Fishes of Cape Fear Estuary 23 



fish, Stephanolepis hispidus; and gray triggerfish, Balistes capriscus) or 

 with intrusion of offshore waters (bearded brotula, Brotula barbata; 

 margined snake eel, Ophichthus cruentifer; and offshore tonguefish, 

 Symphurus civitatus). The O. cruentifer was a larva that, like menhaden 

 larvae (Nelson et al. 1977), apparently had been carried inshore by cur- 

 rents from off the edge of the Continental Shelf, where the species has 

 been reported by Fahay and Obenchain (1978). A limited number of 

 species, such as the pink wormfish, Microdesmus longipinnis, were 

 range extensions from nearby southern habitats (Hammond 1973). 



Most common or abundant fishes occurred over wide expanses of 

 the estuary and within wide ranges of water temperatures, dissolved 

 oxygen, and salinity regimes (Table 2). Schwartz (1981) recorded 77 

 marine fishes that often remained for up to six weeks in ppt salinity 

 intrusion waters. Weinstein et al. (1980) attributed postlarval population 

 oscillations of three fishes — spot, Atlantic croaker, and flounder — to 

 rapid salinity changes in the Buoy 42 area. 



As waters warmed during summer, southern warm-water Caroli- 

 nian or Caribbean province species were collected (Spanish mackerel, 

 Scomberomorus eavalla; etc.). Conversely, northern smooth and spiny 

 dogfish, Mustelus canis and Squalus acanthias, of Virginian affiliation 

 were present in the river south of Buoy 18 and especially off Caswell 

 Beach as waters cooled. The only cold-related fish kills occurred during 

 the severe winters of 1976 and 1977 (January-February), when many 

 striped mullet, Mugil cephalus; weakfish; and red drum, Sciaenops ocel- 

 latus, were found dead or dying in the power plant intake canal or on 

 shoals that had iced over. 



Gobies, blennies, and the clingfish, Gobiesox strumosus, were usu- 

 ally associated with mud-oyster habitats of higher saline areas of the 

 river. The crested cusk-eel, Ophidion welshi, was most commonly col- 

 lected in dense mud substrates in the dug intake canal, especially during 

 1973-1976, although it was also collected from the mud-clay main chan- 

 nel and occasionally in sandy habitats. The star drum, Stellifer lanceola- 

 tus, was most abundant in late summer in the mud-clay substrate of the 

 main channel, from Buoy 19 southward. The banded drum, Larimus 

 fasciatus, was a high-saline form associated with sandy substrates at 

 ocean stations and in the river south of Buoy 18. The pink wormfish 

 was found only in the intake canal and at the lower river channel Buoy 

 18 and sandy shoal 18E stations. The white catfish, Ictalurus catus, 

 rarely strayed southward from freshwater mud habitats near Buoy 42. 

 Most of the remaining species were broadly distributed and exhibited 

 no preference for specific substrates. 



The estuarine part of the Cape Fear River possesses a large variety 

 of Virginian, Carolinian, and Caribbean province fishes that are resident, 



