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VIMS Articles

1999

Nekton; estuarine gradient; tidal freshwater; Chesapeake Bay

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Correspondence Between Environmental Gradients And Summer Littoral Fish Assemblages In Low Salinity Reaches Of The Chesapeake Bay, Usa, Cm Wagner, Hm Austin Jan 1999

Correspondence Between Environmental Gradients And Summer Littoral Fish Assemblages In Low Salinity Reaches Of The Chesapeake Bay, Usa, Cm Wagner, Hm Austin

VIMS Articles

Patterns in the assemblage structure of littoral fishes occupying the gradient between riverine and estuarine ecosystems were revealed through multivariate analysis of 5 annual summer seine surveys in 4 tributary systems of the lower Chesapeake Bay. Catch per unit effort of fishes was quantified and environmental variables measured to characterize assemblage structure and population responses along large-scale (km) environmental gradients. Results of two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) suggested the presence of 4 intergrading assemblages of littoral beach fishes: permanent tidal freshwater, lower tidal freshwater, oligohaline estuary and mesohaline estuary. Littoral …