Scartella cristata - Amazon S3

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changes in the composition of the fouling community (Topolski and Szedlmayer 2000). The structure of
blenny assemblages also may indicate the development an artificial habitat functionally equivalent to a
natural one (Topolski and Szedlmayer 2000).
Blennies also may serve as important indicators of environmental quality due to their habit of
establishing populations in close proximity to human impacts on the marine environment. Viviparous
blennies, Zoarces viviparous, have been found to be useful indicators of petroleum contamination from oil
platforms (Celander et al. 1994) and industrial chemical effluents (Vetemaa et al. 1997) in the North Sea.
Blennies may be useful environmental indicators of jetty habitats on the Texas coast as well as oil
platforms. Over 13,000 commercial vessels and an even larger number of smaller recreational and fishing
boats annually pass through channels protected by jetties at the three sites utilized in the study (Port of
Houston Authority 2001, Port of Corpus Christi Authority 2001). More than 1,000 of these commercial
vessels were tankers carrying 75.5 million tons of petroleum and 1.94 million tons of assorted chemicals
through Aransas Pass alone (Port of Corpus Christi Authority 2001). Blennies on jetties may be useful as
models to study the chronic effects of long-term sub-lethal exposures to petroleum and other chemicals.
The data presented in this study should serve as the foundation for continued examination of the utility of
blennies to fisheries biologists and resource managers.
Conclusions
The major findings of the present study are as follows:
• Four species of blenniids and one labrisomid species reside on Texas jetties. These
species formed geographically distinct assemblages at the three study sites but
further work is needed to determine if these sites are representative of the Texas
coast.
• The blenny assemblages at each site appeared to be relatively stable in species
composition over time. Observed fluctuations in CPUE were driven primarily by
temperature and may be an artifact of sampling bias.
• Scartella cristata is the dominant blenny on Texas jetties. It is a short-lived species
that spawns throughout most of the year. Further research questions should focus