On
Tuesday May 23rd, we visited Long Key Point. This is the most
southeastern location on Long Key, containing a variety of macroalgae and
invertebrates. The weather was considerably sunny with strong winds, which
created heavy surface currents. These winds were strong enough to balance out
the strength of the opposing current below, while the tides were at its lowest
point. The site was dominated by hard corals, which makes a great feeding
source of brown algae such as Dictyota,
which was very abundant as well. The site was a shallower area like our other
visit, Zane Grey Creek, allowing us to see an abundance of juvenile fish such
as Stegastes fuscus, Thalassoma bifasciatum, and Anisotremus virginicus. These juveniles
thrived because the corals gave plenty of hiding spots for small fish and many
invertebrates such as Diadema spp., and
Eupolymnia crassicornis, Pseudopterogorgia americana, along with the spiny lobster, Palinuridae spp. In
between different types of corals were quite a few loggerhead sponges, Spheciospongia vesparium, along with a
few Solenastria bornacia and Siderastria radians. These corals were spotted
frequently, classifying them as an abundant species. Adult fish were not as
common as juveniles, but some adults spotted included Chaetodon capistratus, Lutjanus
griseus, Abudefduf saxatilis, and
Bodianus rufus. There were two
species of mollusk seen as well, the horse conch and the queen conch, Triplofusus giganteus and Lobatus gigas. There were not any
obvious signs of human impact, but overfishing along with active boat pollution
and damage to corals from boats were able to be inferred from observations.
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| Spheciospongia vespera |
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| Pseudopterogorgia americana |
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| Diadema spp. |
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