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Stetson Bank long-term monitoring, 2015 annual report
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2017
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[PDF-4.91 MB]
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Description:This report documents study methods and summarizes key findings and field notes from the 2015 annual long-term monitoring study of fish and benthic communities at Stetson Bank. Stetson Bank is an uplifted claystone/siltstone feature located within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, and supports a diverse benthic community of sponges and coral. Benthic monitoring has occurred at the site since 1993 and was expanded in 2015 to include monitoring in the mesophotic zone surrounding the bank crest. In 2015, bank crest high relief habitat was documented to have higher coral and sponge cover in comparison to low relief habitat, and overall macroalgae cover declined from 2014 levels. Bank crest fish communities were mostly comprised of small individuals and exhibited an inverted biomass pyramid. In the mesophotic zone, two habitats were documented: coralline algae reef and deep reef. Coralline algae reef cover was predominately Rhodophyta and deep reef was Cnidaria. The mesophotic fish community was mostly comprised of fish 15-20 cm in length and biomass was predominately piscivores.
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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Compliance:Library
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