Welcome to Red Snapper Season 2023! The season began June 1, 2023 at 12:01am for “For Hire” vessels fishing in federal waters and continues through August 25, 2023.
For Florida recreational anglers in state waters, the season started a few days later on June 16. While the summer season ends on July 31, 2023, fishing enthusiasts can look forward to 3-day fishing weekends in Florida State waters later in October and November 2023. This means there are still additional days of red snapper fishing opportunities in 2023, giving you ample time to plan exciting fishing adventures.
Here, we present Bay County’s recent artificial reefs, which serve as prime fishing locations for this year’s seasons. This select collection includes three distinct areas: east (State), south (Federal), and west (State). These sites have had the opportunity to grow and mature, with over 290 reef modules deployed between May 2019 and December 2020.
East Location – Sherman Site
Walter Marine deploys one of nine super reefs deployed in Bay County’s NRDA Phase I project located approximately 12 nautical miles southeast of the St. Andrew Pass. Each massive super reef weighs over 36,000 lbs and is 15 ft tall. Multiple modules deployed in tandem provides equivalent tonnage and structure similar to a medium to large sized scuttled vessel. Photo by Bob Cox, Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association.
This project was completed in May 2019 in partnership with the Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The deployment site in the Sherman Artificial Reef Permit Area is approximately 12 nm southeast of St. Andrew Bay Pass at a depth of approximately 80 feet. A total of twenty-five modules were deployed, including nine 18-ton reefs and sixteen 3-ton reefs.
South Location – Large Area Artificial Reef Site (LAARS) A
Large 45,000 lbs. concrete modules staged for deployment. These were placed by HG Harders and Son in July of 2019.
This project was completed in July 2019 in partnership with the Bay County Artificial Reef Association and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. The deployment site in LAARS A is approximately 12 nm south of the pass, with reef modules located around the center of the permitted area. The reefs are situated in about 105 feet of water. There are seventeen reef modules, including five 22-ton reefs with a height of 18 feet and twelve 2.5-ton reefs with a height of 5 feet.
West Location – SAARS E – L
This area has the largest number of reef modules and permit sites. It includes 154 small pyramids that are 8 ft tall and weigh about 10 tons. There are also 26 large pyramids that are 18 ft tall and weigh about 18 tons. Additionally, 25 concrete disk reefs, weighing about 3 tons each, were deployed nested inside select Super Reefs, adding to the complexity and diversity of the reefs. In total, approximately 980 tons of engineered concrete artificial reef material were placed in 8 permitted areas. These deployments were completed in December 2020 with the support of the Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association.
Bay County’s NRDA Phase II deployment in Small Area Artificial Reef Sites (SAARS) E – L are located 11 – 15 nautical miles (nm) southwest of St Andrew Bay Pass in Florida state waters. (Source ArcGIS mapping software).
This monitoring dive was conducted by FWC in January 2021, shortly after the reefs were deployed. You can move the 360 deg video image to experience what the divers see and observe.
Below is an overview map of these three prime snapper sites!
Wishing everyone great fishing days on the water with family and friends!
Chantille Weber, Coastal Resource Coordinator, UF/IFAS Extension Bay County
L. Scott Jackson, Bay County Extension Director, UF/IFAS Extension Bay County and Florida Sea Grant
An Equal Opportunity Institution. UF/IFAS Extension, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Andra Johnson, Dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Single copies of UF/IFAS Extension publications (excluding 4-H and youth publications) are available free to Florida residents from county UF/IFAS Extension offices.
When snorkeling the grassbeds of the Florida panhandle encountering a reptile has a low probability, but it is not zero. Of all the reptiles that call this part of the state home, few enter marine waters and most of those are very mobile, moving up and down the coast heading from one habitat to another. In fact, there are no marine reptiles that would be considered residents of our seagrasses, only transients.
The one species that you might encounter is the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). This is the largest of the “shelled” sea turtles and has a vegetarian diet. With a serrated lower jaw, they can be found grazing in the seagrass beds feeding on both the grasses and the species of algae found there. The carapace length of these large reptiles can reach four feet and they can weigh up to 400 pounds. Their coloration is similar to that of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) but their heads are smaller and there are only two large scutes between the eyes rather than the four found in the loggerheads. The colors of the skin and shell have shades of brown, yellow, orange, and some black and can be quite beautiful. The name “green” sea turtle comes from the color of their internal fatty tissue. Feeding on a diet of seagrasses, it becomes green in color, and this was discovered by early fishermen who hunted and consumed this species. It is the one used most often in what is called turtle soup and is actually farmed for this dish in other countries.
