Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology pp 121–237Cite as

Trophic Linkages in Marshes: Ontogenetic Changes in Diet for Young-of-the-Year Mummichog, Fundulus Heteroclitus

  • Chapter

Abstract

Transfer of salt marsh production in the form of detritus to surrounding coastal and estuarine areas has been an area of interest for a number of years. The common mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus has been proposed as an important link in trophic transfer, however little is known about the role of small young-of-the-year (YOY) in this process. To address this lack of information, YOY were collected from the flooded salt marsh surfaces at a lower Delaware Bay site over 2 summers in order to determine ontogenetic shifts in food habits. Young-of-the-year F. heteroclitus were abundant on the marsh surface, and during peak larval recruitment to the marsh, fish densities reached 15 to 30 fish M−2 Multiple cohorts were visible in 1997, indicating up to 4 separate spawning events. Stomach contents for YOY were dominated by detrital-sediment aggregates, harpacticoid copepods, and annelid worms. The food habits changed with size, with the stomach contents of the smallest individuals (6.6 mm<20.4 mm SL) composed primarily of benthic fauna such as harpacticoid copepods and annelid worms. The stomach contents of larger YOY (20.5–30.4 mm SL) shifted to mostly Spartina detritus and sediment aggregate. Thus, YOY F. heteroclitus consume detritus both directly and indirectly (through consumption of detritivore benthic fauna). Prior research has indicated that the YOY are the dominant fish species and life history stage on the marsh surface in both abundance and biomass, with high measures of secondary production. Thus it is likely that the YOY make a substantial contribution to trophic transfer of production from the marsh surface to the surrounding estuary.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Literature Cited

  • Able, K. W. 1990. Life history patterns of New Jersey salt marsh killifishes. Bulletin of the New Jersey Academy of Science 35: 23–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Able K. W. and M. P. Fahay. 1998. The first year in the life of estuarine fishes in the Middle Atlantic Bight. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Able, K. W., D. A. Witting, R. S. McBride, R. A. Rountree and K. J. Smith. 1996. Fishes of polyhaline estuarine shores in Great Bay-Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey: a case study of seasonal and habitat influences. Pages 335–353 in K. F. Nordstrom and C. T. Roman, editors. Estuarine shores: evolution, environments and human alterations, John Wiley, Chichester, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alheit, J. and W. Scheibel. 1982. Benthic harpacticoids as a food source for fish. Marine Biology 70: 141–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D. M., W. S. Johnson and V. Ogbum-Matthews. 1995. Trophic relationships and seasonal utilization of salt-marsh creeks by zooplanktivorous fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 42: 37–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, E. A., P. E. Fell, M. A. Peck, J. A. Gieg, C. R. Guthke and M. D. Newkirk. 1994. Gut contents of common mummichogs, Fundulus heteroclitus L., in a restored impounded marsh and in natural reference marshes. Estuaries 17: 462–471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babkin, B. P. and D. J. Bowie 1928. The digestive system and its function in Fundulus heteroclitus. Biological Bulletin. 54: 254–277.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker-Dittus, A. M. 1978. Foraging patterns of three sympatric killifish. Copeia 1978: 383–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, S. S. 1979. Short-and long-term variation in a high marsh meiofauna community. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 9: 331–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, S. S. 1980. Meiofauna-macrofauna interactions in a high salt marsh habitat. Ecological Monographs 50: 487–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow, H. B. and W. C. Schroeder. 1953. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fishery Bulletin of the Fish Wildlife Service 1: 1–577.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, D. F. and R. E. Turner. 1984. Dependence of fishery species on salt marshes: the role of food and refuge. Estuaries 7: 460–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butner, A. and B. Brattstrom. 1960. Local movements in Menidia and. Fundulus. Copeia 1960: 139–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Cammen, L. M. 1980. The significance of microbial carbon in the nutrition of the deposit feeding polychaete Nereis succinea. Marine Biology 61: 920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, B. C. and R. F. Denno 1978. The structure of the aquatic insect community associated with intertidal pools on a New Jersey salt marsh. Ecological Entomology 3: 181–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr, W. E. S. and C. A. Adams. 1972. Food habits of juvenile marine fishes: evidence of the cleaning habit in the leatherjacket, Oligoplites saurus, and the spottail pinfish, Diplodus holbrooki. Fishery Bulletin 70: 1111–1120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costello, M. J. 1990. Predator feeding strategy and prey importance: a new graphical analysis. Journal of Fish Biology 36: 261–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coull, B.C. and J. B. J. Wells. 1983. Refuges from fish predation: experiments with phytal meiofauna from the New Zealand rocky intertidal. Ecology 64: 1599–1609.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currin, C. A., S. Y. Newell and H. W. Pearl. 1995. The role of standing dead Spartina alterniflora and benthic microalgae in salt marsh food webs: considerations based on multiple stable isotope analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 121:99–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, M. J. and B. C. Coull. 1989. Fish predation on meiobenthos: field experiments with juvenile spot Leiostomus xanthurus Lacepede. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 130: 19–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritz, E. S. 1974. Total diet comparison in fishes by Spearman rank correlation coefficients. Copeia 1974: 210–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gannon, J.E. 1976. The effects of differential digestion rates of zooplankton by alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, on determinations of selective feeding. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society: 89–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, R. W. J. and E. S. Harrington. 1961. Food selection among fishes invading a high subtropical salt marsh: from onset of flooding through the progress of a mosquito brood. Ecology 42: 646–666.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyslop, E.J. 1980. Stomach contents analysis—a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology 17: 411–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kneib, R. T. 1982. The effects of predation by wading birds (Ardeidae) and blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) on the population size structure of the common mummichog. Fundulus heteroclitus. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 14: 159–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • -1984a. Patterns in the utilization of the intertidal salt marsh by larvae and juveniles of Fundulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus) and Fundulus luciae (Baird). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 83: 41–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • -1984b. Patterns of invertebrate distribution and abundance in the intertidal salt marsh: causes and questions. Estuaries 7A: 392–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • -1986. The role of Fundulus heteroclitus in salt marsh trophic dynamics. American Zoologist 26:259–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • -1987. Predation risk and use of intertidal habitats by young fishes and shrimp. Ecology 68:379–386

