macroinvertebrates faunas (Schwartz 

 et al. 1979a, b) on which the run- 

 off zone fishes fed (Schwartz et al. 

 1980). Yet little information ex- 

 ists, in North Carolina, on the fate 

 of freshwater fishes, their transport 

 into or within the runoff area, and 

 how they are affected by sediments 

 (Custer and Ingram 1974) . 



LITERATURE CITED 



Abbott, D.; Dawson, C.E.; Oppenheim- 

 er; C.H. Physical, chemical, 

 and biological characteristics 

 of estuaries. Water and pol- 

 lution handbook. New York: Mar- 

 cel Dekker Inc., N.Y. Vol. 1.; 

 1971. 51-140. 



CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



Many aspects remain unresolved 

 in relation to fishes and the runoff 

 zone and will provide research for 

 the future. Thus, we must take the 

 next step and test various species, 

 under a variety of sudden or runoff 

 conditions (Livingston et al. 1976), 

 to determine why some cyprinids, 

 centrarchids , clupeids, sciaenids, 

 and bothids can exist in the unstable 

 environment caused by freshwater run- 

 off while others cannot. Only then 

 will we begin to understand a runoff 

 habitat, a fish's needs, and how we 

 can best assure its survival in these 

 rapidly changing runoff waters and 

 habitats . 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



Aller, R.C. The effects of animal- 

 sediment interactions on geo- 

 chemical processes near the 

 sediment-water interface. Wiley, 

 M. L. ed. Estuarine interac- 

 tions. New York, NY: Academic 

 Press; 1978: 157-172. 



Carr, A.; Coin, C. J. Reptiles, am- 

 phibians and freshwater fishes 

 of Florida. Gainesville: Univ. 

 Fla. Press; 1955: 341p. 



Caspers , H. Estuaries: Analysis of 

 definitions and biological con- 

 siderations. Lauff, G. H. ed. 

 Estuaries. Washington, DC: Amer. 

 Assoc. Adv. Sci., Pub. 83; 1967. 



Chesapeake Research Consortium. The 

 effects of tropical storm Agnes 

 on the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine 

 System. Ches . Res. Consort. 

 Publ. 54, Baltimore, MD: Johns 

 Hopkins Univ. Press; 1976. 



Thanks are due Maury Wolff and 

 Dennis Spitzbergen, N.C. Division 

 Marine Fishes for their comments per- 

 taining to freshwater inflow limits. 

 Drs. A. F. Chestnut (IMS) and W. 

 Hogarth (CPL) reviewed the manuscript. 

 Helen Nearing typed the text while 

 Brenda Bright typed the tables. 

 Jackie Tate prepared Figure 1. Fund- 

 ing, in part, was provided by the 

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, University 

 of North Carolina Research Council, 

 N.C. Board of Science and Technology, 

 Institute of Marine Sciences, and 

 Carolina Power and Light Company. 



Custer, E.S., Jr.; Ingram; R.L. In- 

 fluence of sedimentary processes 

 on grain size distribution 

 curves of bottom sediments in 

 the sounds and estuaries of 

 North Carolina. Univ. No. Caro- 

 lina Sea Grant Publ. UNC-SG-74- 

 13; 1974. 88p. 



Dahl, E. Ecological sedentary bound- 

 aries of Poikilohaline water. 

 Oikos 7:1-23; 1956. 



Douglas, N.H. Freshwater fishes of 

 Louisiana. Baton Rouge, LA: 

 Claitor's Publ. Div. ; 1974. 



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