The green sea turtle.
Photo: Mile Sandler
Like all sea turtle species, they are born on the Gulf side of our barrier islands. If they successfully hatch, they work their way to the open water and spend their early years in the open sea. Some have been associated with the mats of Sargassum weed floating offshore, feeding on the variety of small invertebrates that live out there. They will also nip at the Sargassum itself. As juveniles they will move back into the coastal estuaries where they begin their vegetarian lifestyle. As adults they will switch time between the open sea and the grass filled bays. Once unfortunate side effect of feeding in our grassbeds is the frequency of boat strikes. There are tens of thousands of motored vessels speeding through our grassbeds and the turtles surfacing for air can be targets for them. Our hope is that more mariners are aware of this problem and will be more vigilant when recreating there.
Another turtle who IS a resident of the estuary is the much smaller diamondback terrapin. Though terrapins much prefer salt marshes they will enter seagrass beds, and some spend quite a bit of time there. Terrapins prefer to feed on shellfish so, moving through the grassbeds it is the snails and bivalves they seek. Because of their size they feed on the smaller mollusk. A typical terrapin will have a carapace length of about 10 inches and may weigh two pounds. They will take small crabs and shrimps when the opportunity is there, and they are known to swim into submerged crab traps seeking the bait. Unfortunately, being air breathing reptiles, they will drown after becoming entrapped. It is now required that all recreational crab traps in Florida have bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) on each of the funnel openings to reduce this problem. Many studies, both here in Florida and elsewhere, have shown these BRDs do not significantly reduce crab catch and so you can still enjoy crabbing – just not while catching terrapins. Encountering one snorkeling would be a very rare event, but – particularly in the eastern panhandle – has happened.
Diamondback terrapin.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
A third reptile that has been seen in our grassbeds is the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Preferring freshwater systems, encounters with alligators in an open seagrass bed are rare, but do happen. There are plenty of freshwater ponds on some of our barrier islands that the alligators will use. They have been seen swimming out into the seagrass beds and often will cross the bay, or Intracoastal Waterway, to mainland side. They have also been seen swimming near shore in the Gulf of Mexico. Though they can tolerate saltwater, they have a low tolerance for it and do not spend much time there.
Alligators are top level carnivores feeding on a variety of wildlife. Like most predators, they tend to seek and capture the easiest prey. Most often these are fish, reptiles, or small mammals. But they will take on large birds or deer if the opportunity presents itself. Despite their natural fear of humans, they have taken pets and also have attacked humans.
Having only canines in their mouths, they must grab the prey and swallow it. Lacking molars, they cannot chew. So, more often than not, they select prey they can swallow whole. If they do grab a larger animal, they are known to drown the creature in what has been termed the “death role” and cache it beneath the water under a log (or some structure) where it will soften to a point where they can cut small pieces and swallow it. All of the alligators I have seen in our grassbeds were definitely heading somewhere. They were not spending time there. After heavy rains the salinity may drop enough to where they can tolerate being out there longer and encounters could increase. But they are still rare.
Alligator
Photo: Molly O’Connor
I will mention here that there are several species of snakes that, like the alligator, are swimming from one suitable habitat to another – crossing the seagrass in route. All snakes can swim and encounters in brackish water are not unheard of. I have several photos of diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) swimming across the Intracoastal Waterway between the mainland and the islands.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake swimming in intracoastal waterway near Ft. McRee in Pensacola.
Photo: Sue Saffron
Encounters with reptiles are rare in our seagrass beds but pretty exciting when they do occur. There is certainly no need to fear swimming or snorkeling in our bay because they are so rare. But maybe one day you will be one of the lucky ones who does see one.
