Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Species-specific avoidance responses by blue crabs and fish to chronic and episodic hypoxia

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although both chronic and episodic hypoxia (O2<2 mg l−1) alter the distribution and abundance patterns of mobile animals within estuaries, recent evidence suggests that some animals may be more likely to remain within hypoxic or anoxic water than others, due to differences in physiological tolerance and movement responses to the dynamics of hypoxia. Determining avoidance responses to hypoxia is important for identifying the species most susceptible to the direct and indirect impacts of these events. A trawl survey was used to examine the avoidance responses of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and several fish [pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), and paralichthid flounders (Paralichthys dentatus and Paralichthys lethostigma)] to chronic hypoxia and episodic hypoxic upwelling events in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA. Trawl collections were made in three depth strata (3.0–4.6 m, 1.7–3.0 m, and 0.9–1.7 m depth) to quantify changes in the depth-specific distribution and abundance patterns of the six most common estuarine taxa during three dissolved oxygen conditions: normoxia, chronic hypoxia, and episodic hypoxic upwelling events. Pinfish, anchovies, blue crabs, and paralichthid flounder abundance increased with increasing dissolved oxygen concentrations. The two taxa most closely associated with the bottom (blue crabs and flounder) showed the strongest avoidance response to hypoxia. All taxa showed a stronger avoidance response to chronic hypoxia as compared to episodic hypoxic upwelling events. This difference is attributed to a reduced ability to avoid the rapid intrusions of hypoxic water during episodic events, or to increased risks of injury and predation in shallow refuge habitats, which may force some individuals back into hypoxic water.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bell GW (2002) Behavioral response of free-ranging blue crabs to episodic hypoxia. MS thesis, Marine, Earth, and Atmosperic Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

  • Bell GW, Eggleston DB, Wolcott DL (2003a) Behavioral responses of free-ranging blue crabs to episodic hypoxia. I. Movement. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 259:215–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell GW, Eggleston DB, Wolcott DL (2003b) Behavioral responses of free-ranging blue crabs to episodic hypoxia. II. Feeding. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 259:227–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsuk ME, Stow CA, Luettich Jr RA, Paerl HW, Pinckney JL (2001) Modelling oxygen dynamics in an intermittently stratified estuary: estimation of process rates using field data. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 52:33–49

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breitburg DL (1992) Episodic hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay: interacting effects of recruitment, behavior, and physical disturbance. Ecol Monogr 62:525–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitburg DL (1994) Behavioral response of fish larvae to low dissolved oxygen concentrations in a stratified water column. Mar Biol 120:615–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breitburg DL, Steinberg ND, DuBeau S, Cooksey C, Houde ED (1994) Effects of low dissolved oxygen on predation on estuarine fish larvae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 104:235–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton DT, Richardson LB, Moore CJ (1980) Effect of oxygen reduction rate and constant low dissolved oxygen concentrations on two estuarine fish. Trans Am Fish Soc 109:552–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buzzelli CP, Luettich Jr RA, Powers SP, Peterson CH, McNinch JE, Pinckney JL, Paerl HW (2002) Estimating the spatial extent of bottom-water hypoxia and habitat degradation in a shallow estuary. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 230:103–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Das T, Stickle WB (1993) Sensitivity of crabs Callinectes sapidus and C. similis and the gastropod Stramonita haemastoma to hypoxia and anoxia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 98:263–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Das T, Stickle WB (1994) Detection and avoidance of hypoxic water by juvenile Callinectes sapidus and C. similis. Mar Biol 120:593–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFur PL, Mangum CP, Reese JE (1990) Respiratory responses of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus to long-term hypoxia. Biol Bull (Woods Hole) 178:46–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Deubler Jr EE, Posner GS (1963) Response of postlarval flounders, Paralichthys lethostigma, to water of low oxygen concentration. Copeia 1963:312–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz RJ, Rosenberg R (1995) Marine benthic hypoxia: a review of its ecological effects and the behavioural responses of benthic macrofauna. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 33:245–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Eby LA, Crowder LB (2002) Hypoxia-based habitat compression in the Neuse River Estuary: context-dependent shifts in behavioral avoidance thresholds. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 59:952–965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eby LA, Crowder LB (2004) Effects of hypoxic disturbances on an estuarine nekton assemblage across multiple scales. Estuaries 27:342–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Hines AH, Haddon AM, Wiechert LA (1990) Guild structure and foraging impact of blue crabs and epibenthic fish in a subestuary of Chesapeake Bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 67:105–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Howell P, Simpson D (1994) Abundance of marine resources in relation to dissolved oxygen in Long Island Sound. Estuaries 17:394–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenihan HS, Peterson CH, Byers JE, Grabowski JH, Thayer GW, Colby DR (2001) Cascading of habitat degradation: oyster reefs invaded by refuge fishes escaping stress. Ecol Appl 11:764–782

