Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial and Temporal Influences of Nearshore Hydrography on Fish Assemblages Associated with Energy Platforms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In 2013–2014, remote video and diver surveys documented fish assemblages around 150 small oil platforms in nearshore federal waters off the entire Louisiana coast (≤ 18 m depth). Results were used to evaluate ecological processes driving differences in fish abundance and assemblages associated with platforms. The nearshore zone was characterized by high spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity. Surveys documented 55 species of platform-associated fishes. Twenty-nine species were partially or wholly represented by young-of-the-year (YOY) or age 1–2 juveniles, including red, gray, and lane snapper (Lutjanus campechanus, Lutjanus griseus, and Lutjanus synagris), greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili), and gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis). Assemblages were compared among three coastal regions with different hydrography due to interactions between river discharge and bathymetry. Assemblage composition near platforms varied in a region × year interaction associated with inter-annual differences in river discharge and coastal distribution of Sargassum drifts. The probability of YOY L. campechanus occurrence increased with bottom DO saturation (1.40–124.3%) from 0.15 to 0.72. The probability of YOY L. synagris and M. microlepis respectively decreased and increased with depth (5.61–16.76 m) from 0.81 to 0.05 and from 0.03 to 0.68. The results show that fish assemblages around platforms in the nearshore zone experienced substantial inter-regional and inter-annual differences that were driven by hydrographic and recruitment variability. Platforms also provided suitable reef habitat for juvenile fishes in areas that experience widespread bottom water hypoxia and large freshwater inflows, highlighting the importance of nearshore platforms as nursery locations for juvenile fishes that represent a variety of early life-history strategies.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Able, K.W. 2005. A re-examination of fish estuarine dependence: evidence for connectivity between estuarine and ocean habitats. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 64 (1): 5–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agresti, A. 2007. An introduction to categorical data analysis. Wiley.

  • Anderson, M.J. 2001. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Australian Ecology 26: 32–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M.J., R.N. Gorley, and K.R. Clarke. 2008. PERMANOVA+ for PRIMER: guide to software and statistical methods. Plymouth: PRIMER-E.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltz, D.M., and R.F. Jones. 2003. Temporal and spatial patterns of microhabitat use by fishes and decapod crustaceans in a Louisiana estuary. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 132 (4): 662–678.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltz, D.M., J.W. Fleeger, C. Rakocinski, and J.N. McCall. 1997. Food, density, and microhabitat: factors affecting growth and recruitment potential of juvenile saltmarsh fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 53 (1): 89–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, C., S. Childs, and Q. Dokken. 2003. Secondary productivity within biotic fouling community elements on two artificial reef structures in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. American Fisheries Society Symposium 195–204. American Fisheries Society.

  • Blaber, S.J.M., and T.G. Blaber. 1980. Factors affecting the distribution of juvenile estuarine and inshore fish. Journal of Fisheries Biology 17 (2): 143–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management). 2019. Platform structures online query. http://www.data.boem.gov/homepg/data_center/platform/platform/master.asp.

  • Bolser, D.G., J.P. Egerton, A. Grüss, T. Loughran, T. Beyea, K. McCain, and B.E. Erisman. 2020. Environmental and structural drivers of fish distributions among petroleum platforms across the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 12 (2):142–163.

  • Bortone, S.A., P.A. Hastings, and S.B. Collard. 1977. The pelagic-Sargassum ichthyofauna of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Northeast Gulf Science 1 (2): 60–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitburg, D. 2002. Effects of hypoxia, and the balance between hypoxia and enrichment, on coastal fishes and fisheries. Estuaries 25 (4): 767–781.

    Google Scholar 

  • BSEE (Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement). 2019. Platform structures query. http://www.data.bsee.gov/homepg/data_center/platform/platform.asp.

