Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mainstem and Backwater Fish Assemblages in the Tidal Caloosahatchee River: Implications for Freshwater Inflow Studies

  • Note
  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research strategies for investigating the freshwater-inflow requirements of estuarine fishes often integrate life-history information and correlative analyses of inflow and fish abundance. In tidal rivers, however, some fish have affinities for embayments, oxbows, and smaller tributaries, often referred to collectively as river “backwaters”. The objective of this study was to determine whether freshwater and estuarine fish assemblages differed between backwaters and the mainstem of the tidal Caloosahatchee River, a highly managed river system located in an urban setting in southwest Florida. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling of 21.3-m seine data revealed that fish assemblages did indeed differ between the backwater and mainstem habitats in each of three river sections. Univariate analyses identified species that differed in abundance between the habitats, which included ecologically and economically important fishes in the region. For example, striped mullet Mugil cephalus and pinfish Lagodon rhomboides were more abundant along the river's mainstem; common snook Centropomus undecimalis and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus were more abundant in the river's backwaters. For those species that were more abundant along the mainstem of the river or showed no difference, studies that measure changes in the distribution and abundance of these species with varying inflow along the mainstem of the river are justified. However, for species that were more abundant in backwater areas, geomorphological features should be considered in the design of studies that assess factors affecting fish use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Adams, A.J., K.W. Wolfe, W.E. Pine III, and B.L. Thornton. 2006. Efficacy of PIT tags and an autonomous antennae system to study the juvenile life stage of an estuarine-dependent fish. Estuaries and Coasts 29: 311–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alber, M. 2002. A conceptual model of estuarine freshwater inflow management. Estuaries 25: 1246–1261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D.M., S.S. Haertel-Borer, B.J. Milan, D. Bushek, and R.F. Dame. 2007. Geomorphological determinants of nekton use of intertidal salt marsh creek. Marine Ecology Progress Series 329: 57–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthington, A.H., S.E. Bunn, N.L. Poff, and R.J. Naiman. 2006. The challenge of providing environmental flow rules to sustain river ecosystems. Ecological Applications 16: 1311–1318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baisre, J.A., and Z. Arboleya. 2006. Going against the flow: Effects of river damming in Cuban fisheries. Fisheries Research 81: 283–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bray, J.R., and J.T. Curtis. 1957. An ordination of the upland forest communities of Southern Wisconsin. Ecological Monographs 27: 325–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browder, J.A., and D. Moore. 1981. A new approach to determining the quantitative relationship between fishery production and the flow of fresh water to estuaries. In: R. Cross and D. Williams (eds). Proceedings of the National Symposium on Freshwater Inflows to Estuaries. US Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS/OBS-81/04:403–430.

  • Clarke, K.R., and R.M. Warwick. 2001. Change in marine communities: An approach to statistical analysis and interpretation, 2nd ed. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK: Natural Environment Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, J.W., C.A.S. Hall, W.M. Kemp, and A. Yanez-Arancibia. 1989. Estuarine ecology. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estevez, E.D. 2002. Review and assessment of biotic variables and analytical methods used in estuarine inflow studies. Estuaries 25: 1291–1303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faunce, C.H., and J.J. Lorenz. 2000. Reproductive biology of the introduced Mayan cichlid, Cichlasoma urophthalmus, within an estuarine mangrove habitat of southern Florida. Environmental Biology of Fishes 58: 215–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, M.S., E.B. Peebles, and R.T. Montgomery. 2002. A percent-of-flow approach for managing reductions of freshwater inflows from unimpounded rivers to southwest Florida estuaries. Estuaries 25: 1318–1332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M.F.D., C.F. Idelberger, and P.W. Stevens. 2007a. Habitat associations of large-bodied mangrove-shoreline fishes in a southwest Florida estuary and the effects of hurricane damage. Bulletin of Marine Science 80: 805–821.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M.F.D., R.E. Matheson Jr., R.H. McMichael Jr., and T.C. MacDonald. 2007b. Community structure of shoreline nekton in the estuarine portion of the Alafia River, Florida: Differences along a salinity gradient and inflow-related changes. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 74: 223–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, M.J., and P.H. Doering. 2005. Significance of considering multiple environmental variables when using habitat as an indicator of estuarine condition. In Estuarine Indicators, ed. S.A. Bortone, 211–227. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idelberger, C.F., and M.F.D. Greenwood. 2005. Seasonal variation in fish assemblages within the estuarine portions of the myakka and peace rivers, southwest Florida. Gulf of Mexico Science 23: 224–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kupschus, S., and D. Tremain. 2001. Associations between fish assemblages and environmental factors in nearshore habitats of a subtropical estuary. Journal of Fish Biology 5: 1383–1403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehtinen, R.M., N.D. Mundahl, and J.C. Madejczyk. 1997. Autumn use of woody snags by fishes in backwater and channel border habitats of a large river. Environmental Biology of Fishes 49: 7–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nack, S.B., D. Bunnell, D.M. Green, and J.L. Forney. 1993. Spawning and nursery habitats of largemouth bass in the tidal Hudson river. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 122: 208–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, J.S., E.J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, R.N. Lea, and J.D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 6th edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland.

