. Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile . Fig. The great egret {Casmerodius albus) Photo by B Howes. food for birds and surface-feeding fish in the wet- land ecosystem. Other insects such as plant hop- pers, grasshoppers, and aphids, as well as many species of amphipods and spiders, also are an im- portant part of the fauna of Buzzards Bay salt marshes. Molts of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) and frequently the crab itself, are com- mon sights around Buzzards Bay. Known as a "liv- ing fossil," horseshoe crabs have remained basi- cally unchanged over the past 20
. Ecology of Buzzards Bay : an estuarine profile . Fig. The great egret {Casmerodius albus) Photo by B Howes. food for birds and surface-feeding fish in the wet- land ecosystem. Other insects such as plant hop- pers, grasshoppers, and aphids, as well as many species of amphipods and spiders, also are an im- portant part of the fauna of Buzzards Bay salt marshes. Molts of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) and frequently the crab itself, are com- mon sights around Buzzards Bay. Known as a "liv- ing fossil," horseshoe crabs have remained basi- cally unchanged over the past 200 million years, with ancestors estimated to have roamed shore- lines roughly 350 million years ago. Not actually a crab at all, Limulus is an arthropod, related to spi- ders and scorpions. The larger females move from deeper water in early summer to lay eggs along the high tide line. Horseshoe crabs are particularly in- teresting in that they possess a blue, copper-based blood with only one type of cell, which can be ex- tracted for use in various medical assays such as identification of infections caused by spinal menin- gitis and E. coli, as well as certain types of cancers and blood clots. Fish are an important part of the ecology of Buzzards Bay salt marshes, and as both predator and prey they represent an important component of the estuarine food web in the marsh-bay system. The tidal marshes of Buzzards Bay support resi- dent species, which spend most of their life within the tidal creeks and pools of the marsh system, and nonresident or invading species, which enter into marsh waters and spend only a portion of their life there. Of the nonresident species, some are adults that enter into salt marshes to spawn, and others are juveniles of coastal species that use the marshes as nursery grounds. The resident species offish found in Buzzards Bay salt marshes are typified by the Atlantic silver- side, the four-spined stickleback, and three spe- cies of killifish, mummichog,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionameri, bookcollectionbiodiversity
