recaptured tagged fish moved significantly further and more northerly out of the Park's 
waters than they did the rest of the year. Tags were returned from 2.8% of the fish 
tagged along the west coast and from 0.3% of the fish tagged in Florida Bay and west 
coast mullet form a series of spatially overlapping stocks. 
1984 - 1985 
Hettler, W. F. (1989) Food habits of juveniles of spotted seatrout and gray snapper in 
Western Florida Bay. Symp. on Florida Bay: A Subtropical Lagoon. Miami, FL. June, 1987. 
Bull, Mar, ScL 44( 1 ): 155-62. 
Stomach contents were analyzed from 144 juvenile spotted seatrout, Cynoscion 
nebulosus, and 215 juvenile gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus, collected by trawl or 
rotenone from shallow seagrass flats, deep bank channels, or mangrove prop root 
habitats in western Florida Bay. Collections took place in 1984 and 1985 and are 
detailed in Thayer and Chester (1989). Both species fed almost exclusively on 
crustaceans and fishes. Smaller non-decapod crustaceans—copepods, amphipods, and 
mysids were more abundant as measured by percent occurrence in the smallest size 
classes (<50 mm SL). Penaeid shrimp, the most numerous prey in both fishes, and 
caridean shrimp increased in percent occurrence as fish increased in size. Fish were 
important in the largest size classes, above 150 mm SL. Rainwater killifish, Lucania 
parva, was the most common fish consumed. About 20% of the trout and snapper had 
empty stomachs when collected in grass flats, whereas about 60% of both species had 
empty stomachs when taken in channels. Relatively few fish were collected in 
mangroves and none of these specimens contained penaeids. No prey species were 
identified in either gamefish that are not common in Florida Bay. 
1984 - 1985 
Holmquist, J. G., G. V. N. Powell, and S. M. Sogard (1989) Decapod and stomatopod 
assemblages on a system of seagrass-covered mud banks in Florida Bay. Mar. Biol. . 
100:473-83. 
The latticework of seagrass-covered mudbanks in Florida Bay divides the Bay into 
distinct subenvironments and supports a robust seagrass community subject to 
pronounced physical stress. Throw-trap sampling of decapods and stomatopods during 
1984 and 1985 (December - April, May - August and September - November of each 
year) showed that bank sides exposed to turbulence had low abundance but similar 
species richness to that of bank tops and sheltered sides. The fauna was more Gulf- 
Carolinean than Antillean. The sampling sites were near or at Lake Key, Pass Key, Eagle 
Key, Cross Bank, Cowpens Key, Buchanan Key, Oyster Key, and Murray Key. The 
crustacean communities of the different subenvironments, however, were distinct, 
with both Antillean and temperate assemblages represented and with one isolated area 
markedly depauperate. The two subenvironments adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and 
Gulf of Mexico held the greatest densities. Multiple-regression techniques suggested 
that vegetational habitat characteristics played a secondary role compared to various 
physical factors. Restricted circulation (compounded by winter cold-fronts or other 
seasonal causes of density maxima, juxtaposed faunal provinces, and the wider salinity 
range of the isolated regions of the Bay may be primarily responsible for the strikingly 
different communities of the various subenvironments. [This work was also discussed 
in: Holmquist, J. G., G. V. N. Powell, and S. M. Sogard (1989) Decapod and stomatopod 
communities of seagrass-covered mudbanks in Florida Bay: inter- and intra-bank 
heterogeneity with special reference to isolated subenvironments. Symp. on Florida 
Bay: A Subtropical Lagoon. Miami, FL. June, 1987. Bull. Mar. ScL 44( 1 ):251 -62.] 
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