Files and links (1)
Rights Statements InC/1.0 , Open Access
Journal article
Habitat characteristics of an intertidal aggregation of Pacific sandlance (Ammodytes hexapterus) at a North Puget Sound beach in Washington
Northwest science., Vol.73(1), pp.44-49
1999
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/1165
Abstract
Although the Pacific sandlance (Ammodytes hexapterus) is known to burrow into soft marine sediment to escape predation and conserve energy, few studies have examined its use of intertidal habitat in winter. I characterized intertidal sandlance habitat at a North Puget Sound beach in relation to tide height, oxygen concentration, and sediment size. The density of sandlance increased significantly as elevation in the intertidal decreased from 0.00/m2 at 0.61 m above mean lower low water (MLLW) to 5.00/m2 at -0.30 m below MLLW. There were no significant differences among depths to which sandlance were buried at three elevations (0.30, 0.00, and -0.30 m) in the intertidal zone (mean = 5.0 cm, range = 4.0 - 6.0 cm). The oxygen content of interstitial water at 0.30 m above MLLW tended to be lower at 6.0 cm (26.56 mm Hg) than at 4.0 cm (31.84 mm Hg) in depth but did not change during a low tide cycle when sediments were exposed to air. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between time of exposure and depth on interstitial water oxygen content. The oxygen tension of interstitial water at 0.30 m above MLLW was approximately one fifth of the saturated value (oxygen content of water in equilibrium with air) shortly after being exposed by receding tide and remained near this level until the site was reinundated with the incoming tide. This oxygen level is near the suspected anaerobic metabolism threshold for sandlance. Disturbances that lower interstitial oxygen levels or change the size of beach sediments could adversely affect intertidal aggregations of sandlance
Metrics
329 File views/ downloads
549 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Habitat characteristics of an intertidal aggregation of Pacific sandlance (Ammodytes hexapterus) at a North Puget Sound beach in Washington
- Creators
- Timothy Quinn (Author)
- Publication Details
- Northwest science., Vol.73(1), pp.44-49
- Academic Unit
- Northwest Science
- Publisher
- WSU Press
- Identifiers
- 99900502171401842
- Copyright
- In copyright ; openAccess ; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ ; http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article