    Google Scholar 

  • Loesch H (1960) Sporadic mass shoreward migrations of demersal fish and crustaceans in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Ecology 41:292–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Luettich Jr RA, McNinch JE, Paerl HW, Peterson CH, Wells JT, Alperin M, Martens CS, Pinckney JL (2000) Neuse River Estuary modeling and monitoring project stage. 1. Hydrography and circulation, water column nutrients and productivity, sedimentary processes and benthic–pelagic coupling, and benthic ecology. 325-B, Water Resources Research Institute, University of North Carolina, Raleigh

  • Mangum CP (1997) Adaptation of the oxygen transport system to hypoxia in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Am Zool 37:604–611

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mansour RA, Lipcius RN (1991) Density-dependent foraging and mutual interference in blue crabs preying upon infaunal clams. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 72:239–246

    Google Scholar 

  • McClellan CM (2001) Mesoscale habitat use of juvenile southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma: responses to environmental variability. MS thesis, Nicholas School of the Environment, Durham

  • Officer CB, Biggs RB, Taft JL, Cronin LE, Tyler MA, Boynton WR (1984) Chesapeake Bay anoxia: origin, development, and significance. Science 223:22–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Pihl L, Baden SP, Diaz RJ (1991) Effects of periodic hypoxia on distribution of demersal fish and crustaceans. Mar Biol 108:349–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Pihl L, Baden SP, Diaz RJ, Schaffner LC (1992) Hypoxia-induced structural changes in the diet of bottom-feeding fish and crustacea. Mar Biol 112:349–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds-Fleming JV, Luettich Jr RA (2004) Wind-driven lateral variability in a partially mixed estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 60:395–407

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanford LP, Sellner KG, Breitburg DL (1990) Covariability of dissolved oxygen with physical processes in the summertime Chesapeake Bay. J Mar Res 48:567–590

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sousa WP (1984) The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:353–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tallqvist M (2001) Burrowing behaviour of the Baltic clam Macoma balthica: effects of sediment type, hypoxia and predator presence. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 212:183–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Tankersley RA, Wieber MG (2000) Physiological responses of postlarval and juvenile blue crabs Callinectes sapidus to hypoxia and anoxia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 194:179–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor DL, Eggleston DB (2000) Effects of hypoxia on an estuarine predator–prey interaction: foraging behavior and mutual interference in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus and the infaunal clam prey Mya arenaria. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 196:221–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor JC, Miller JM (2001) Physiological performance of juvenile southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma (Jordan and Gilbert, 1884), in chronic and episodic hypoxia. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 258:195–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor JC, Rand PS (2003) Spatial overlap and distribution of anchovies (Anchoa spp.) and copepods on a shallow stratified estuary. Aquat Living Resour 16:191–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thiel R, Sepulveda A, Kafemann R, Nellen W (1995) Environmental-factors as forces structuring the fish community of the Elbe estuary. J Fish Biol 46:47–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE (1987) The role of stratification in the deoxygenation of Mobile Bay and adjacent shelf bottom waters. Estuaries 10:13–19

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wannamaker CM, Rice JA (2000) Effects of hypoxia on movements and behavior of selected estuarine organisms from the southeastern United States. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 249:145–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to C. Bergeron and C. Marquette for their assistance with field collections. We also thank D. Boos for his valuable statistical advice. Financial support for this project was provided by grants to D.B. Eggleston from the North Carolina Sea Grant Program (R/MRD-43) and the National Science Foundation (OCE97–34472).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8208, USA

    G. W. Bell & D. B. Eggleston

Authors
  1. G. W. Bell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. B. Eggleston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. W. Bell.

Additional information

Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bell, G.W., Eggleston, D.B. Species-specific avoidance responses by blue crabs and fish to chronic and episodic hypoxia. Marine Biology 146, 761–770 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1483-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1483-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation