. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 288 REPORTS FROM THE MBL GENERAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS Reference: Biol. Bull, 193: 2XK-2H9. (October, 1997) The Importance of Access to Salt-Marsh Surface to Short-term Growth of Fundulus heteroclitits in a New England Salt Marsh Robert Javonillo (Boston University Marine Program. Marine Biological Laboratory. Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543), Linda Deegan\ Katina Chiaravalle2, and Jeffrey Hughes* The mummichog. Fniululus heteroclitus, is one of the most abundant fishes in Atlantic coast estuaries (1). Studies in Dela- ware (2
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 288 REPORTS FROM THE MBL GENERAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS Reference: Biol. Bull, 193: 2XK-2H9. (October, 1997) The Importance of Access to Salt-Marsh Surface to Short-term Growth of Fundulus heteroclitits in a New England Salt Marsh Robert Javonillo (Boston University Marine Program. Marine Biological Laboratory. Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543), Linda Deegan\ Katina Chiaravalle2, and Jeffrey Hughes* The mummichog. Fniululus heteroclitus, is one of the most abundant fishes in Atlantic coast estuaries (1). Studies in Dela- ware (2) and Georgia (3) have shown the flooded salt-marsh surface to be an important foraging habitat, where small crusta- ceans and annelids are the primary prey. Pools on the surface 1 Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543. : Coastal Carolina University. Conway, South Carolina 29528. CD LU n • Initial weight Final weight LU 0 z u t— o. ACCESS NO ACCESS ACCESS NO ACCESS LOW MARSH HIGH MARSH of New England salt marshes are surrounded by either Spartina tilterniftiini, in the low marsh, or S. patens, in the high marsh. The presence of S. alterniflora indicates a high frequency of flooding, whereas S. patens indicates a low frequency. Our hypotheses were (a) access to the marsh surface during marsh flooding enhances mummichog growth, and (b) the growth stim- ulus is greater in the more-frequently-flooded low marsh. To test these hypotheses, we conducted field experiments in which we enclosed fish in cages that either allowed or denied access to areas of high or low marsh. We used two low-marsh pools and two high-marsh pools of the Rowley River salt marsh, northern Massachusetts. The pools were soft-bottomed, rela- tively small (<70 m2), and free of submerged aquatic vegeta- tion. During the study period (24 July to 8 August 1997), water temperature fluctuated from 27°C (day) to 19°C (night) in all pools. Two cages were constr
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlilliefrankrat, booksubjectbiology, booksubjectzoology
