Tidal_PAD_V1_Sec4.pdf - Snohomish County PUD

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Snohomish County PUD –Pre-Application Document 4 – Existing Environment Coral Communities and Sponge Reefs Amid the vast swathes of soft substrate that stretch out across the aphotic seafloor and adjacent to the occasional rocky or hard outcropping, the sub-littoral benthos of Puget Sound is punctuated by two additional habitats that are as diverse as they are unique: deep-sea coral communities and sponge reefs. Typically found below the photic zone, reef-forming deep-sea corals derive sustenance from the falling detritus of overhead waters and in turn serve as the foundation for an oasis of life in a dark and otherwise sparsely populated world. Deep-sea coral communities are composed of both sessile and motile species. Sponges, polychaete worms, crabs, lobsters, clams, snails, octopuses, sea stars, sea urchins, brittle stars, feather stars, bryozoans, and fish all inhabit the complex habitats formed by deep-sea corals (Freiwald et al. 2004). In Puget Sound, the dominant habitatare found in Sequim Bay, the forming coral family is the Stylasteriidae, or the hydrocorals. They Commencement Bay region, and around Friday Harbor west of Bowen Island (Etnoyer and Morgan 2003). In addition to possessing deep-sea coral comm unities, Puget Sound is also home to three spongereef complexes. Capitalizing on the rich silica content of regional waters, the hexactinellid sponges of the Pacific Northwest are globally unique in their reef-building ability (DON 2006). After death, their siliceous skeletons remain intact and provide a suitable substrate for the next generation’s grow th, resulting in the construction of a viable reef structure that can reach up to 21 m in height and extend for tens of kilometers (DON 2006). In northern Puget Sound, at N. McCall Bank, S. McCall Bank, and Fraser Ridge, two glass sponge species, the chalice or vas sponge (Heterochone calyx) and the cloud sponge (Aphrocallistes vastus), are responsible for more than 117,000 m 2 of reef constructed below the photic zone in 90 to 210 m of water depth (Conway et al. 2005; DON 2006). Like the deep-sea coral structures, these sponge reefs provide habitat for numerous fish and invertebrate species. 4-56 January 31, 2008
Snohomish County PUD –Pre-Application Document 4 – Existing Environment Fish Species Associated with the Sub-Littoral Benthos While the sub-littoral environments of Puget Sound support thousands of invertebrate and floral species, the basin’ s benthos also provides esse ntial habitat for many species of fish, particularly groundfish. These nektonic macrofauna often cross and occupy multiple environments and habitat types in search of food, shelter, potential mates, and spawning grounds. Consequently, although general fish types are commonly identified wit h specific habitats (e.g. flatfish with soft-substrate habitats, rockfish with hard-bottom or kelp- forest habitats etc. ), it is convenient, given the somewhat flexible or plastic range of these organisms, to enumerate groundfish species on the basis of their association with the sub-littoral benthos in general rather than with each specific habitat. Table 4-20 below lists some of the major fish species of Puget Sound that are associated with the sub-littoral benthos. Table 4-20. Select groundfish associated with the sub-littoral benthos Common Name Flatfish Arrowtooth Flounder Butter Sole Curlfin Sole Dover Sole English Sole Flathead Sole Petrale Sole Rex Sole Rock Sole Sand Sole Starry Flounder Pacific Sanddab Rockfish Black Rockfish Blue Rockfish Bocaccio Brown Rockfish Canary Rockfish China Rockfish Copper Rockfish Atheresthes stomias Isopsetta isopleis Scientific Name Pleuronichthys decurrens Microstomus pacificus Parophrys vetulus Hippoglossoides elassodon Eopsetta jordani Glyptocephalus zachirus Lepidopsetta polyxstra/L. bilineata Psettichthys melanostictus Platichthys stellatus Citharichthys sordidus Sebastes melanops Sebastes mystinus Sebastes paucispinis Sebastes auriculatus Sebastes pinniger Sebastes nebulosus Sebastes caurinus 4-57 January 31, 2008
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Tidal_PAD_V1_Sec4.pdf - Snohomish County PUD

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