Life History of the Pigmy Seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae Jordan and Gilbert, at Cedar Key, Florida
1958; American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Volume: 1958; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1439534
ISSN1938-5110
Autores Tópico(s)Agricultural and Environmental Management
ResumoLITTLE is known of the life history of the pigmy seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae.2 From June, 1948 to June, 1957, large samples were taken at Cedar Key, Levy Co., Florida. From February, 1950 to February, 1951, bilunar monthly collections were made at 28 stations on three grass flats during spring tide periods. Further data were obtained from seahorses collected in other parts of the Gulf of Mexico, including some from Harbor Island, Texas, which were kept alive at The University of Texas. Pushnets (Strawn, 1954a), beam trawls, and minnow seines were used to collect seahorses. Seining was discontinued when it was discovered that one person could collect more seahorses with a pushnet than two could with a seine. Three-eights-inch stretched mesh netting was used in both the pushnets and trawls because only small seahorses could go through it. Cedar Key specimens, except for a few found on vegetation floating in the channels, were taken on the grass flats bordering the islands or between these keys and the mainland. The grass flats in this area are restricted to above the extreme low water mark except for limited fringes. Deeper grass flats in clearer offshore water were not investigated. The angiosperms growing on the grass flats at Cedar Key are: Diplanthera wrightii (Ashers); widgeon grass, Ruppia maritima L.; Halophila engelmanni Ashers; turtle grass, Thalassia testudinum K6nig; and manatee grass, Syringodium filiforme Kiitz.3 Of the three most conspicuous plants, Diplanthera occurs in the shallowest water, Syringodium is predominant in the deepest water, and Thalassia is mixed in at intermediate
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