Fish and invertebrate populations of the Mullica River estuary

Danielle Dyson – Stockton University

Introduction:

Estuaries are vitally important parts of coastal ecosystems. A transition zone between

fresh and salt water, they provide nursery habitats for many young fish and invertebrates. They

are an important link between an organism’s larval and juvenile stages and are often teeming

with biodiversity (Jivoff and Able 2001). Thus, it is vital that we study and monitor the

communities found there to assess their overall health. This can be achieved by conducting seine

pulls to calculate the species richness and abundance in either area. Subsequently, improved

knowledge of the changing distribution and richness of the species give insight on how estuarine

systems function (Jivoff, 2001).

The Mullica River estuary is located in southern New Jersey on the Atlantic Plain. Its

norther portion is surrounded by the Pinelands National Reserve, thus the water that enters the

estuary is considered to be very clean (Orth, 2006). On its southern end, the estuary contains

many salt marsh ecosystems that provide habitat for many species. The site locations sampled in

this lab were Bogan’s Cove and Chestnut Neck. Bogan’s Cove is located near the mouth of the

Mullica River, while Chestnut Neck is located about midway upstream.

In this lab, a total of four seine pulls were conducted along two sites in the Mullica River

estuary. Assessing the species composition of both areas, and how the patterns have changed or

will change are vital ways of defining habitat quality (Orth et al, 1991). Improved knowledge of

how these variables change among habitats lead to a better understanding of that estuarine

system.

In this lab, I compared the species abundance and overall biodiversity of Bogan’s Cove

with that of Chestnut Neck. It was hypothesized that Bogan’s Cove would have the higher
species abundance and biodiversity because of its relative location at the mouth of the river.

Because it was closer to the ocean, it had a higher salinity that more marine species could still

survive in as opposed to Chestnut Neck which was located further upriver and thus had a lower

salinity.

Materials and Methods:

Study Site:

The Mullica River estuary is located in southern New Jersey. It is bordered by the

Pinelands National Reserve and therefore is very pristine. The two study locations were located

on opposite ends of the Mullica River. Bogan’s Cove, located at the mouth of the river, was

sampled on September 11, 2018 with an outgoing tide. Chestnut Neck, located midway

upstream, was sampled on September 18, 2018 with an incoming tide. Both sites were impacted

with heavy rainfall events prior to the pull and were threatened by thunderstorms. In addition,

both locations shared many attributes with the surrounding estuarine ecosystems. They had

average readings from a YSI.

Methods:

At both sites, in addition to the seine pull taken, YSI measurements were also conducted.

Both sites retained average readings for temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. At Bogan’s

Cove, all measurements of the YSI were completed. However, at Chestnut Neck, dissolved

oxygen could not be conducted because of impending thunderstorms.

Three seine pulls were conducted on September 11, 2018 at Bogan’s Cove in the Mullica

River. The seine net used was 60 feet long with ¼ inch mesh. The net was rolled up prior to

entering the water to avoid premature capturing of species. Buckets and measuring boards were
placed on the shallow shelled area of the beach for collection of species prior to the pull. Two

people were then required to hold the seine net at on orientation such that the floats were at the

top and the weights were skimming the bottom. One of those people remained anchored to their

position, while the other then walked perpendicular to shore creating a horseshoe. Once the net

was fully stretched to 60 feet, both people began walking towards shore, being mindful to keep

the bottom of the hand-poles skimming the bottom. Once at shore, the net was gathered by a

third person at the middle to avoid catching, and it was pulled onto the shell beach. Then, all

species located within the net were distributed into the waiting, water-filled buckets.

Species were then identified, quantified, and released and species abundance was

recorded. If applicable, species total length was measured using fork length, total length, or a

carapace. This same approach was then repeated two more times at Bogan’s Cove as well as on

September 18, 2018 at the Chestnut Neck location.