    Google Scholar 

  • -1997a. The role of tidal marshes in the ecology of estuarine nekton. Oceanography and marine Biology an annual review 35: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • -1997b. Early life stages of resident nekton in intertidal marshes. Estuaries 20: 214–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kneib, R. T. and J. H. Parker. 1991. Gross conversion efficiencies of mummichog and spotfin killifish larvae from a Georgia salt marsh. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 120: 803–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kneib, R. T. and A. E. Stiven. 1978. Growth, reproduction and feeding of Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) on a North Carolina salt marsh. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 31: 121–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kneib, R. T., A. E. Stiven and E. B. Haines. 1980. Stable carbon isotope ratios in Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) muscle tissue and gut contents from a North Carolina Spartina marsh. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 46: 89–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kneib, R. T. and S. L. Wagner. 1994. Nekton use of vegetated marsh habitats at different stages of tidal inundation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 106: 227–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, L. A., D. Talley and G. Thayer. 1996. Succession of macrobenthos in a created salt marsh. Marine Ecology Progress Series 141: 67–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, G. R. and J. S. Levinton. 1987. Ecology of deposit-feeding animals in marine sediments. Quarterly Review of Biology 62: 235–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meredith, W. H. and V. A. Lotrich. 1979. Production dynamics of a tidal creek population of Fundulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus). Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 8: 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, S. C. 1991. The ecology of estuarine fishes in southern Maine high salt marshes; access corridors and movement patterns. Thesis. University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, S. W. 1980. Between coastal marshes and coastal waters — a review of twenty years of speculation and research on the role of salt marshes in estuarine productivity and water chemistry. Pages 437–525 in P. Hamilton and K. B. MacDonald, editors. Estuarine and wetland processes. Plenum Press, New York, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, S. W. and C. A. Oviatt. 1973. Ecology of a New England salt marsh. Ecological Monographs 43: 463–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, H. M. 1997. Importance of vascular plant and algal production to macro-invertebrate consumers in a southern California salt marsh. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 45: 823–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Posey, M. H., T. D. Alphin and C. M. Powell. 1997. Plant and infaunal communities associated with a created marsh. Estuaries 20:42–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinslow, T. E., I. Valiela and J. M. Teal. 1974. The effect of detritus and ration size on the growth of Fundulus heteroclitus (L.). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 16:1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rountree, R. A. and K. W. Able. 1992. Foraging habits, growth and temporal patterns of salt-marsh creek habitat use by young-of-the-year summer flounder in New Jersey. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 121: 765–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, D. S., L. L. Matthews and R. J. Feller. 1991. Detecting selective digestion of meiobenthic prey by uvenile spot Leiostomus xanthurus (Pisces) using immunoassays. Marine Ecology Progress Series 72: 59–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmelz, G. W. 1964. A natural history study of the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus) in Canary Creek Marsh. Thesis, University of Delaware, Delaware, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh-Renton, S. and P. J. Bromley. 1996. Effects of temperature, prey type and prey size on gastric evacuation in small cod and whiting. Journal of Fish Biology 49: 702–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, K. J. 1995. Processes regulating habitat use by salt marsh nekton in a southern New Jersey estuary. Dissertation. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbot, C. W. and K. W. Able. 1984. Composition and distribution of larval fishes in New Jersey high marshes. Estuaries 7: 434–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbot, C. W., K. W. Able and J. K. Shisler. 1986. Fish species composition in New Jersey salt marshes: effects of marsh alterations for mosquito control. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 115: 269–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M. H., G. J. Leach, L. DiMichele, W. M. Levitan and W. F. Jacob. 1979. Lunar spawning cycle in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae). Copeia: 291–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teal, J. M. 1962. Energy flow in the salt marsh ecosystem of Georgia. Ecology 43: 614–624.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainright, S. C., M. P. Weinstein, K. W. Able, C. A. Currin (in press). Relative importance of benthic microalgae, phytoplankton and the detritus of smooth cordgrass (Spartina) and the common reed (Phragmites) to brackish marsh food webs. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisberg, S. B. and V. A. Lotrich. 1982. The importance of an infrequently flooded intertidal marsh surface as an energy source for the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus: an experimental approach. Marine Biology 66: 307–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisberg, S. B., R. Whalen and V. A. Lotrich. 1981. Tidal and diurnal influences on food consumption of a salt marsh killifish Fundulus heteroclitus. Marine Biology 61: 243–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 71 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ, 08901-8521, USA

    KellY J. Smith & Gary L. Taghon

  2. Marine Field Station, 800 Great Bay Blvd., c/o 132 Great Bay Blvd., Tuckerton, NJ, 08087-2004, USA

    Kenneth W. Able

Authors
  1. KellY J. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gary L. Taghon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kenneth W. Able
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, Fort Hancock, NJ, USA

    Michael P. Weinstein

  2. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Daniel A. Kreeger

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Smith, K.J., Taghon, G.L., Able, K.W. (2002). Trophic Linkages in Marshes: Ontogenetic Changes in Diet for Young-of-the-Year Mummichog, Fundulus Heteroclitus. In: Weinstein, M.P., Kreeger, D.A. (eds) Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47534-0_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47534-0_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6019-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-47534-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation