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Abundance and Diet of Predatory Fishes in Phragmites, Treated Phragmites, and Natural Spartina Marshes in Delaware Bay

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Abstract

Abundance and diet of larger predatory fishes in Phragmites marsh creeks were compared with those in natural Spartina alterniflora marshes and Phragmites marshes exposed to herbicides and burning (treated marshes). The most abundant fishes (n = 3,107) caught in gill nets from June to November 2001 and May to November 2002 were Morone americana (white perch; 82 %) and Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish; 6 %). Annual abundance of species varied inconsistently across habitats. Morone americana caught in Phragmites marshes had lower percent piscivory and gut fullness than those caught in Spartina or treated marsh creeks, perhaps due to reduced fish prey availability. The diet in Phragmites marshes also showed comparatively higher occurrences and dry weights of the dominant marsh surface fish Fundulus heteroclitus (mummichog). With the few exceptions noted for M. americana, larger, piscivorous fishes appeard to function similarly in all three habitats, perhaps because their relatively large home ranges may cross habitat boundaries. More research, at broader spatial scales, is needed to link the effects of marsh restoration on piscivorous fish behavior and movement.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Public Service Enterprise Group Estuary Enhancement Program. We would especially like to thank K. Strait, J. Balletto, J. Klein, R. Rush, B. Evans, and S. Shotzberger for information and logistical support at Alloway Creek. We would like to acknowledge D. Fox and T.M. Grothues for helpful discussions on project design and statistical analyses. We would also like to thank all of the technicians and support staff at Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS) who assisted with this project, particularly S. Brown, J. Toth, P. McGrath, R. Hagan, R. Nichols, G. Petruzelli, J. Lamonaca, M. Greaney, and B. Zlotnik. We would especially like to thank the late Stacy Hagan for all of her help over the years with this research project. This paper is Rutgers University Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences Contribution No. 2014-3.

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  1. Department of Biology, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS, B1P 6L2, Canada

    Katherine M. M. Jones

  2. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University Marine Field Station, 800 c/o 132 Great Bay Boulevard, Tuckerton, NJ, 08087-2004, USA

    Kenneth W. Able

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  1. Katherine M. M. Jones
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Correspondence to Kenneth W. Able.

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Communicated by Josianne G. Støttrup

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Jones, K.M.M., Able, K.W. Abundance and Diet of Predatory Fishes in Phragmites, Treated Phragmites, and Natural Spartina Marshes in Delaware Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 38, 1350–1364 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9883-5

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