WEST 



BAY 



10 



^ 



I ALTERED AREA 



NATURAL AREA 



Figure 16. — Study area and sampling locations in the Jamaica Beach housing development and vicinity, 



Galveston Island, Tex., 1968-69. 



counted individuals of each species caught and 

 measured them to the nearest 0.5 cm. (0.2 

 inch)- -tip of snout to tip of caudal fin for 

 fishes, tip of rostrum to tip of telson for 

 shrimp, and carapace width for crabs. 



Water samples collected with the biological 

 samples were taken at 30 cnn. (12 inches) 

 above the bottonn at each station. We measured 

 the water temperature immediately after 

 sannpling. We froze or preserved the samples 

 so that we could measure the other variables 

 later in the laboratory. 



The trawl took 41 species of finfish and 

 crustaceans. Four of the 41 species were 



caught only in the altered area and 9 species 

 were caught only in the natural area. 



Figure 17 shows the 10 species caught in 

 greatest abundance (all stations combined). 

 Six of these 10 species represented 96.1 per- 

 cent of the total catch. Spot Leiostomus 

 xanthurus; large-scale menhaden Brevoortia 

 patronus; brown shrimp; and Atlantic croaker 

 Micropogon undulatus are commercially valu- 

 able. The bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli , and 

 grass shrimp, Palaemonetes sp., are innportant 

 as food for commercial and sport fish. Six of 

 the 10 species were most abundant in the 

 natural area. 



26 