  • Bullock, L.H., M.D. Murphy, M.F. Godcharles, and M.E. Mitchell. 1992. Age, growth, and reproduction of jewfish, Epinephelus itajara in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Fisheries Bulletin. U.S. 90: 243–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesney, E.J., and D.M. Baltz. 2001. The effects of hypoxia on fisheries in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In Coastal hypoxia: consequences for living resources and ecosystems, American Geophysical Union, Coastal and Estuarine Studies, ed. N.N. Rabalais and R.E. Turner, vol. 58, 321–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesney, E.J., D.M. Baltz, and R.G. Thomas. 2000. Louisiana estuarine and coastal fisheries and habitats: perspectives from a fish’s eye view. Ecological Applications 10 (2): 350–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K.R., and R.N. Gorley. 2006. PRIMER 6: user manual/tutorial. Plymouth: PRIMER-E.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K.R., and R.M. Warwick. 2001. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. 2nd ed. Plymouth: PRIMER-E.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochrane, J.D., and F.J. Kelly Jr. 1986. Low-frequency circulation on the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf. Journal of Geophysical Research 91 (C9): 10645–10659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, A.B., R.S. McBride, E.D. McCoy, and P.J. Motta. 2015. Reef relief and volume are predictors of Atlantic goliath grouper presence and abundance in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 91 (4): 399–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colwell, R.K. 1997. EstimateS: statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples (software and user’s guide), Version 5 Available: http://viceroy.eed.unconn.edu/estimates.

  • Cowan, J.H., Jr., and K.A. Rose. 2016. Oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico: their relationship to fish and fisheries. In Fisheries and aquaculture in the modern world, 95–122. Rijeka: Intech.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, J.H., Jr., C.B. Grimes, and R.F. Shaw. 2008. Life history, history, hysteresis, and habitat changes in Louisiana’s coastal ecosystem. Bulletin of Marine Science 83 (1): 197–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, J.K., and S.H. Bosman. 2013. Small spatial scale variation in fish assemblage structure in the vicinity of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Estuaries and Coasts 36 (2): 268–285.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dance, K.M., J.R. Rooker, J.B. Shipley, M.A. Dance, and R.D. Wells. 2018. Feeding ecology of fishes associated with artificial reefs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico. PLoS One 13 (10): e0203873.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, W.T., J.M. Drymon, and S.P. Powers. 2015. Spatial and dietary overlap creates potential competition between red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens). PLoS One 10 (12): e0144051.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiMarco, S.F., P. Chapman, N.D. Walker, and R.D. Hetland. 2010. Does local topography control hypoxia on the eastern Texas-Louisiana shelf? Journal of Marine Systems 80 (1–2): 25–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ditton, R.B., and J. Auyong. 1984. Fishing offshore platforms central Gulf of Mexico: an analysis of recreational and commercial fishing use at 164 major offshore petroleum structures. Government Reports, Announcements and Index, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), US Department of Commerce 84(21).

  • Dooley, J.K. 1972. Fishes associated with the pelagic Sargassum complex with a discussion of Sargassum community. Contributions in Marine Science 16 (MAR): 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downey, C.H., M.K. Streich, R.A. Brewton, M.J. Ajemian, J.J. Wetz, and G.W. Stunz. 2018. Habitat-specific reproductive potential of red snapper: a comparison of artificial and natural reefs in the western Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 147 (6): 1030–1041.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, S., C.G. Gelpi, R.E. Condrey, M.A. Grippo, and J.W. Fleeger. 2009. Diversity and composition of macrobenthic community associated with sandy shoals of the Louisiana continental shelf. Biodiversity and Conservation 18 (14): 3759–3784.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, D.M., and E.D. DeMartini. 1995. Evaluation of a video camera technique for indexing abundances of juvenile pink snapper, Pristipomoides filamentosus, and other Hawaiian insular shelf fishes. Fisheries Bulletin 93: 67–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks, J.S. 2005. First record of goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara, in Mississippi coastal waters with comments on the first documented occurrence of red grouper, Epinephelus morio, off Mississippi. In the Proceedings of the Fifty Sixth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, p. 295–306. Roadtown, Tortola British, Virgin Islands, November 2003.

  • Gallaway, B.J., and J.G. Cole. 1999. Reduction of juvenile red snapper bycatch in the US Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawl fishery. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 19 (3): 342–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallaway, B.J., and G.S. Lewbel. 1982. The ecology of petroleum platforms in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: a community profile. US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service.

  • Gallaway, B.J., L.R. Martin, R.L. Howard, G.S. Boland, and G.S. Dennis. 1980. A case study of the effects of gas and oil production on artificial reef and demersal fish and microcrustacean communities in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc.

  • Gallaway, B.J., L.R. Martin, R.L. Howard, G.S. Boland, and G.D. Dennis. 1981. Effects on artificial reef and demersal fish and macrocrustacean communities. In Environmental effects of offshore oil production, 237–299. Boston: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallaway, B.J., J.G. Cole, A. Lissner, E. Waddell, D. Heilprin, C.A. Wilson, and R.S. Carney. 1998. Cumulative ecological significance of oil and gas structures in the Gulf of Mexico: a information search, synthesis, and ecological modeling; phase I, final report. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, USGS/BRD/CR-1997-0006 and Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, OCS Study MMS 97-003 6, New Orleans, Louisiana.