One of the community science volunteer projects I oversee in the Pensacola area is the Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch. The first objective of this project is to determine whether horseshoe cabs exist in your bay – FYI, they do exist in Pensacola Bay. The second objective is to determine where they are nesting – we have not found that yet, but we have one location that looks promising. One of the things my volunteers frequently find are the molts of the horseshoe crabs. Many keep them and I have quite a few in my office as well. One volunteer was particularly interested in the fact that they even molted and that they could leave this amazing empty shell behind and yet still be crawling around out there. So, I decided to write an article explaining the process in a little more depth than I typically do.
Horseshoe crab molts found on the beach near Big Sabine.
Photo: Holly Forrester.
I titled the article “The Molting of Crabs” but it could be the molting of any member of the Phylum Arthropoda – they all do this. The Phylum Arthropoda is the largest, most diverse, and successful group of animals on the planet. There are at least 750,000 species of them. This is three times the number of all other animal species combined. One thing unique to this group is the presence of an exoskeleton.
The exoskeleton is made of chiton and is secreted by the animal’s hypodermis in two layers. It provides the protection that the calcium carbonate shells of mollusk do but is much lighter in weight and allows for much more movement. Arthropods have jointed legs, hence their name “arthropod – jointed foot”, to enhance this movement even more. The entire body is covered by this exoskeleton.
The outer layer is thin and called the epicuticle. It is composed of proteins and, in many arthropods, wax. The inner layer is the thicker procuticle. The procuticle consists of an outer exocuticle and an inner endocuticle. These are composed of chiton and protein bound to form a complex glycoprotein. The exocuticle is absent at joints in the legs and along lines where the shell will rupture during molting. In the marine arthropods the procuticle includes salts and minerals. Where the epicuticle is not waxy and is thin, gases and water can pass into the animal’s body. The cuticle also has small pores that allow the release of compounds produced by glands within the animal. Not all of the cuticle is produced on the outside of the body. Some portions of it are produced around internal organs.
The colors of the crabs and other arthropods are produced by concentrations of brown, yellow, orange, and red melanin pigments within the cuticle. Iridescent greens, purples, and other colors are produced by striations of the epicuticle refracting light.
One disadvantage of the protective exoskeleton is the fact that it does not grow as fast as the interior soft tissue. They have solved this problem by periodic shedding, or molting, of the shell. Science calls this ecdysis, but we will continue to call it “molting”.
Step one is the detachment of the hypodermis from the skeleton. The hypodermis now secretes a new epicuticle. Step two, the hypodermis releases enzymes which pass through the new epicuticle and begin to erode the untanned endocuticle of the old skeleton. During this process the muscles and nerves are not affected and the animal can continue to move and feed. Step three, the old endocuticle is now completely digested. With the new procuticle produced by the hypodermis, the animal is now encased by both the old and new skeleton. Step four, the old skeleton now splits along predetermined lines, and the animal pulls out of the old skeleton. The new exoskeleton is soft – hence, the “soft-shelled blue crab” – and can be stretched to cover the increased size of the new animal. This stretching occurs due to tissue growth during steps 1-3, and from the uptake of air and water. The hardening of the new skeleton occurs due to the tanning of the new cuticle.
Stages between molts become longer as the animal grows older. Thus, there are numerous molts when the animal is young and as they age, they become fewer and farther between. Most insects have a finite number of molts they will go through. The marine arthropods seem to molt throughout their lives, though some species of crabs cease molting once they reach sexual maturity.
Molting is under hormonal control. Ecdyisone is secreted by certain endocrine glands, circulated through the blood stream, and acts directly on the epidermal cells. There are hormones that, if secreted, will inhibit the molting process. These are usually released if the animal senses trouble and that is not a good time.
During the period when the old shell is being digested many of the salts and minerals are absorbed by the tissue of the animal. Some people can eat crab but have allergic reactions when consuming soft shell crabs – most likely due to the increased salts and minerals in the tissue at this time. During step 3, many crustaceans will seek shelter and will remain there for a period of time after molting allowing the new shell to harden. The regeneration of lost limbs occurs during the molting process as well.
Molts of many species are hard to find because the “soft-shelled” animal can consume the molt to increase needed salts and minerals – or other marine animals may do so for the same reason. But horseshoe crab molts are pretty common and cool to collect. Another common molt found is that of the cicadids in the pine forest areas of our panhandle. The entire process is pretty amazing.
