consistently occurred as bands paralleling the bank margins. Sedimentary structures, 
textures, seagrass rhizome depths and measurements of changes in bank morphology all 
indicated windward erosion and leeward deposition of mound sediment. This supported 
the hypotheses of down-wind bank migration, and suggested that this occurs in normal 
but sporadic weather conditions. When surface sediment composition and benthic 
communities were compared regionally within south Florida, they showed a trend of 
reducing diversity from the reef tract through to central Florida Bay. Sediment 
textures varied locally with windward and leeward environments. This work was based 
on studies of aerial photographs and a series of measurements from 1985 through 1987 
along two transects in Upper Cross Bank. 
1985 - 1988 
Bowman, R., and G. T. Bancroft (1989) Least bittern nesting on mangrove keys in Florida 
Bay. Fla. Field Nat. . 17(2):43-6. 
The lest bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) is found throughout much of the western 
hemisphere. It is usually associated with a variety of freshwater habitats and to a 
lesser extent salt marshes. In southern Florida, the lest bittern is a common resident of 
the Everglades freshwater marshes, nesting primarily in sawgrass and cattail. Most 
sightings of the least bittern in the Florida Keys have been during the fall or winter 
months suggesting migrating or wintering birds. This study reports the first 
observations of least bittern nesting on mangrove keys in Florida Bay. Observations 
were made from 1985 to 1988 on Middle Butternut Key and Bottle Key. 
1 986 
Butler, M. J., and W. F. Herrnkind (1991) Effect of benthic microhabitat cues on the 
metamorphosis of pueruli of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. J. Crustacean Biol. . 
11(1 ):23-8. 
To determine whether settlement microhabitat induces metamorphosis in the puerulus 
stage of the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus ) and to identify the specific 
features of the habitat that might elicit the response, we monitored the metamorphic 
progress of more than 200 pueruli exposed to 6 different settlement substrates: 
seawater alone (no substrate), red algae, seagrass, artificial algae, algae-treated 
seawater, and artificial algae plus algae-treated seawater. Initial pigmentation followed 
settlement by approximately 1 day and began 3 - 6 days (mean = 5 days) after the 
swimming pueruli were intercepted entering the Florida Bay nursery. Presence of red 
algae, Laurencia spp., a preferred settlement substrate, accelerated the rate of 
pigmentation, but by less than a day. Metamorphosis to the first benthic juvenile stage 
occurred 7 - 9 days (mean = 8 days) after pueruli entered the Bay and were unaffected 
by any of the substrates tested. Rates of both pigmentation and metamorphosis varied 
by as much as 2 days among replicate experiments conducted during the summers of 
1986 - 1988. These results suggest that metamorphosis of pueruli of P. argus is 
essentially determinant; thus, physiological constraints may limit the distance that 
pueruli can disperse into the nursery and may force many pueruli to settle in 
inappropriate habitats where survival is improbable. 
1986 0 
Tagett, M. G., and H. R. Wanless (1986) Marine mudbank nucleation and evolution, western 
Florida Bay. Geol. Soc. Amer. Abs. . 18:768. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY. DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] Detailed 
lithofacies and faunal analysis of over 100 cores demonstrates that Dildo Key mudbank, 
one of three large mudbanks separating western Florida Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, is 
an amalgamation of several smaller ’core' mudbanks. These are similar to younger 
mudbanks now forming in east-central Florida Bay. Portions of the islands have 
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