  • Gitschlag, G.R. 1997. Fisheries impacts of underwater explosives used to salvage oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. International Society of Explosives Engineers, Cleveland, OH (No. CONF-970224--).

  • Glenn, H.D., J.H. Cowan Jr., and J.E. Powers. 2017. A comparison of red snapper reproductive potential in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: natural versus artificial habitats. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 9 (1): 139–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gower, J.F.R., and S.A. King. 2011. Distribution of floating Sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean mapped using MERIS. International Journal of Remote Sensing 32 (7): 1917–1929.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gower, J.F.R., C.M. Hu, G. Borstad, and S.A. King. 2006. Ocean color satellites show extensive lines of floating Sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico. EEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 44: 3619–3625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Günter, G. 1956. Some relations of faunal distributions to salinity in estuarine waters. Ecology: 616–619.

  • Günter, G. 1963. The fertile fisheries crescent. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 9: 286–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazen, E.L., J.K. Craig, C.P. Good, and L.B. Crowder. 2009. Vertical distribution of fish biomass in hypoxic waters on the Gulf of Mexico shelf. Marine Ecology Progress Series 375: 195–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hetland, R.D., and S.F. DiMarco. 2008. The effects of bottom oxygen demand in controlling the structure of hypoxia on the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf. Journal of Marine Systems 70 (1-2): 49–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, M.O. 1973. Diversity and evenness: a unifying notation and its consequences. Ecology 54 (2): 427–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, B.N. 2016. An analysis of the factors that influence the Sargassum migratory loop (Master’s thesis, Texas A&M University).

  • Jost, L. 2006. Entropy and diversity. Oikos 113 (2): 363–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, M.J., and Y. Yu. 2010. The impact of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike on offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Applied Energy 87 (1): 284–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, M.J., D.V. Mesyanzhinov, and A.G. Pulsipher. 2002. Explosive removals of offshore structures in the Gulf of Mexico. Ocean & Coastal Management 45 (8): 459–483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, M.J., Y. Yu, and C.J. Jablonowski. 2009. Modeling lost production from destroyed platforms in the 2004−2005 Gulf of Mexico hurricane seasons. Energy 34 (9): 1156–1171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krahl, R.B. 1986. Federal focus on platform disposition for artificial reefs. MMS Information Transfer Meeting 1985: 112–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y., C. Hu, C. Sun, W. Zhan, S. Sun, B. Xu, and Y. Dong. 2018. Assessment of offshore oil/gas platform status in the northern Gulf of Mexico using multi-source satellite time-series images. Remote Sensing of the Environment 208: 63–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, R.J. 1988. Inadequacy of species-level designations for ecological studies of coastal migratory fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 22 (3): 225–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, M.S., D.M. Schroeder, W. Lenarz, A. MacCall, A. Scarborough-Bull, and L. Thorsteinson. 2006. Potential use of offshore marine structures in rebuilding an overfished rockfish species, bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis). Fishery Bulletin 104 (3): 383–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, M.S., E. Brothers, D.M. Schroeder, and W.H. Lenarz. 2007. Ecological performance of young-of-the-year blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) associated with oil platforms and natural reefs in California as measured by daily growth rates. Bulletin of Marine Science 80 (1): 147–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malinowski, C., F. Coleman, C. Koenig, J. Locascio, and D. Murie. 2019. Are Atlantic goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara, establishing more northerly spawning sites? Evidence from the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 95 (3): 371–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munnelly, R.T. 2016. Fishes associated with oil and gas platforms in Louisiana’s river-influenced nearshore waters. MS Thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

  • Munnelly, R.T., D.B. Reeves, E.J. Chesney, D.M. Baltz, and B.D. Marx. 2019a. Habitat suitability for oil and gas platform-associated fishes in Louisiana’s nearshore waters. Marine Ecology Progress Series 608: 199–219.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Munnelly, R.T., D.B. Reeves, E.J. Chesney, and D.M. Baltz. 2019b. Summertime hydrography of the nearshore Louisiana Continental Shelf: effects of riverine outflow, shelf morphology, and the presence of sand shoals on water quality. Continental Shelf Research 179: 18–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). 2006. Status report on the continental United States distinct population segment of the goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara). January 12, 2006. 49 pp.

  • NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). 2019. Office of Science and Technology. www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/commercial-fisheries/.