Reference
Barnes, R.D. 1980. Invertebrate Zoology. Saunders College Publishing. Philadelphia PA. pp. 1089.
“I can’t do what? – because of a mouse? – it’s only a mouse.”
This was a comment made by many who lived on Perdido Key when a small beach mouse found only there was added to the endangered species list. It is a comment heard often when many species are listed. A major reason most species begin to decline and become endangered is loss of habitat. We enter and change the habitat to suit our needs. Much of this includes construction of buildings and altering landscapes to a more artificial setting and much of the local wildlife is lost. So is the case with this little mouse.
The Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse is one of four Florida Panhandle Species classified as endangered or threatened. Beach mice provide important ecological roles promoting the health of our coastal dunes and beaches. Photo provided by Jeff Tabbert
The Perdido Key beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis) is one of seven subspecies of beach mice found in Florida, five of those found in the Florida panhandle. Beach mice are a subspecies of the Old-Field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). They are small, about 5 inches long, with tails that have hair (which are an additional 2 inches). Beach mice typically have a brown/gray color on top and a lighter white underbelly allowing them to blend into their environment very well. The difference between the subspecies is the extent of the coloration.
The subspecies status, and genetic isolation, is part of the reason these mice are listed. Members of a population who are genetically isolated from others can undergo a process called speciation where the genetic changes that occur in one isolated group cannot/do not flow through the gene pool of the other isolated group. Over time, the genetics, and morphology, of one isolated group becomes different enough that a new subspecies, or even species, develops. This is the case with the Perdido Key beach mouse. It is isolated on Perdido Key, a barrier island, and does not interbreed with their closest neighbors – the Alabama beach mouse (P.p. ammobates) and the Santa Rosa beach mouse (P.p. leucocephalus). Because of this, ALL of the Perdido Key beach mice in the world live on Perdido Key. Their population is small and vulnerable.
These mice are dune dwellers living in small burrows. They prefer the primary dunes (closest to the Gulf) which are dominated by the grasses whose seeds they like to feed on. They forage at night (nocturnal) feeding on the seeds of the sea oat (Uniola paniculate), panic grass (Panicum amarum), and blue stem (Schizachrium maritimum) usually in the secondary dunes. Highly vegetated swales (low wet areas between the primary and secondary dunes) are used to move between these habitats, and they are also found in the tertiary dunes (on the backside of the island where trees can be found) where their burrows are more protected from storm surge during hurricanes. During periods when seeds are not available, beach mice will turn to small invertebrates to support their diet. Their foraging range averages around 50,000 ft2.
Breeding takes place in the winter, though can occur anytime of year if enough food is available. They are monogamous (males pairing with only one female for life) with the females giving birth after 23 days to four pups. New members of the family can move up to half a mile in search of a foraging range for themselves. It is understood that with limited available habitat on an isolated island, the carry capacity of the beach mouse would be low. Owls and snakes are some of the predators they face, but the beach mice have evolved to deal with few predator issues.
The increase of humans onto the barrier islands has negatively impacted them. The leveling of dunes for houses, condos, swimming pools, and shopping centers has significantly reduced suitable habitat for them as well as reduced the seed food source. Introduced feral and free roaming domestic cats have also been a large problem. Bridges connecting these islands to the mainland have allowed foxes and coyotes to reach, and increase pressure on, them. With these increased pressures, and small populations, these mice are now listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Conservation measures have included, predator control, building and landscaping restrictions, translocation (moving mice from large populations to those that are smaller), and reintroduction (releasing mice into areas where they once existed but no longer do). There has been success with the Choctawhatchee beach mouse in the Grayton Beach area, as well as the Perdido Key beach mouse in Gulf Islands National Seashore. Things that beach residents can do to help beach mice populations include keeping your pets inside at night, plant native grasses in your landscape, reduce night lighting, do not walk over dunes – use the cross walks.
Things seem to be improving for beach mice, but the development pressure is still there. Hopefully we will have these creatures as part of our panhandle barrier island communities for many years to come.
References
Beach Mouse Fun Facts. Gulf Islands National Seashore. U.S. Department of Interior.
When visiting and exploring seagrass beds, most are hoping, and expecting, to see fish. As we have seen in this series, there are a lot of creatures that can be found living within a seagrass meadow, but it is the fish that get our attention and what we talk most about afterwards.
According to Hoese and Moore’s Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico; Texas, Louisiana, and Adjacent Waters, there are 497 species of fish found in the Gulf of Mexico. In my surveys of Pensacola Bay over the years, I have logged 101 of those in the estuary. I am sure there are more, but I can confirm there are at least those. Many spend all or part of their time in our seagrasses. As you seine or snorkel in the grassbeds you will notice most of them are very small. Much of this is due to the fact that the seagrasses are nursery areas for many species, and it is the young that we find here. But many are also small as adults, and the grass provides food and shelter for them. There are far too many to mention in an article like this, but let’s look at some of them.
Sardines and Anchovies
As you snorkel through the grass, or even look at it from a boat or dock, you see numerous silver colored baitfish flashing as they dart in and out of the grass. There are all sorts of silver baitfish in the seagrasses with sardines and anchovies being two of them. In my experience seining for fish, they appear to be seasonal. I did not capture them all year but when I did, I would capture a lot. These species are famous for being the ones in small tins that people consume, though there is no fishery for them here locally. Anchovies have also been considered an indicator species; their presence suggests good water quality.
The striped anchovy is a fish often found in our seagrass beds.
Photo: NOAA.
Silverside Minnows
Also known as silversides and glass minnows, these are one of the most common fish collected in seine nets. They are abundant year-round and are an important food source for many of the larger predators living here. Small and transparent, you do not see them while snorkeling. Their huge presence is only discovered when you pull a seine net through the grass. There are several species of them, but they are not easily identified and more often are just logged as “silversides”. They are an important member of the seagrass community.
The silverside, or “glass” minnow.
Photo: U.S. Geological Survey
Seahorses and Pipefish
These two fish are highly specialized for living in seagrasses. They look like grass and move very little making them hard to detect. Like silverside minnows, it is rare to see them while snorkeling but make their presence known when seining. Their bodies are covered in armor-like scales, and they have tubed mouths for “vacuuming” small invertebrates from the water column. They are very slow swimmers and have to avoid detection by blending in with the environment. And yes, it is the males that carry the eggs in their brood pouches. These are amazing fish and always bring excitement when they are captured in the net. There are two species of seahorses and seven species of pipefish found in our waters.
The seahorse-like pipefish.
Photo: University of Florida
Killifish
Often called “bull minnows” by anglers, these small fish are, at times, very abundant. There are seven species of killifish in our bays but the Gulf Killifish, Longnose Killifish, and the Bayou Killifish are the ones we most often collected.
This longnose killifish has the rounded fins of a bottom dwelling fish.
Needlefish
These are common, frequently seen, fish swimming at the surface of the water. Long and needle-shaped, these fish have long snouts full of sharp teeth indicating they are one of the predators of this system. There are four species of them, and they are not easy to tell apart. They are harmless to humans unless you capture them in your net at which time they will try to bite.
Swimming near the surface is a common place to find needlefish.
Photo: Florida Springs Institute
Mullet
Another very common fish found year-round here. This species are the ones famous for jumping while you are fishing, paddling, or just watching from the beach. Those who do not visit the Gulf coast often always ask “I just saw a fish jump!” and the reply from a local (without even looking up to see what it was) will reply “It’s a mullet”. These schooling fish can get pretty large (average length is 30 inches) and it is common to see fishermen out with their cast nets trying to catch a few. It is a popular food fish for those along the Gulf coast. Mullet fries, with beans and grits, are a way of life here. The fish are easily seen swimming and darting over the grass as you paddle by, and their young are found seasonally in seine nets. They are bottom feeders, feeding mostly on algae from the grass blades. There are actually two species, the white and the striped mullet. The striped mullet, also known as the black mullet, is the one most often sold in the seafood markets.
The Striped Mullet.
Image: LSU Extension
Drums and Croakers
With 18 species within this family, this is the largest family of inshore fish in the Gulf. Growing up along the panhandle people learn quickly about croakers. Back in the day when gill nets were used to harvest mullet, croakers were a common catch as well, and often consumed. Today they are still sought by some shore-based anglers and juveniles are common in seine nets. The species I most often captured were the spot and Atlantic croaker. Spot croakers were common year-round, Atlantic croakers were more seasonal.
