Management Plan - National Estuarine Research Reserve System

Figure III.5. The property of the Wells Reserve was first settled by Europeans in the 17 th century.Invertebrate FaunaThe Webhannet and Little River estuaries areimportant breeding areas for intertidal and subtidalinvertebrates.The marine and estuarine invertebrates are themost diverse group of organisms at the Reserve,and include 14 phyla. Representatives of some ofthe phylogenetic orders of invertebrates at theReserve include Mollusca, Nematoda, Protozoa,and Arthropoda. They and other phyla are foundin salt marshes, mudflats, sandy substrates, andin the water column. Invertebrates common inthe mudflats include the soft-shell clam, the clamworm, the blood worm, and the common periwinkle.Common species of molluscs found in sandysubstrates include blue mussels, surf clams, razorclams, and jingle clams. Common invertebratesthat occur in the salt marsh include the green crab,grass shrimp, and the sand shrimp, and a rangegastropods and amphipods.Vertebrate FaunaThe Wells Reserve’s various habitats supportdiverse animal communities. Vertebrate communitiesinclude resident and migrant species of fish,amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal.Fifty-five fish species from 30 families have beendocumented at the Wells Reserve. They were foundbetween 1989 and 2001 during surveys of the LittleRiver, Webhannet River, Merriland River, BranchBrook and Wells embayment. The most commonwere the American eel, alewife, common mummichog,Atlantic silverside and three sticklebackspecies (fourspine, threespine and ninespine). Fourreptile species, seven amphibian species, more thanManagement Plan: Setting23