Species-specific avoidance responses by blue crabs and fish to chronic and episodic hypoxia

Abstract

Although both chronic and episodic hypoxia (O2<2 mg l−1) alter the distribution and abundance patterns of mobile animals within estuaries, recent evidence suggests that some animals may be more likely to remain within hypoxic or anoxic water than others, due to differences in physiological tolerance and movement responses to the dynamics of hypoxia. Determining avoidance responses to hypoxia is important for identifying the species most susceptible to the direct and indirect impacts of these events. A trawl survey was used to examine the avoidance responses of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and several fish [pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), and paralichthid flounders (Paralichthys dentatus and Paralichthys lethostigma)] to chronic hypoxia and episodic hypoxic upwelling events in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA. Trawl collections were made in three depth strata (3.0–4.6 m, 1.7–3.0 m, and 0.9–1.7 m depth) to quantify changes in the depth-specific distribution and abundance patterns of the six most common estuarine taxa during three dissolved oxygen conditions: normoxia, chronic hypoxia, and episodic hypoxic upwelling events. Pinfish, anchovies, blue crabs, and paralichthid flounder abundance increased with increasing dissolved oxygen concentrations. The two taxa most closely associated with the bottom (blue crabs and flounder) showed the strongest avoidance response to hypoxia. All taxa showed a stronger avoidance response to chronic hypoxia as compared to episodic hypoxic upwelling events. This difference is attributed to a reduced ability to avoid the rapid intrusions of hypoxic water during episodic events, or to increased risks of injury and predation in shallow refuge habitats, which may force some individuals back into hypoxic water.