|
Teaching Marsh: Shallow Water Community of the
Teaching Marsh
Aquatic organisms that are always under water are found in shallow water habitats. Small and juvenile estuarine fishes, grass shrimp, amphipods & microscopic plankton either swim or they are transported into the salt marsh during high tides. Killifish and other small, schooling minnows can also be found in the fresh water marsh.
Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) - This fish lives in estuaries, tidal creeks, salt marshes and nearby freshwater creeks along the Atlantic coast.
|
Striped Killifish (Fundulus majalis) - The striped killifish is found along the Mid-Atlantic region close to shore and in bays, estuaries and tidal creeks. Striped killifish live in tidal rivers only as far as the average boundary between fresh and brackish water.
|
Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinidon variegates) - The sheepshead minnow occurs in sea, brackish, or freshwater, but is most common in brackish water close to shore.
|
Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) - Spot commonly live over muddy bottoms in or near aquatic vegetation and eat a variety of bottom dwelling worms, plant material and detritus.
|
Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) (photo courtesy of NOAA) - Brackish water Palaemonetes are among the most widely distributed, abundant, and conspicuous of the shallow water benthic macroinvertebrates in the estuaries of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Although grass shrimp have only limited value as fish bait or food for cultured fish or humans, their ecological importance is unquestioned.
|
Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) (photo courtesy Adrian Jones, UMCES) - Horseshoe crabs live in a variety of shallow water bays and inlets as well as offshore. They have a wide salinity and temperature tolerance (down to 55 degrees F). Below 55 degrees F, the horseshoe crab will bury into the mud and sand until temperatures warm.
|
Amphipod (Leptocheirus plumulosus) - The common burrower amphipod is found in the subtidal zones of estuaries throughout the U.S. Atlantic coast living in permanent tubes of sand grains and debris. Common burrower amphipods live in both shallow and deep water with good circulation. They prefer the oligohaline and mesohaline regions of the Chesapeake Bay.
|
Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) - Blue crabs serve as both prey (in its juvenile stage) and as consumers of plankton, small invertebrates, fish and other crabs. They are important detritivores and scavengers throughout their range not to mention a major fisheries species.
|
|
|
