B-ISLANDS AND SHORELINES 25°00' 



□ ,MUO BANKS UNDER LESS 

 'than 61 CM. OF WATER 



O-SAMPLINC STATIONS 



I _ EVERGLADES NATIONAL 

 !" PARK BOUNDARY 



; 2 4 8 



NAUTICAL MILES 



Figure 5. — Sampling stations for ecological studies in 

 eastern Florida Bay. 



WATER- 

 LINE 



36 

 32 

 28 

 24 

 20 



16 



12 



8 - 



u. 4 



8 

 12 

 16 

 2l 

 24 

 28 

 32 

 36 



: I I 



PELAGIC POSTLARVAE 



STATION 9 



WHALE HARBOR CHANNEL 



PLANKTON NET 



i 



-ZX 





SE.,THIC POSTLARVAE 

 AND SMALL JUVENILES 



STATION I 



BOB ALLEN KEY 



SUCTION SAMPLER 



_L 



_L 



_L 



X 



_L 



_L 



_L 



Figure 6. — Metal frame supporting plankton nets and 

 current meter in water column. 



SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN. FEB MAR APR MAY 



Figure 7. — Monthly abundance relation between stages 

 of young shrimp in eastern Florida Bay. 



peaks of abundaLnce of postlarvae entering 

 Florida Bay with abundance peaks of young 

 adults entering the Tortugas Fishery. Success 

 here may provide a means of predicting 

 shrimp abundance on Tortugas 4 to 5 months 

 in advance. 



Another aim of this study is to identify and 

 enumerate organisms, other than shrimp, 

 taken in samples collected in the Bay so that 

 we can describe the habitat types preferred 

 by juvenile pink shrimp. Environmental re- 

 quirements and preferences have already been 

 defined for certain associated organisms. 

 A thorough understanding of the shallow- 

 water environment should reveal factors 

 that influence the abundsince of young pink 

 shrimp. 



The unit-area suction dredge took 63 genera 

 representing 74 species of marine animals 

 at the three regularly sampled stations in 

 Florida Bay. Polychaetes, mollusks, cind 

 crustaceans dominated the substrate samples. 

 Peaiks of abundance of small shrimp and of 

 associated animals appeared in August aind 

 November (fig. 8). Although we do not know 

 which organisms are important food for 



10 