Drums are larger members of this family. There are several species more associated with sandy bottoms and the shoreline of the Gulf, many of these are called whiting, but the red drum (redfish) and black drum can be found in the grassbeds. Redfish are particularly common here and one of the reasons many anglers get out of bed in the morning. They are very popular sportfish across the region. Black drums are not found as often, and like being around pilings and structures that offer certain foods they prefer. Both species can get quite large. Redfish average 5 feet while black drums can reach an average of 3 feet.
All of the fish in this family are famous for their “croaking” “drum” sounds they make using their swim bladder, and it is rare not to capture at least one kind in a seine net.
The classic look of a bottom fish. This is the redfish, or red drum.
Photo: NOAA
Spotted Seatrout; Speckled Trout; “Specks”
There is no “trout family” in the fish world. Most freshwater trout are members of the salmon family while the marine versions are members of the drum/croaker family. This is the case with the famous speckled trout – or speck. There are white trout and silver seatrout in this family, and all are sought after by anglers, but it is the speckled trout that is most associated with seagrasses, most sought after by anglers, and is one of the top predators in this system. They reach an average length of 4 feet.
From my experience both snorkeling and seining the grasses, I would say – hands down – that pinfish is the most common species found in our grasses. For many young anglers this is the first fish they ever catch. You can see them easily while snorkeling and they are the most numerous species in the nets throughout the year. Their huge numbers play an important role in the food web of this system. Feeding on a variety of small invertebrates in and around the grass blades, pinfish are a large part of the diet of the larger sportfish we target. Throwing cast nets and dropping pinfish traps is popular with anglers to collect this abundant baitfish for their life bait fishing efforts. They are called pinfish because of the sharp spines in their dorsal fins. These are also the fish that nip at your ankles while you are standing still in the water.
Sheepsheads are larger members of the porgy family (the ones these two species belong to). As adults sheepsheads prefer hard structure where they can use their incisors to chip away at barnacles and other shellfish, but they are sometimes found roaming the grassbeds and their young will spend their growing years hiding and feeding in the grass.
One of the most common fish in our grassbeds; the pinfish.
Photo: Nicholls State University.
Pigfish
When first captured in the seine net, pigfish are often confused with pinfish – they look very similar. But a closer look at the striping/spotted pattern on their sides, and the position of their mouth, you realize you have something different. Being members of the grunt family, they also “croak” like croakers and drums – hence their common name “pigfish” – due to the grunting sounds. This helps with identifying which fish you have. Though common in the grasses, I did not catch these as frequently as pinfish and they were not as abundant.
Spotfin Mojarra
This is a common silver baitfish that resembles the pinfish and is frequently collected in our seine nets. The mojarra is in a different family than pinfish. They lack sharp spines and incisor teeth, rather they have a sort of “vacuum” like mouth which they use to suck small invertebrates from the sand.
Gag Grouper
This is a popular sport and commercial fish from the wrecks and reefs of the Gulf of Mexico. But gags begin their lives in the seagrass beds, and we have collected medium sized individuals in our seine nets. This underscores the importance of these grassbeds to the fisheries so many love. We need to protect these systems from our activity both on land and in the water.
Gag grouper.
Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Jacks
Another popular group with anglers, many species of jacks use these grasses as their nurseries. We most often collected juvenile lookdowns, pompano, and crevalle in our nets. At times we caught a small member of the family called a leatherjacket. These were seasonal and associated with breeding. Once again, underscoring the importance of having healthy seagrasses.
Jacks have the sleek, fast design of the typical open water marine fish.
Photo: NOAA
Toadfish
One of the creeper looking fish in the seagrass community is the Gulf toadfish (also known as the oyster dog). This monstrous looking bottom fish lives in burrows scattered around the grassbeds where they lie in wait to ambush prey. Their large mouths and sharp teeth can grab a variety of creatures, including the human finger. At times small toadfish will move into an empty can or bottle discarded by people instead of a burrow where they grow to a size they can no longer escape. It is said there may be a mild venom associated with their bite. Though no one has ever died, or been sent to the hospital, due their bite, it is painful and should be avoided.