  • Obenour, D.R., D., Scavia, N.N., Rabalais, R.E., Turner, and A.M., Michalak. 2013. Retrospective analysis of midsummer hypoxic area and volume in the northern Gulf of Mexico, 1985–2011. Environmental Science & Technology 47(17):9808–9815.

  • Parker, R.O., Jr., D.R. Colby, and T.D. Willis. 1983. Estimated amount of reef habitat on a portion of the US South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf. Bulletin of Marine Science 33 (4): 935–940.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porch, C.E., and A.M. Eklund. 2004. Standardized visual counts of goliath grouper off South Florida and their possible use as indices of abundance. Gulf of Mexico Science 2: 155–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priede, I.G., P.M. Bagley, A. Smith, S. Creasey, and N.R. Merrett. 1994. Scavenging deep demersal fishes of the Porcupine Seabight, north-east Atlantic: observations by baited camera, trap and trawl. Journal of Marine Biology 74 (3): 481–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais, N.N., R.E. Turner, and W.J. Wiseman Jr. 2002a. Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, A.K.A. “the dead zone.”. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33: 235–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais, N.N., R.E. Turner, and D. Scavia. 2002b. Beyond science into policy: Gulf of Mexico hypoxia and the Mississippi River: nutrient policy development for the Mississippi River watershed reflects the accumulated scientific evidence that the increase in nitrogen loading is the primary factor in the worsening of hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. BioScience 52 (2): 129–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, D.B. 2015. Oil and gas platforms on Ship Shoal, northern Gulf of Mexico, as habitat for reef-associated organisms. MS Thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

  • Reeves, D.B., R.T. Munnelly, E.J. Chesney, D.M. Baltz, and B.D. Marx. 2017. Stone crab Menippe spp. populations on Louisiana’s nearshore oil and gas platforms: higher density and size at maturity on a sand shoal. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 146: 371–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, D.B., E.J. Chesney, R.T. Munnelly, D.M. Baltz, and B.D. Marx. 2018a. Abundance and distribution of reef-associated fishes around small oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxic zone. Estuaries and Coasts 41 (7): 1835–1847.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, D.B., E.J. Chesney, R.T. Munnelly, and D.M. Baltz. 2018b. Sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus foraging patterns at oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 38: 1258–1274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, D.B., E.J. Chesney, R.T. Munnelly, and D.M. Baltz. 2018c. Barnacle settlement and growth at oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 590: 131–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, D.B., E.J. Chesney, R.T. Munnelly, D.M. Baltz, and K. Maiti. 2019. Trophic ecology of sheepshead and stone crabs at oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxic zone. Transactions of the American Fishery Society 148: 324–338.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reggio, V.C., Jr. 1987. Rigs-to-reefs. Fisheries 12 (4): 2–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remmert, H. 1983. Studies and thoughts about the zonation along the rocky shores of the Baltic. Zoologica 22: 121–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renaud, M.L. 1986. Detecting and avoiding oxygen deficient sea water by brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus (Ives), and white shrimp, Penaeus setiferus (Linnaeus). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 98 (3): 283–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, E.M., J.H. Cowan Jr., K.A. Lewis, and K.A. Simonsen. 2018. Methods for estimating relative abundance and species composition around oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. Fisheries Research 201: 44–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • SAFMC (South Atlantic Fishery Management Council). 2002. Fishery management plan for pelagic Sargassum habitat of the South Atlantic region. http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Library/FMP/Sargassum/SargFMP.pdf.

  • Scarborough-Bull, A., and J.J. Kendall Jr. 1994. An indication of the process: offshore platforms as artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 55: 186–1098.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarborough-Bull, A., M.S. Love, and D.S. Schroeder. 2008. Artificial reefs as fishery conservation tools: contrasting the roles of offshore structures between the Gulf of Mexico and the Sothern California Bight. AFS Symposium 49: 899–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartzkopf, B.D., T.A. Langland, and J.H. Cowan Jr. 2017. Habitat selection important for red snapper feeding ecology in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 9 (1): 373–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C.E. 1948. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal 27 (3): 379–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simonsen, K.A., J.H. Cowan, and K.M. Boswell. 2015. Habitat differences in the feeding ecology of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus, Poey 1860): a comparison between artificial and natural reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Biology of Fishes 98: 811–824.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonnier, F., J. Teerling, and H.D. Hoese. 1976. Observations on the offshore reef and platform fish fauna of Louisiana. Copeia: 105–111.