Data Analysis

Total abundance of species was calculated by recording all individuals of a certain

species present. Total length was calculated by recording forked or total length of fish as well as

measuring crabs with a carapace. Biodiversity of each site was then calculated using the

Shannon-Weiner Index, overall richness, and evenness.

Results

Water quality was tested at both sites using a YSI instrument. Bogan’s Cove contained a

lower temperature (22.33°C) and a higher salinity (25.92) than Chestnut Neck which yielded a

higher temperature (26.33°C) and a lower salinity (13.39). In addition, Bogan’s cove had a more

basic pH at 7.44 while Chestnut Neck was more acidic at 6.64 (Table 1).
 Biodiversity at each site was calculated and compared. The three seine pulls from

Bogan’s Cove on September 11th contained a total abundance of 3419 individuals while the

Chestnut Neck pull on September 18th contained an abundance of 157 individuals (Table 2). In

addition, it can be noted from Figure 1 that Bogan’s Cove contained higher numbers of

individuals, but a smaller measure of species richness. Chestnut Neck, conversely had lower

numbers of individuals, but a larger species richness. Individually, Bogan’s Cove 1 and Bogan’s

Cove 2-1 contained the largest number of individuals, however it was dominated by one singular

species (Menhaden). Thus, if that singular species was removed, Chestnut Neck would have had

the higher species abundance with 66 individuals. Conversely, without the Menhaden Bogan’s

Cove offered a total of 31, 48, and 33 individuals respectively. Thus, when it comes down to the

individual pulls, the were closer in number before the excess of Menhaden was captured at

Bogan’s Cove.

The species richness was greater at Chestnut Neck than at Bogan’s Cove. The three

Bogan’s Cove pulls had species richness of 9, 5 and 11 respectively and Chestnut Neck had 14.

Finally, Bogan’s Cove had a Shannon-Weiner Index number closer to one than Chestnut Neck

which had an index of 0.26, while the three from Bogan’s Cove had an index of 0.1, 0.07, and

0.54 (Table 2). However, despite being closer to one overall, these readings were still very low.

Finally, Figure 2 denotes the average length of all the species found within each pull. The

largest of the species present were located a Bogan’s Cove, while overall smaller species were

found at Chestnut Neck.

Discussion
 The greater abundance of species occurred at Bogan’s Cove with the highest abundance

being 2848 (Table 2) as opposed to Chestnut Neck which contained an abundance of 157 (Table

2). This data is concurrent with other research found stating that within the Mullica River

estuary, greater species abundance was found within higher salinity, deeper waters (Szedlmayer

and Able, 1996). According to the water quality data collected by a YSI, Bogan’s Cove was had

a noticeably higher salinity with a reading of 25.92 as opposed to Chestnut Neck’s reading of

13.39 (Table 1). The differences in salinity would be caused by the location of each site. Bogan’s

Cove was located at the mouth of the Mullica River and thus would have more mixing of fresh

and salt water. Consequently, the salinity would then be higher there as opposed to Chestnut

Neck which was located father upstream where less mixing occurs.

Biodiversity was then calculated by the Shannon-Weiner Index. Bogan’s Cove 1 offered

an index of 0.1 and Bogan’s Cove 2-1 and 2-2 had an index 0.07 and 0.54 on two of the seine

pulls. Finally, Chestnut Neck had an index of 0.26. Although Bogan’s Cove seems to have a

higher index at certain pulls, the average of all three pulls was 0.24 which was subsequently

lower than Chestnut Neck’s index of 0.26 (Table 2). This means that biodiversity was higher

upstream at Chestnut Neck than at the mouth of the Mullica River at Bogan’s Cove. Finally,

according to Figure 1, more species were present at Chestnut Neck, leading to a higher richness.

However, Bogan’s Cove, at all three pulls contained a larger abundance of all species.