The common estuarine Gulf toadfish.
Photo: Flickr
Barracuda
Yes, barracuda can be found in seagrasses. But in our case, these have all been juveniles. There are three species of them, and they are not easy to tell apart. They also appeared to be seasonal in our collections. We never found them high numbers, usually one or two in a seine. But they are present.
The Great Barracuda. Photo: NOAA
Lizardfish
This is another medium sized, sharp toothed, bottom dwelling predator of the grassbed community. There are seven species of them, and all have that “snake” “lizard” look to them having many sharp canine teeth. They spend their time buried in the sand waiting to ambush potential prey. Snorkelers may see them as they dart away tossing up sand when we get too close. I rarely see them snorkeling but occasionally capture them in the seine net to the delight of the students assisting.
Blennies and Gobies
These are very small fish that are almost impossible to find while snorkeling but are often collected in the seine net. They resemble the freshwater darters and, lacking a swim bladder, spend their time on the bottom. There are many species associated with rocks and artificial reefs but there are some who call the seagrasses home. They use their incisor teeth to feed on small invertebrates in and on the grasses. Being territorial, they can give a little nip to your hand. Gobies differ from blennies in that their two pelvic fins are fused together to form a sort of “cup” or “sucker disk”.
Puffers
Another one of the more popular fish with students who help me seine. Everyone loves to see them inflate with either water or air into a “balloon” to make it very difficult for predators to consume them. There are eight species of puffers in the Gulf of Mexico, five of them have been captured in our seines. Most are small with little “bumps” on their bodies instead of spines. But there is the Burrfish, who is a member of a different family that is medium sized, has spines, and is very common in the grassbeds.
Striped Burrfish
Photo: NOAA
Filefish
Our grassbeds are full of a small cousin to the triggerfish – the planehead filefish. Like triggerfish, filefish have a thick sharp spine that is found at the front of the dorsal fin – called a “trigger” on the triggerfish. The planehead filefish is a small species (nine inches average length), green to brown in color, and very common in the grassbeds; though you will probably not see one unless you catch it in a net.
Planehead Filefish.
Photo: NOAA.
Flounders and Soles
A favorite food fish for many locals, flounders spend a lot of time buried in the sand near grassbeds to ambush prey. Born with a typical fish design, early in development one of their eyes will move to the other side of the head, giving them two eyes on one side. By doing this, they have increased their binocular vision, improving their ability to judge accurate distance of the prey, and making hunting easier. They lose color on the side where the eye has left and have chromatophores (cells) on the side where the eyes are that, like octopus and squid, allow them to change colors and blend in. In our part of the Gulf, if the eyes move to the left side of the head, they are called flounders. If they move to the right, they are called soles. Soles in our part of the Gulf of small not of much interest to anglers. One small species is often collected by shrimpers who feed them to hogs. This sole can “cup” their body in defense making like a suction cup and they do this in the throat of the hogs sometimes killing them. They are called “hogchokers”. Flounders on the other hand are very popular with anglers. Some fish for them using rod and reel, others prefer gigging them at night using lanterns. There are 17 species of flounder, some reaching lengths of three feet.
A flounder scurrying across the seafoor.
Photo: NOAA
Tonguefish
Tonguefish are small flat fish with eyes on one side of their heads like flounder. They differ than that their tails come to a point and there is no caudal fin present, as there is in flounders. As mentioned, they are small – ranging from 3 to 8 inches in length. The Blackcheek tonguefish is particularly common in our grassbeds. But like so many, you will not see it unless you catch it in a net.
Snook
This is a very popular gamefish from south Florida associated with several habitats including grassbeds. Due to a process some call “tropicalization” – the movement of tropical species north due to climate change – snook are now, albeit in small numbers, reported in the Florida panhandle. This is a new species you may see while exploring or fishing out there.
This snook was captured near Cedar Key. These tropical fish are becoming more common in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Photo: UF IFAS
There are many more species of fish found in our grassbeds we could talk about, but we will end it here. As we mentioned in the beginning, this is a group of animals that many come to the beach to find. Whether for fun or for food, finding fish makes for a good day. See how many different species you can find.
