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Estuary and Bay Communities More than 70 percent of Florida's recreationally and commercially important fish and shellfish spend part of their lives in these sheltered and fertile waters. Estuaries can be called "the cradle of the ocean." Estuarine communities include seagrass, oyster bars, salt marshes, mud and sand bottom, and algal growths. Such valuable shellfish as oysters, crabs, and peneid shrimp cannot grow without a certain amount of freshwater. About 70 percent of Florida's population live in the coastal zone. therefore, the quality of water pouring into the estuaries is a major concern. shellfish are filter feeders, straining their food from the water around them. If incoming water is tainted by bacteria and viruses from human and animal wastes, pesticides or other pollutants, oysters and clams that look perfectly healthy may transmit diseases. Seagrass communities start in the intertidal zone and, depending on water clarity, may grow profusely to depths in excess of 20 feet. They are food factories, swarming with pinfish and pigfish, which are excellent food for gamefish. Bizarre puffers, sea robins, spotted seatrout, and cowfish dodge about in the sheltering blades of turtle grass. Catfish work the lower layer of the water column, along with juvenile sea bass and lizardfish. Grouper and snapper even use seagrass as their nurseries. |
 Coral Reefs Florida is the only place in the continental United States where living coral reefs can be observed. Of all the ocean's habitats, coral reefs are the most colorful. They are built by millions of tine animals (coral polyps) and plants (coralline algae). Their skeletons are made of calcium carbonate, the main component of limestone. Hazards Sea Lice; Season: March to August. Some text on this page provided by The Florida Department of Environmental Protection. |
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