  • Nordlie, F.G. 2006. Physiochemical environments and tolerances of cyprinodontoid fishes found in estuaries and salt marshes of eastern North America. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 16: 51–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robins, J.B., I.A. Halliday, J. Staunton-Smith, D.G. Mayer, and M.J. Sellin. 2005. Freshwater-flow requirements of estuarine fisheries in tropical Australia: A review of the state of knowledge and application of a suggested approach. Marine and Freshwater Research 56: 343–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas, L.P., and T.J. Minello. 1997. Estimating densities of small fishes and decapod crustaceans in shallow estuarine habitats: A review of sampling design with focus on gear selection. Estuaries 20: 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, M.T., and L.A. Nielson. 1989. Young fish distribution in backwaters and main-channel borders of the Kanawha river, West Virginia. Journal of Fish Biology 35: 21–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafland, P.L. 1994. Exotic fishes of Florida. Reviews in Fisheries Science 4: 101–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sklar, F.H., and J.A. Browder. 1998. Coastal environmental impacts brought about by alterations in freshwater flow in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Management 22: 547–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, P.W., D.A. Blewett, and G.R. Poulakis. 2007. Variable habitat use by juvenile common snook, Centropomus undecimalis (Pisces: Centropomidae): Applying a life-history model in a southwest Florida estuary. Bulletin of Marine Science 80: 93–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, P.W., C.L. Montague, and K.J. Sulak. 2006. Fate of fish production in a seasonally flooded saltmarsh. Marine Ecology Progress Series 327: 267–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visintainer, T.A., S.M. Bollens, and C.S. Simenstad. 2006. Community composition and diet of fishes as a function of tidal channel geomorphology. Marine Ecology Progress Series 321: 227–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, C.M., and H.M. Austin. 1999. Correspondence between environmental gradients and summer littoral fish assemblages in low salinity reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 177: 197–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, S.D., J.J. Burd Jr., and B.A. Robertson. 2007. Using estuarine landscape structure to model distribution patterns in nekton communities and in juveniles of fishery species. Marine Ecology Progress Series 330: 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of the Charlotte Harbor Field Laboratory for dedicated field assistance. This study was supported in part by the South Florida Water Management District, by funds collected from the State of Florida Saltwater Fishing License sales and by the Department of the Interior, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid for Sport Fish Restoration Grant Number F-43. We appreciate the comments of several anonymous reviewers and the editorial suggestions of Judy Leiby and Jim Quinn.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Marin F. D. Greenwood

    Present address: ICF International, 630 K Street, Sacramento, CA, 95814, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Charlotte Harbor Field Laboratory, 585 Prineville St, Port Charlotte, FL, 33954, USA

    Philip W. Stevens, Charles F. Idelberger & David A. Blewett

  2. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Marin F. D. Greenwood

Authors
  1. Philip W. Stevens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marin F. D. Greenwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charles F. Idelberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David A. Blewett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip W. Stevens.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

Primer 6 software package (DOC 35 kb)

ESM 2

Comparisons of water quality by river section and stratum (DOC 35 kb)

ESM 3

Species-specific tests using generalized linear models (DOC 1100 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stevens, P.W., Greenwood, M.F.D., Idelberger, C.F. et al. Mainstem and Backwater Fish Assemblages in the Tidal Caloosahatchee River: Implications for Freshwater Inflow Studies. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 1216–1224 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9318-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9318-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation