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Pinelands FishPinelands Fish

John F. BunnellChief Scientist

Pinelands Commission

Fish Surveys

Natural History

Geographic Affinity

22 Species of Fish Collected

Indicators of Watershed Conditions

Fish Surveys181 stream sites

72 impoundments

94 Mullica River58 Rancocas Creek42 Great Egg Harbor River

+ 59 Barnegat Bay

253 Pinelands Survey Sites

Four Watershed Studies

Fish Surveys: Seining

Fish Surveys: Seining Fish Surveys: Electrofishing

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Fish Surveys: Electrofishing Pinelands Waters

BlackwatersLow pH (3.5 – 4.5)

Low nutrient concentrations

Few rifflesLow gradient

Sluggish current

No large rocksAbundant woody debris

Sand, silt, and gravel substrate

Pinelands Waters: Small forested streams Pinelands Waters: Large forested streams

Pinelands Waters: Large open-canopy streams Pinelands Waters: Ditches in abandoned cranberry bogs

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Pinelands Waters: Ditches in abandoned cranberry bogs Pinelands Waters: Degraded streams

Pinelands Waters: Beaver impoundments Pinelands Waters: Abandoned cranberry bogs

Pinelands Waters: Abandoned cranberry reservoirs Pinelands Waters: Herbaceous impoundments

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Pinelands Waters: Forges, mills, and recreation Pinelands Waters: Open-water lakes

Pinelands Waters: Degraded lakes Reproduction: NestingBroadcast eggs - Create nests in vegetation - Create nests on bottom

Reproduction: Egg layingLoose eggs - Gelatinous clumps of eggs - Folded tubes of eggs

Reproduction: External fertilizationMale with sperm and female with eggs

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Reproduction: External fertilizationNests in close proximity to each other Anadromous = live in sea/lake

and spawn in streams(salmon, steelhead, shad…)

Catadromous = live in streamsand spawn in sea (eels)

Reproduction: Migration

Shape and Behavior: RoversStreamlined with forked tail - Often in schools

Shape and Behavior: Lie-in-wait predatorsElongated with teeth

Shape and Behavior: Surface-oriented fishFlat head - Upturned mouth - Shallow water

Shape and Behavior: Benthic fishBarbels - No swim bladder

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Shape and Behavior: Deep-bodied fishLaterally compressed – Maneuverable - Often have body bars

Shape and Behavior: Snake-like fishLive in holes or crevices – Live in riprap and rocks – Like current

Lateral Line: Sensory system Respiration: Countercurrent exchange of dissolved oxygen

RestrictedCharacteristic

Peripheraland Introduced

Geographic Affinity

Native Pinelands Species Nonnative Species

WidespreadCharacteristic

6 Restricted-nativeSpecies

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• bottom dweller• no swim bladder• open sand habitats• 1 - 2 inches long

Restricted Species: Swamp Darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) Restricted Species: Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus)

• nocturnal species• 4 - 5 inches long

Anusand

urogenitalpore

Eggs

Restricted Species: Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus) Restricted Species: Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)

• bottom feeder• sensory barbels• nocturnal species• 16 - 18 inches long

Restricted Species: Mud Sunfish (Acantharcus pomotis)

• largest native sunfish• predator with large mouth• abandoned-bog habitats• 5 - 6 inches long

Restricted Species: Banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus)• extremely acid-tolerant• abandoned-bog habitats• 3 - 4 inches long

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Restricted Species: Blackbanded Sunfish (Enneacanthus chaetodon)

• aquarium fish • reported to be in decline• 3 - 4 inches long

7 Widespread-nativeSpecies

Widespread Species: Bluespotted Sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus)

• deep-bodied fish• 3 - 4 inches long

Widespread Species: Redfin Pickerel (Esox americanus)

• sharp teeth• broadcast eggs• lie-in-wait predator• headwater habitats• 10 - 12 inches long

Widespread Species: Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

• most frequently found fish• broadcast eggs• lie-in-wait predator• native gamefish, 36+ inches long• 9 lb. 3 oz. record from Aetna Lake in 1957

Widespread Species: Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

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Chain pickerel

Redfin pickerel

Widespread Species: Creek Chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus)

• eats plants and animals• open-water fish• schooling fish• 12 - 14 inches long

adult

juvenile

Widespread Species: Creek Chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus) Widespread Species: Eastern Mudminnow (Umbra pygmaea)

• abandoned-bog habitats• tolerant of low oxygen• can gulp air and absorb through swim bladder• 4 - 5 inches long

Widespread Species: American Eel (Anguilla rostrata)

• extremely slimy from mucous• in demand in Europe and Asia• 1 - 3 feet long, can reach 5 feet

Catadromous• live in east coast streams• males at 5 - 7 y and females at 15 y• migrate to Sargasso Sea to breed• lay eggs, adults die, eggs hatch into leptocephali larvae• drift up the coast with Gulf Stream• 2” glass eels, then become small eels called elvers• swim up streams, live there until old enough to breed

Larvae

Glass eel

Adult eel

Widespread Species: American Eel (Anguilla rostrata)

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Widespread Species: Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus)

• small, nocturnal catfish• venom glands on spines• largely absent from lakes• widespread, but found at higher pH• 4 - 5 inches long

6 PeripheralSpecies

Peripheral Species: Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)• eggs fanned for oxygen• young in pods• 16 - 18 inches long

brown bullhead yellow bullhead

Peripheral Species: Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)

juveniles

Peripheral Species: Tessellated Darter (Etheostoma olmstedi)

• no swim bladder• open sand habitats• current and oxygen• absent from lakes• 3 - 4 inches long

Peripheral Species: Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens)

• eggs in long, folded gelatinous tube• tasty eating • 10 – 12 inches long

juvenile

adult

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Peripheral Species: Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)

• abdominal keel• roving in schools• common forage and baitfish• bucket releases• 8 - 10 inches long

juvenile

adult

Peripheral Species: Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)

Peripheral Species: Banded Killifish (Fundulus diaphanus)• surface feeder with upturned mouth• schooling fish in lake shallows• forage and baitfish• 4 - 5 inches long

Peripheral Species: Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)• gamefish• circular nest• male guards nest• up to 10 inches long

juvenile

adult

3 IntroducedSpecies

Native to theMississippi drainages

One additional species

Introduced Species: Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

• introduced gamefish• circular nest• male guards nest• up to 10 inches long

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Introduced Species: Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)

• tube-like mouth• tend to school• introduced as gamefish• up to 19 inches long juvenile

adult

adult

Introduced Species: Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)

Introduced Species: Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

• introduced as gamefish• very large mouth• major predator• size measured in pounds

juvenile

adult

Introduced Species: Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

Introduced Species: Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

• tolerant of pollution• introduced from Asia• domesticated over 1000 years ago• normally gray or silver• white, yellow, orange, red, brown, black

Land-use ActivitiesDevelopment

Upland agriculture

Water-quality DegradationNutrient enrichment

Increased dissolved solidsElevated pH

Altered Biological CommunitiesPresence of nonnative-plant speciesPresence of nonnative-frog speciesPresence of nonnative-fish species

Indicators of Watershed Conditions

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253 Pinelands Survey Sites

Indicators of Watershed Conditions: Nonnative Fish

Nonnatives absent - 126 sitesNonnatives present - 127sites

~50% of all survey sitessupported nonnative fish

Indicators of Watershed Conditions: Nonnative Fish

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

0 20 40 60 80 100Altered Land (%)

pH

Indicators: 253 Fish Sites in Four Watersheds

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

0 20 40 60 80 100Altered Land (%)

pH

Indicators: 253 Fish Sites in Four Watersheds

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

NonnativesAbsent

NonnativesPresent

Alte

red

Land

(%)

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

NonnativesAbsent

NonnativesPresent

pH

Indicators: 253 Fish Sites in Four Watersheds

0102030405060708090

100

3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5pH

Prob

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)__

0102030405060708090

100

0 20 40 60 80 100

Altered Land (%)

Prob

abili

ty o

f Non

nativ

es (%

)__

Indicators: 253 Fish Sites in Four Watersheds

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0

20

40

60

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180 Stream Sites Ordered By DCA Axis 1

% o

f Spe

cies

at a

Site

Nonnative Species Widespread Species Restricted Species

Increasing altered land and pH

Indicators: Rank Ecological Integrity for Streams

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

26 Impoundments Ordered by the % of Upstream-altered Land

Alte

red

Land

(%)

Non-native fish

Carpenter frog adults

Native fish

Carpenter frog tadpoles

Bullfrog tadploes

Bullfrog adults

Indicators: Biotic Homogenization

Four Pinelands Watershed Studies

Relationship betweenland use, water quality, and

stream vegetation,and fish and anuran

assemblages

http://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/science/pub

Other Studies With Fish

Cranberry Study:Diatoms, invertebrates, vegetation,

and fish in streams that drain active-cranberry bogs, abandoned

bogs, and forest land

Impoundment Study:Land-use effects on diatoms,

vegetation, fish, and frogs and toads in 30 Pinelands stream

impoundments

http://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/science/pub

THE ENDTHE END

John F. BunnellChief Scientist

Pinelands Commission