Vasslides and Able: Importance of shoreface sand ridges as habitat for fishes 
101 
Table 4 
Catch per unit of effort (CPUE, with standard error in parentheses) and mean size (mm, with standard error in parentheses) for 
species captured during late summer otter trawl sampling during 2001-06. Station assemblages were determined using canoni- 
cal correspondence analysis as shown in Figure 6B. Taxa were measured to total length (t ) or fork length (*). A dash indicates 
that no data were available. 
Assemblage 
Inshore Near-ridge Offshore 
Species 
CPUE 
Size 
CPUE 
Size 
CPUE 
Size 
Syngnathus fuscus t 
1.55 (0.62) 
133 (3) 
0.16 (0.07) 
132 (7) 
— 
— 
Prionotus carolinus t 
0.07 (0.07) 
47 (2) 
0.23 (0.08) 
230(9) 
0.12 (0.06) 
131 (45) 
Scophthalmus aquosos t 
0.07 (0.04) 
62 (19) 
0.05 (0.03) 
247 (33) 
— 
— 
Sphoeroides maculatus t 
0.21 (0.10) 
89 (25) 
0.08(0.03) 
98(12) 
0.03(0.03) 
90 (-) 
Anchoa mitchilli * 
4.69 (2.9) 
51 (2) 
372.15(134.37) 
58(1) 
11.76(9.49) 
65 (1) 
Etropus microstomus t 
0.03 (0.03) 
95 (-) 
0.05 (0.03) 
71(4) 
— 
— 
Menidia menidia * 
0.41 (0.24) 
71 (3) 
— 
— 
— 
— 
Anchoa hepsetus * 
0.24 (0.18) 
76 (3) 
2.02 (1.04) 
86 (1) 
— 
— 
Pomatomus saltatrix * 
0.21 (0.13) 
141 (17) 
0.14 (0.06) 
98 (2) 
0.03 (0.03) 
100 (-) 
Peprilus triacanthus * 
— 
— 
0.68 (0.17) 
70(5) 
2.52 (0.80) 
55 (3) 
Urophycis regia t 
— 
— 
0.08 (0.04) 
217 (19) 
0.06 (0.04) 
187 (68) 
Stenotomus chrysops * 
— 
— 
0.52 (0.14) 
152 (6) 
0.35 (0.13) 
126 (23) 
Cynoscion regalis t 
— 
— 
4.26(0.66) 
190 (4) 
— 
— 
Prionotus evolans t 
- 
— 
0.06 (0.03) 
110 (13) 
— 
— 
Menticirrhus saxatilis'f 
— 
— 
0.05 (0.03) 
182 (54) 
— 
— 
Centropristis striatus t 
— 
— 
0.03 (0.02) 
58(24) 
0.03 (0.03) 
35 (-) 
Micropogonias undulatus t 
— 
— 
5.58(2.29) 
209 (4) 
0.35 (0.21) 
309 (9) 
Bairdiella chrysoura t 
— 
— 
1.09(0.62) 
131 (2) 
— 
— 
Hippocampus erectus t 
— 
— 
0.02(0.02) 
63 (-) 
— 
— 
Merluccius bilinearis f 
— 
— 
0.02 (0.02) 
79 (-) 
— 
— 
stations BHRTOP and BHR-9 were of intermediate and 
high values, respectively, whereas in the otter trawl 
these stations accounted for the lowest and intermedi- 
ate values, respectively. Over 70% of the individuals 
captured at stations BHRTOP and BHR-9 during the 
beam trawl were young of the year (YOY) smallmouth 
flounder ( Etropus microstomus ), and the majority of 
these averaged 27 mm and 35 mm TL, respectively. 
During previous direct comparisons between beam and 
otter trawls it was found that CPUE and frequency of 
occurrence for smallmouth flounder were greater in 
beam trawls and that mean length was substantially 
less. Because this single species accounted for such 
a large proportion of the abundance at BHRTOP and 
BHR-9 as compared to the abundance at other stations, 
it appears that the selectivity of beam trawls plays a 
large role in estimating fish abundance and thus the 
fish assemblages in general. 
The seeming discrepancies in RPUE between gear 
types at particular locations can be partially explained 
by the limited numbers of tows. At station BHR-9, data 
were collected from only two beam-trawl tows. Although 
ten species were collected, five species were represented 
by one individual and two species were represented by 
two individuals. Given this apparent patchiness, there 
is a possibility that additional sampling at this station 
would yield a RPUE that would more closely reflect the 
pattern observed in the otter-trawl tows. Even though 
a limited number of samples were taken with an otter 
trawl at BHRTOP (?? = 6), our previous opportunistic 
surveys with the same gear at other locations on the 
top of Beach Haven Ridge yielded low numbers of spe- 
cies per tow. However, twice the number of species were 
caught during midsummer sampling in 2006 at this 
station, but abundance of each new species was five 
individuals or less. 
Fish-assemblage structure and 
environmental relationships 
The number of assemblages and their constituent mem- 
bers varied by both gear and season. Two general groups 
were identified in the beam trawl (inshore and near- 
ridge+offshore) and three in the otter trawl (inshore, 
