Opsanus tau 



(Oyster Toadfish) 



Centropristis striata 



(Black Sea Bass) 



o 



"O 

 > 



C 



a) 

 jo 



E 



Lagodon rhomboides 



(Pinfish) 



Spring Summer Fall Winter 



40 

 35 

 30 

 25 

 20 



Dlplodus holbrooki 

 (Spottail Pinfish) 



Spring Summer Fall Winter 



Figure 23. Seasonal abundance of common fishes captured in unmodified crab traps deployed on the north 

 jetty at Murrells Inlet, SC. Histograms show the totals from 1 5 traps set for 1 2 hours during the day and 1 2 hours 

 during the night for each season (data from Van Dolah et al. 1986). 



black drum ( Pogonias cromis ) . tautog, and 

 spadefish were among the important 

 recreational fishes that fed almost 

 exclusively on jetty biota. Other 

 important recreational fishes, such as 

 bluefish, black sea bass, spotted seatrout 

 ( Cynoscion nebolosus) , red drum ( Sciaenops 

 ocellatus ) , Spanish mackerel, and weakfish 

 ( Cynoscion regal is ) , were indirectly 

 dependent on the jetty since they fed 

 heavily on smaller fishes that directly 

 consumed jetty biota (Van Dolah et al . 

 1986). 



Patterns of Recruitment 



The general pattern of larval 

 recruitment seen for most reef fishes in 

 the South Atlantic Bight is that large 

 numbers of juveniles invade reefs, 

 jetties, or estuaries starting late in the 

 winter and continuing throughout the 

 summer (Hildebrand and Cable 1930; Wang 

 and Raney 1971; Hoss 1974; Thayer et al . 

 1974; Adams 1976b; Parker et al . 1979; 

 Bozeman and Dean 1980; Van Dolah et al . 

 1986). In our experience with jetties in 



North Carolina, it appears that jetties on 

 the outer coast are colonized in the 

 spring by both adults and juveniles, while 

 jetties in the sounds are colonized 

 primarily by juveniles. 



Jetties as Concentrated Nurseries 



Jetties often harbor high densities 

 of young fishes that typically live on 

 offshore reefs as adults. Pinfish, 

 spottail pinfish, black sea bass, 

 sheepshead, spadefish, and gag 

 ( Mvcteroperca microl epi s ) all provide 

 examples of this. For these fishes 

 jetties obviously serve as nurseries, 

 providing both feeding sites and the 

 structural complexity necessary for 

 avoiding predators. These fishes can be 

 very dense on jetties (Figure 26); 

 spottail pinfish can occur at 8/rrr (Hay 

 1986). However, the extremely small area 

 covered by rubble structures compared to 

 the immense stretches of sandy beaches and 

 estuarine habitats in the bight, suggests 

 that rubble structures cannot be having a 



29 