  • Stanley, D.R., and C.A. Wilson. 1989. Utilization of offshore platforms by recreational fishermen and SCUBA divers off the Louisiana coast. Bulletin of Marine Science 44 (2): 767–776.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, D.R., and C.A. Wilson. 1990. A fishery-dependent based study of fish species composition and associated catch rates around oil and gas structures off Louisiana. Fishery Bulletin 88 (4): 719–730.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, D.R., and C.A. Wilson. 1998. Spatial variation in fish density at three petroleum platforms as measured with duel-beam hydroacoustics. Gulf of Mexico Science 16 (1): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, D.R., and C.A. Wilson. 2003. Seasonal and spatial variation in the biomass and size frequency distribution of the fish associated with oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In Fisheries, reefs, and offshore development, ed. D.R. Stanley and A. Scarborough-Bull, 123–154. Bethesda, Maryland: American Fisheries Society, Symposium 36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, D.R., and C.A. Wilson. 2004. Effect of hypoxia on the distribution of fishes associated with a petroleum platform off coastal Louisiana. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 24 (2): 662–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • Switzer, T.S., E.J. Chesney, and D.M. Baltz. 2015. Habitat use by juvenile red snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico: ontogeny, seasonality, and the effects of hypoxia. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 144 (2): 300–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.M. 2015. Ichthyoplankton composition in the loop current and Sargassum habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Master’s Theses. Paper 134. http://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/134.

  • USGS (United States Geological Survey). 2019. Real-time streamflow and water quality (Mississippi River Basin Discharge to the Gulf), available at: https://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/real_time.html.

  • Webster, R.K., and T. Linton. 2013. Development and implementation of Sargassum early advisory system (SEAS). Shore & Beach 81 (3): 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R.D., J.H. Cowan Jr. 2007. Video estimates of red snapper and associated fish assemblages on sand, shell, and natural reef habitats in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico. In: Patterson WF III, J Cowan Jr, GR Fitzhugh, DL Nieland (eds.). American Fisheries Society Symposium 60: 39–57.

  • Wells, R.D., and J.R. Rooker. 2004a. Spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use by fishes associated with Sargassum mats in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 74 (1): 81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R.D., and J.R. Rooker. 2004b. Distribution, age, and growth of young-of-the year greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) associated with pelagic Sargassum. Fishery Bulletin 102 (3): 545–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, T.J., and R.C. Babcock. 2000. A baited underwater video system for the determination of relative density of carnivorous reef fish. Marine and Freshwater Research 51 (8): 755–763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witzig, J. 1986. Rig fishing in the Gulf of Mexico 1984: marine recreational fishing results. In: Proceedings, Sixth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting. US Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, OCS Study/MMS86–0073. New Orleans, Louisiana 103–105.

  • Workman, I., A. Shah, D. Foster, and B. Hataway. 2002. Habitat preferences and site fidelity of juvenile red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus). ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 59 (suppl): S43–S50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhong, Y., A. Bracco, and T.A. Villareal. 2012. Pattern formation at the ocean surface: Sargassum distribution and the role of the eddy field. Limnology and Oceanography: Fluids and Environments 2 (1): 12–27.

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank both of these organizations for making this research possible, as well as Louisiana State University, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, where the research took place. Additionally, we thank Bill Childress for his field assistance, Angela Collins for confirming our Atlantic goliath grouper identifications, Joshua Carter and Max Weber for blenny identification assistance, Dr. Kehui (Kevin) Xu for allowing us to use his sediment grain size analyzer, Dr. Carey Gelpi for keeping us briefed on coast-wide conditions throughout the study years, and Dr. Nan Walker and Alaric Haag for the assistance of the LSU Earth Scan Laboratory.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (project no. M12AC00015) and supported by a match from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for a companion project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Energy, Coast, and Environment Building, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Ryan T. Munnelly, David B. Reeves & Donald M. Baltz

  2. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 8124 Hwy 56, Chauvin, LA, 70344, USA

    Edward J. Chesney

Authors
  1. Ryan T. Munnelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David B. Reeves
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edward J. Chesney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Donald M. Baltz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan T. Munnelly.

Additional information

Communicated by Henrique Cabral

Electronic Supplementary Material

(MP4 103832 kb)

(MP4 176315 kb)

ESM 3

(DOCX 30 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Munnelly, R.T., Reeves, D.B., Chesney, E.J. et al. Spatial and Temporal Influences of Nearshore Hydrography on Fish Assemblages Associated with Energy Platforms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 269–285 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00772-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00772-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation