Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
5-6-2015
Journal
Marine Ecology Progress Series
Volume
527
First Page
167
Last Page
180
Abstract
Comparing larval fish assemblages in different estuaries provides insights about the coastal distribution of larval populations, larval transport, and adult spawning locations. We simultaneously compared the larval fish assemblages entering 2 Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) estuaries(Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, USA) through weekly sampling from 2007 to 2009. In total,43 taxa (32 families) and 36 taxa (24 families) were collected in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays,respectively. Mean taxonomic diversity, mean richness, and evenness were generally lower in Delaware Bay. Communities of both bays were dominated by Anchoaspp., Gobiosomaspp.,Micropogonias undulatus, and Brevoortia tyrannus; Paralichthys spp. was more abundant in Delaware Bay and Microgobius thalassinus was more abundant in Chesapeake Bay. Inter-annual variation in the larval fish communities was low at both sites, with a relatively consistent composition across years, but strong seasonal (intra-annual) variation in species composition occurred in both bays. Two groups were identified in Chesapeake Bay: a ‘winter’ group dominated by shelf-spawned species and a ‘summer’ group comprising obligate estuarine species and coastal species.In Delaware Bay, 4 groups were identified: a ‘summer’ group of mainly obligate estuarine fishes being replaced by a ‘fall’ group; ‘winter’ and ‘spring’ groups were dominated by shelf-spawned and obligate estuarine species, respectively. This study demonstrates that inexpensive and simultaneous sampling in different estuaries provides important insights into the variability in community structure of fish assemblages at large spatial scales.
DOI
doi: 10.3354/meps11265
Keywords
Estuarine systems · Young-of-the-year · Community composition · Temporalvariability · Ichthyoplankton · Middle Atlantic Bight
Recommended Citation
Ribeiro, Filipe; Hale, Edward; Hilton, Eric J.; Clardy, Todd R.; Deary, Alison L.; Targett, Timothy E.; and Olney, John E., Composition and temporal patterns of larval fish communities in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, USA (2015). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 527, 167-180.
doi: 10.3354/meps11265
Supplementary material
