Patterns in Species Composition of Fish and Selected Invertebrate Assemblages in Estuarine Subregions near Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida

Abstract

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fisheries-Independent Monitoring program monitored the species composition and relative abundance of fishes and selected invertebrates in the estuarine waters near Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida, from January 1993 through to December 1996. Sampling sites were located in three distinct physiographic and biotic estuarine subregions: Mosquito Lagoon (ML; 11 stations), Ponce de Leon Inlet (PI; 8 stations), and Tomoka Basin/River (TR; 8 stations). This series of subregions associated with Ponce de Leon Inlet is a species-rich estuarine system that is numerically dominated by a few taxa. A total of 1080477 animals representing 160 species and 56 families were recorded.Anchoa spp. (29·9%) and Menidia spp. (12·6%) were the numerically dominant taxa. Sciaenidae and Gobiidae were the most speciose families, with 12 species each (14·0% and 1·7% of the total animals collected, respectively), followed by the bothids 10 species (0·6% of total animals). Detrended correspondence analysis showed that the subregions could be discriminated by their respective species composition and relative abundance. Spatial differences in species composition were principally attributed to differences in the magnitude of seasonal recruitment events and to habitat characteristics associated with the presence of seagrass, inlet dynamics, or the influence of freshwater discharge. The presence of freshwater taxa (centrarchids) and the seasonal recruitment of juvenile Penaeidae,Micropogonias undulatus , Stellifer lanceolatus and Leiostomus xanthurus, characterize the TR area, whereas the presence of species associated with higher salinities (Opisthonema oglinum and Harengula jaguana) characterize PI and with seagrass (Lucania parva and Lagodon rhomboides) characterize ML.