Marine Forage Fishes in Puget Sound

Abstract

Forage fishes are small, schooling fishes that are key prey items for larger predatory fish and wildlife in a marine food web. In Puget Sound, forage fish species occupy every marine and estuarine nearshore habitat. Nearshore habitats are of special concern, because many species use them for spawning. This report focus on three species that commonly occur within the nearshore zone of Pacific Northwest beaches: Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus). Each species has particular habitat requirements for spawning; for example, a relatively restricted sediment grain size, particular tidal heights, or specific vegetation types. Adjacent nearshore habitats are used as nursery grounds by all three species.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA477927

Entities

People

  • Dan Penttila

Organizations

  • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Birds
  • Cells
  • Environmental Protection
  • Fish
  • Fisheries
  • Habitats
  • Wildlife

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Coastal Oceanography