Occurrence and Habitat Preference of 



Fundulus luciae (Baird) (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae) on 



a Southeastern North Carolina Salt Marsh 



Mark A. Shields and Carol H. Mayes 



Department of Biological Sciences, 



University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 



Wilmington, North Carolina 28403 



ABSTRACT.— Thirty-two Fundulus luciae were collected in pit traps 

 on a salt marsh in southeastern North Carolina during October and 

 November 1983. This species remained on the marsh at low tide, 

 exhibiting a strong preference for high marsh areas dominated by Jun- 

 cus roemerianus while tending to avoid low marsh habitats dominated 

 by Spartina alterniflora. The reported rarity of F. luciae probably 

 reflects inadequate sampling of its preferred high marsh habitat by 

 conventional collecting techniques. 



INTRODUCTION 



Fundulus luciae (Baird), the spotfin killifish, is found sporadically 

 in brackish coastal waters from Long Island, New York (Butner and 

 Brattstrom 1960) to Georgia (Jorgenson 1969), with most populations 

 apparently concentrated in the Chesapeake Bay area (Lee et al. 1980). 

 In North Carolina, Hildebrand (1941) reported F. luciae common only 

 in marsh pools on Shackleford Banks and along the Newport River, 

 Carteret County. More recently, Kneib (1978) found F. luciae to be 

 common on the high salt marsh at Tar Landing Bay on Bogue Sound, 

 also in Carteret County. Few records of F. luciae from other areas of 

 coastal North Carolina have been published. In this note we document 

 the occurrence and describe the habitat preference of F. luciae on a salt 

 marsh in southeastern North Carolina. 



STUDY AREA AND METHODS 



Our study site was a salt marsh bordering Bradley Creek, a small 

 tidal river in New Hanover County. Three marsh habitats were defined 

 within the study area: tall-form Spartina alterniflora (TS), short-form 

 S. alterniflora (SS), and Juncus roemerianus (JU). TS formed a band 1 

 to 3 m wide along the levees of the creek and smaller rivulets in the 

 marsh, while SS vegetated the flat areas behind the creekbank levees. 

 The higher areas of marsh farthest from the creek were dominated by JU. 



One 25 X 25 X 25 cm pit trap was dug in each marsh habitat. Pits 

 in TS, SS, and JU were placed 1.5, 18.5, and 51.5 m, respectively, from 

 Bradley Creek. Each pit was lined with 1 mm mesh cloth to facilitate 

 removal of trapped fish. Traps were visited during daylight at low tide 



Brimleyana No.9: 141-144. June 1983. 141 



