Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Callihan, JodySubject: search.filters.subject.diet

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    Ecology of Juvenile Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, in Maryland Coastal Waters and Chesapeake Bay
    (2005-12-12) Callihan, Jody; Secor, David; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Shallow coastal ocean environments may function as important nursery habitats for juvenile bluefish, yet little ecological research has been conducted in ocean habitats. This thesis examines seasonal production, growth rates, and diet composition of juveniles in Maryland's coastal ocean environment and the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Summer-spawned juveniles dominated in ocean habitats and exhibited rapid growth rates, 2.0 - 2.4 mm d-1, which were likely fueled by an abundant forage base of young-of-the-year bay anchovy present in ocean environments during late summer/early fall. This summer cohort was rare in the Chesapeake Bay, where spring-spawned juveniles dominated. These results suggest ocean habitats provide principal nurseries for summer-spawned bluefish, and that the Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries are principal nurseries for spring-spawned juveniles. Accordingly, year class strength is likely shaped by contributions of juveniles from both oceanic and estuarine nursery habitats.