Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS35 Biological and Ecological Responses to Low Oxygen in Constant and Fluctuating Environments (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 12:15:00 PM

Location: La Cienega

Craig, J, K, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, USA, kevin.craig@duke.edu

Crowder, L, B, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, USA, lcrowder@duke.edu

Henwood, T, A, National Marine Fisheries Service, Pascagoula, USA, thenwood@triton.pas.nmfs.gov

EFFECTS OF LARGE-SCALE HYPOXIA ON THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ATLANTIC CROAKER AND BROWN SHRIMP IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO

Fish communities inhabiting oceanic ecosystems are often considered ecologically independent of ajoining terrestrial systems. The Mississippi River is a conduit connecting a drainage basin that encompasses much of the central United States with the northwestern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf. Large-scale hypoxia resulting from river and shelf processes is a re-current feature in the Gulf that alters the distribution of mobile demersal species. We hypothesized these effects varied by species and age/size classes due to variation in tolerance to low dissolved oxygen and spatial distribution prior to the onset of hypoxia. Using long-term survey data we assessed changes in the distribution of Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) and brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus), two dominant components of the demersal community, associated with years differing in the spatial extent of hypoxia. Specifically, we examined how hypoxia altered the distribution of Atlantic croaker age classes and the extent to which each age class overlapped with brown shrimp. Understanding how spatial distribution of target (brown shrimp) and non-target (Atlantic croaker) species of fisheries change in response to environmental variability may yield insights useful for management.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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