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Anadromous Rainbow Smelt And Tomcod In Connecticut: Assessment Of Populations, Conservation Status, And Need For Restoration Plan, Heather A. Fried, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

(beginning of rainbow smelt executive summary)

Evidence indicates that anadromous rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) populations in Connecticut and elsewhere in the northeast United States have severely declined. Several sampling programs have documented declines in Connecticut’s smelt populations over the last three decades (Marcy 1976a, Marcy 1976b, Millstone Environmental Laboratory 2005). Similar declines have also been documented in the Hudson River (ASA Analysis & Communication 2005) and in Massachusetts (personal communication, Brad Chase, MA Division of Marine Fisheries 2004). Recreational and commercial fisheries in the region for this species have virtually ceased (Blake and Smith 1984). The Connecticut Fish Advisory Committee …

Assessment Of Anadromous Alewife And Blueback Herring Populations In Connecticut Coastal Streams And Connecticut River Tributaries, Justin P. Davis, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (A. aestivalis) occur in anadromous populations that have a largely overlapping distribution from Florida to Newfoundland (Loesch 1987). Anadromous populations of these species are commonly collectively referred to as “river herring”. Adults inhabit coastal shelf waters until sexual maturity is reached at age 3-5 (Neves 1981). Sexually mature individuals make spawning migrations, commonly referred to as “runs”, into freshwater systems during spring months (Loesch 1987). Spawners can survive and return to spawn in subsequent years (Mullen et al. 1986). Juveniles reside in freshwater for 3-7 months, at which time they undertake a gradual migration …

A Switch From Polyandry To Serial Monogamy: Results From A Three Year Tagging Study Of Horseshoe Crabs In Long Island Sound, Jennifer Mattei Ph.D., Paul Goodell, Christine Depierro, Meghann Burke

Biology Faculty Publications

Part of an ongoing population study of the North American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, in Long Island Sound was completed during the 2003 – 2005 spawning seasons at Milford Point, in Milford, CT. Horseshoe crabs range more widely throughout Long Island Sound than expected and exhibit weak site fidelity. Animals originally tagged in Milford were found as far west as Stamford and as far east as Clinton, CT. during the 3 year study. Out of 522 female horseshoe crabs tagged in 2004 only 4 came back to spawn again at Milford Pt. in 2005. The sex ratios of tagged and …