University of New England

Saco River Larval Fish
Andy Wargo
Class of 2008

As in many rivers, the Saco River empties its supply of freswater  into the sea, which can have an effect on the ichthyoplankton distributions directly outside the mergence of the river and ocean.  As water flows out of the Saco River, it creates a "plume" of freshwater which can make its way out into the surrounding ocean.  This decrease in salinity can create unsuitable conditions for larval fish which are at the mercy of the ocean currents and may travel into this plume.  We hypothesized that the freshwater plume created by the emptying of the Saco River would have a significant effect on the icthyoplankton distributions.
Four sites, two in the plume and two outside the plume, were sampled on a weekly basis.  For this study, a half meter wide plankton net with 250 micron mesh was employed.  Larval fish found within each sample site were identified.  Over the course of sampling (three months), ten species of ichthyoplankton were identified ranging from Cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus, to the Northern Pipefish, Syngnathus fuscus.  The cunner was the most abundant of all species collected in the samples.  When comparing the abundance of larval fish inside the plume and outside the plume, the amount of larval fish found outside the plume was significantly greater than the amount found inside the plume over the entire sampling perioc.  This suggests that the freshwater plume from the Saco River has an adverse effect on ichthyoplankton distribution.  Future studies will include a more rigourous sampling regime as well as a larger plankton net.

Questions about the project?
email Andy
awargo@mail.une.edu
or Dr. Sulikowski
jsulikowski@une.edu