Vasslides and Able: Importance of shoreface sand ridges as habitat for fishes 
95 
Table 1 
Physical attributes of individual sampling stations along the Beach Haven Ridge (BHR) transect. Distance to ridge top is the 
distance (m) from that station to the station located on top of the ridge, plus signs indicate distances seaward of the ridge top, 
negative signs indicate distances landward of the ridge top. Habitat complexity index is an index of complexity from 1 to 3 and 
is based on the amount and type of substrate and macroalgae or other structural components present. See Figure 1 for station 
locations. 
Distance to 
Distance 
Water 
Habitat 
Sampling 
ridge top 
from shore 
depth 
Trawl 
Number of 
complexity 
Station 
(m) 
(m) 
(m) 
type 
samples 
Type of habitat 
index 
BHR-1 
-6000 
0 
2.8 
Otter 
67 
Bare sand 
1 
BHR-2 
-4600 
300 
3.1 
Beam 
4 
Bare sand 
1 
BHR-3 
-3700 
750 
5.1 
Beam 
8 
Bare sand 
1 
BHR-4 
-3200 
1250 
4.7 
Beam 
8 
Bare sand 
1 
BHR-5 
-1400 
3050 
9.4 
Beam 
10 
Sand with patches of macroalgae 
and Diopatra tubes; clay+silt 
3 
Otter 
66 
BHR-6 
-500 
3950 
11.5 
Beam 
22 
Clay and sand with Diopatra tubes; 3 
clay+silt 
Otter 
64 
BHRTOP 
0 
4450 
10.3 
Beam 
16 
Bare sand 
1 
Otter 
18 
BHR-7 
1100 
5550 
13.6 
Beam 
27 
Sand with shell hash and 
Diopatra tubes; clay/sand 
3 
Otter 
61 
BHR-9 
5300 
9750 
16.3 
Beam 
2 
Shell hash 
2 
Otter 
62 
BHR-10 
10000 
14450 
18.0 
Otter 
29 
Shell hash 
2 
BHR-11 
19000 
23450 
19.9 
Otter 
22 
Shell hash 
2 
consistently largest on the crest and flanks of the ridge. 
The crests are often bare, but the troughs are filled with 
varying amounts of shell valves and shell hash, which 
are frequently buried and uncovered. Although patches 
of Diopatra cuprea (plumed worm) tubes were found 
along the flanks and base of the ridge, they were never 
identified on the crest of the ridge. 
Field sampling 
Data from two independent sampling surveys, one with 
a beam trawl (1991-95), and the other with an otter 
trawl (1997-2006), were analyzed. Although the data 
sets were not collected concurrently, they did overlap 
both temporally (sampling months) and spatially (four 
sampling stations). This overlap between gear types 
provided the opportunity to observe temporal and spatial 
variation in species abundance and richness both within 
and between gears. 
Beam-trawl sampling Sampling for fishes was con- 
ducted at eight stations along a transect from Little Egg 
Inlet across Beach Haven Ridge with a 2 meter (3-mm 
bar mesh) beam trawl (Fig. 1; Table 1). Both midsummer 
(July or the first few days in August) and late summer 
(September) samples were collected. The number of tows 
conducted at each station varied from 2 to 22 (Table 
1). Tow speed was approximately 2. 8-3. 7 km/h and 
each tow was one minute in duration in an attempt to 
sample from discrete habitat types. All fish captured 
were identified to species where possible and measured 
to the nearest millimeter. Surface and bottom water 
samples were obtained with a Nansen bottle. Tempera- 
ture and salinity were obtained from the water samples 
by using a stem thermometer and hand-held refractom- 
eter, whereas oxygen concentrations were determined 
by using Winkler titration for samples collected from 
1991 through 1995. 
Otter trawl sampling Eight stations on and within the 
vicinity of Beach Haven Ridge were sampled in mid- 
summer (July or the first few days in August) and late 
summer (September) (Fig. 1; Table 1). Samples were 
collected with an otter trawl (4.9-m head rope, 19-mm 
mesh wings, 6-mm-mesh codend) in four replicate tows 
at the inlet station (BHR-1) with various small boats 
(4-7 meters) and in three replicate tows at each of the 
deeper stations with RV Arabella (15 meters). Sam- 
pling at BHR-10 and BHR-11 did not commence until 
September 2001. Tow speed varied depending on the 