As I write this article it is mid spring, and the rays are bedding on the edges of our seagrass beds. The most common species seen is the Atlantic Stingray (Dasyatis sabina). They are often found in the sandy areas near the grass where they bury in the sand to ambush potential prey. This time of year, their numbers increase as the females are preparing to releasee their young in summer. Mating occurs in early spring and the females will deliver live young1.
According to Hoese and Moore2, there are eight families and 18 species of rays and skates found in the Gulf of Mexico. These are cartilaginous fish found in the same class as sharks but differ in that their gills slits are on the ventral side (bottom) of the body and their pectoral fins begin before the gill slits do on the side of the head. Most are depressed (top to bottom) and appear like pancakes, but not all of them. Sawfish and guitarfish appear more like sharks than rays.
Of the 18 species listed, seven can be found in the estuaries and may be associated with nearby seagrass beds. Two are species of sawfish, which are rare in our bays these days.
The sawfish.
Photo: University of Florida.
There are two members of the eagle ray family, the cownose ray and the eagle ray, which can be found in our bays. These resemble manta rays but differ in that they lack the characteristic “horns” of the manta (often called the Devil Ray because of them) and they do possess a bard on their tail, which manta’s do not. These are more pelagic rays spending their time swimming in the water column and hunting for buried food.
The cownose ray is often mistaken for the manta ray. It lacks the palps (“horns”) found on the manta.
Photo: Florida Sea Grant
The butterfly ray does resemble butterflies in shape having wide “wing-like” fins and a very small tail. It behaves similar to stingrays burying in the sand and ambushing smaller prey.
Two of the more familiar stingrays are found in our grassbeds, the Atlantic Stingray and the Southern Stingray. The Atlantic Stingray’s disk is more round in shape while the Southern Stingray’s is more angular shaped. The Southern Stingray is larger (disk width about five feet, Atlantic disk width is about two feet) and prefers estuaries with higher salinity. The Atlantic Stingray is very common and can tolerate freshwater, thus is common throughout the bay.
The Atlantic Stingray is one of the common members of the ray group who does possess a venomous spine.
Photo: Florida Museum of Natural History
Stingrays are notorious for their venomous bards and painful stings. They actually try to avoid humans and are frequently spooked by our activity fleeing as soon as they can. However, there are times when people accidentally step on one buried in the sand, or hiding in the grass at which time they will flip their whip-like tail up and over to drive their barb into your foot forcing you to move it – and you do move it – while you yell and scream. The ray then will swim away and can regrow a new barb.
The bard is a modified tooth. It is serrated on each side and there is a thin sac of venom along the flat side of the barb. When it penetrates your foot there is pain enough there. But the natural reaction of your body to an open wound is to close it, this reaction can pop the venom sac and release the toxin. The chemistry of the toxin is not life threatening to humans but is very painful. This experience is something you do want to avoid.
Like their shark cousins, rays do have rows of small teeth which they use to crush small invertebrates including shelled mollusks. They lie in the sand to ambush prey moving in and out of the seagrass beds. They possess two spiracles on the top of their heads which provide water to the gills when they are lying on the seafloor or buried in it.
Like sharks, males can be identified by the two claspers associated with the anal fin and the females usually have two uteri where the young develop. In skates, and some other rays, the young are deposited into the environment within a hardened egg case often called a “mermaids purse”. We see these washed ashore in the beach wrack. Young stingrays usually develop within the female and are born “live” in summer.
Though there is fear of this animal from some seagrass explorers they are a small threat unless you step on one. To avoid this, when in and around the sandy areas of a grassbed, move your feet in what we call the “stingray shuffle”. This is sliding your feet across the surface of the sand instead of stepping. The pressure generated from this movement can be detected by the ray several feet away and they will immediately move away.
Despite the fear, they are amazing creatures and play an important role in the overall health of the grassbed community.
References
1 Snelson, F.F., Williams-Hooper, S.E., Schmid, T.H. 1988. Reproduction and Ecology of the Atlantic Stingray, Dasyatis sabina, in Florida Coastal Lagoons. Copeia. Vol. 1988, No. 3 (Aug 1988). Pp. 729-739.
2 Hoese, H.D., Moore, R.H. 1977. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico; Texas, Louisiana, and Adjacent Waters. Texas A&M University Presse. College Station TX. Pp. 327.
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