According to Figure 2, the larger species were present at Bogan’s Cove. This could be

because species travel upstream to reproduce, and then travel back to the ocean when they are

larger. Many species use estuaries as a breeding ground for their juvenile fish to grow and

mature in. Also, it could perhaps be larger predatory fish going upstream to feed on these smaller

fishes.
 In conclusion, this data shows that Chestnut Neck contained more biodiversity while

Bogan’s Cove offered a greater abundance of species. However, there were limitations to this

data because of the unequal seine pulls taken. Chestnut Neck only had data from one seine pull,

while Bogan’s Cove had data for three pulls. Because of this imbalance, more research and seine

pulls are needed to confirm these results. In addition, more research is needed to fully understand

the different dynamics between upstream and downstream ecosystems within the Mullica River.

This information could provide insight into which areas of the river are healthier, thriving

ecosystems,

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge my groupmates: Heather Bariso, Cole Bragg, Faelyn

Meyers, and Kendall Moglia, as well as the rest Dr. Thompson’s Fall 2018 Marine Biology Class

for their assistance in gathering data. I would also like to acknowledge the staff of the Stockton

University field station for generously allowing the use of their equipment. Finally, I would like

to acknowledge Dr. Christine Thompson for preview this lab report.

Literature Cited

Jivoff, Paul and Able, K.W. 2001. Characterization of the Fish and Selected Decapods in

Little Egg Harbor. Journal of Coastal Research, 32: 178-196

Martino, E.J., Able, K.W. 2001. Fish assemblages across the marine to low salinity

transition zone of a temperate estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 56 969–987

Orth, J., et. al. 2006. A Global Crisis for Seagrass Ecosystems. BioScience, 56:987-996

Szedlmayer, S. T. Able, K.W. 1996. Patterns of Seasonal Availability and Habitat Use by

Fishes and Decapod Crustaceans in a Southern New Jersey Estuary. Estuaries, 19:697-

705
Tables and Figures

Table 1: Water quality data recorded for Bogan’s Cove and Chestnut Neck
using a YSI. Note: Water quality for Chestnut Neck was taken at the field
station rather than in the water die to impending thunderstorms, thus D.O.
is not measured for this location.

Temperature Turbidity D.O. D.O.

Location Date (°C) Salinity pH (NTU) (mg/L) (%)
Bogan's
Cove 9/11/2018 22.33 25.92 7.44 37.6 6.6 91.4
Chestnut
Neck 9/18/2018 26.33 13.39 6.64 n/a n/a n/a
 Table 2: Community metrics for Bogan’s Cove and Chestnut Neck.

Total Species Shannon-

Date Location/Site Abundance Richness Weiner Index Evenness
Bogan's Cove
9/11/2018 1 539 9 0.1 0.045
Bogan's Cove
9/11/2018 2-1 2848 5 0.07 0.043
Bogan's Cove
9/11/2018 2-2 32 11 0.54 0.23
Chestnut
9/18/2018 Neck 157 14 0.26 0.098
 Bogan's Cove 1 Bogan's Cove 2-1
600 3000
Number of Individuals

Number of Individuals
500 2500
400 2000
300 1500
200 1000
100 500
0 0

Species Species

Bogan's Cove 2-2 Chestnut Neck 1

20 250
Number of Individuals

Number of Individuals
15 200
10 150
5 100
0 50
0

Oyster…
Summer…

Atlantic…

Crevalle Jack
Blue crab

Pinfish
White Perch
Menhaden

American Eel
Silver Perch

Bluefish

Naked goby
Species Species

Figure 1: Graphs of total number of individuals of a species

recorded at each seine pull.
 Bogan's Cove 1 Bogan's Cove 2-1
350 120
Average Length (mm)

Average Length (mm)

300
250 100
200
150 80
100 60
50
0 40
20
0
Menhaden Atlantic Anchovy Silver Blue crab
silverside perch
Species Species

Bogan's Cove 2-2 Chestnut Neck 1

500 250
Average Length (mm)

Average Length (mm)

400 200
300 150
200 100
100 50
0 0

Species Species

Figure 2: Average Length of listed species measured in mm.