 1986). 



Distribution 



The species composition of large, 

 noncryptic fishes on shallow rubble 

 structures is similar to the community 

 composition seen on natural and artificial 

 reefs that occur offshore in the South 

 Atlantic Bight (Parker et al . 1979; Van 

 Dolah et al . 1984; Sedberry and Van Dolah 

 1984; Lindquist et al . 1985; Van Dolah et 

 al . 1986). However, inshore jetties tend 

 to have a lower diversity of species than 

 natural, offshore reefs. Also the size of 

 individual fishes tends to be smaller on 

 jetties (Buchanan 1973; Van Dolah et al . 

 1986; Wenner et al 1986), suggesting their 

 role as nurseries. 



When rubble structures such as 

 jetties are constructed, they are very 

 rapidly colonized by fishes. The seasonal 

 nature of the inshore fish fauna obscures 

 successional patterns in fish community 

 structure on new jetties, if such patterns 

 occur (Hastings 1979; Van Dolah et al . 

 1984; Lindquist et al . 1985). The rapid 

 movement of fishes onto newly constructed 

 jetties suggests that they are initially 

 attracted by the increased structural 

 complexity, which provides shelter from 

 predators. However, qut content analyses 

 of common jetty fishes such as black sea 

 bass, pinfish, spottail pinfish, 

 sheepshead, spadefish ( Chaetodipterus 

 faber ) , tautog, grunts (Haemul idae) , and 

 flounder (Bothidae) show that they soon 

 come to rely on jetty-associated fauna as 

 a food source (Ogburn 1984; Van Dolah et 

 al. 1984, 1986; Lindquist et al . 1985). 

 When Lindquist et al . (1985) compared the 

 fishes associated with a new jetty (1 year 

 old) to an older one (15 years old) at 

 Masonboro Inlet, NC, they found few 

 significant differences in species' 

 densities. Pigfish and sheepshead were 

 more abundant on the new jetty but it is 

 possible that differences other than jetty 

 age caused these patterns. On North 



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