Browsing by Author "Pullen, Edward J."
Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Checklist of Invertebrate Animals; Abundance and Distribution with regards to Hydrographic Conditions - Biological Survey of Area M-2(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1961) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission project reports, 1959-60Stations were established in Upper Galveston and Trinity Bays to determine invertebrate animals present, periods of their presence, their relative seasonal abundance, and their distribution relative to hydrographic factors. Emphasis was placed on shrimp occurrence and movement.Item Checklist of Marsh and Marine Flora in Area M-2 - Ecological Survey of Area M-2(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission project reports, 1959-60.Objective: To identify the marsh and marine plants present in Area M-2, prepare a checklist with each species and determine the relative abundance.Item Collection and Identification of Vertebrate Forms Present in Area M-2 and Determine Their Relative Seasonal Abundance - Ecological Survey of Area M-2(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission project reports, 1959-60.Objective: To determine the vertebrate forms present, periods of presence and relative seasonal abundance in Area M-2.Item Experimental Crab Tagging - Studies of Blue Crab Populations of the Texas Coast(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Pullen, Edward J.Blue crabs tagged by various methods were placed in holding pens for observation. With the information obtained from these experiments and a literature survey, it was decided to use two types of tags on crabs: (1) a Petersen disc attached either through the split line of the crab or to its carapace and (2) a spaghetti dart tag in the muscular portion of the swimming leg. Three hundred and forty-one crabs were tagged and released at four different locations in the Galveston Bay system for life - history studies. Of these crabs, 122 were tagged with Petersen disc, 219 with spaghetti dart tags. There were eleven recoveries, all males. Eight of these were tagged with Petersen disc and three with spaghetti dart tags. Tag returns indicated random movement in the bay during the summer with some Gulfward movement. Fall returns in all cases indicated Gulfward movement.Item Literature Survey of Area M-2(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Pullen, Edward J.Literature on Area M-2 was read to familiarize myself with area of future investigation and research. Publications on typical fauna and flora of the area were also read.Item Migration Study on Brown Shrimp, Penaeus aztecus (Ives), in the Lower Laguna Madre - Study of the Texas Shrimp Populations(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Pullen, Edward J.In June 1962, 40,023 brown shrimp were stained with a fast green dye by injection through the dorsal artery. Of the shrimp stained, 37,733 survived and were released at night int he bay near Port Mansfield. The general bay movement of the shrimp was southward toward the Brazos-Santiago Pass and eastward toward the new Port Mansfield Pass. Gulf returns indicated the shrimp moved in a northerly direction after leaving the bay. It was speculated that the Gulf movement was due to onshore currents caused by prevailing southerly winds. Stained shrimp returns indicated they were moving at a rate of 0 to 1.88 miles per day.Item Population Studies of the Blue Crabs of the Galveston Bay System - Studies of Blue Crab Populations of the Texas Coast(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Fisheries Project Reports 1961-1962Trawls, seines, and trammel nets were used to sample the Galveston Bay crab populations. The data collected were used in determining the seasonal abundance of the crabs as compared to previous years' sampling. Blue crab populations in 1962 appeared to be larger than in 1961. The female population lagged behind the male in abundance in all months in 1962 except April, October, and December. The movement of adult crabs appeared to be governed by their search for food, reproductive cycle, and seasonal temperatures. Juveniles remained in the bay all seasons, moving toward the primary bay as they grew. Growth rate of the juvenile crabs was 0.4mm per day.Item Study of the Bay and Gulf Populations of Shrimp: Penaeus aztecus, Penaeus setiferus, and Penaeus duorarum(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1963) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Fisheries Project Reports 1961-1962During the 1962 study 894 shrimp samples were collected on the Texas coast from Galveston to the Lower Laguna Madre. These samples produced 42,745 brown shrimp and 18,072 white shrimp. Postlarval samples, collected with a plankton net, a pull seine, and a beam trawl at Aransas Pass, indicated two major groups of small shrimp entered Aransas and Corpus Christi Bays. The first wave entered the bays in February and March, and the second wave entered in October and November. Bay samples, collected with the standard trawls and seines, indicated at least three major waves each of brown and white entered most bays this year. Brown shrimp were found to grow at the rate of 0.8 millimeters per day leaving the bays at 80 millimeters mean size. White shrimp grew 1.1 millimeters per day moving Gulfward at 110 millimeters. Brown and white shrimp left the lower Laguna Madre at a smaller size than in other bays. Pink shrimp were stragglers in the more southerly bays, San Antonio Bay to the Lower Laguna Madre. They grew at the rate of 0.7 millimeters per day in the Lower Laguna moving Gulfward at 50 millimeters mean size. Gulf samples were collected in the Port Aransas Area at depths of 15 fathoms showed the brown shrimp to be present from March to November but were more abundant from July to September. The majority of the brown shrimp caught in the inshore Gulf were under legal count size about 118 mm. White shrimp were found year round in the collections but were more abundant during the winter and spring. White shrimp taken in the collections were legal count size all year except in February. Salinities were higher this year than in 1961. Temperatures followed the normal seasonal trend except for the freeze in January and a slight temperature drop in March. Commercial shrimp landings shows the total shrimp production increased one per cent from 1961 and decreased 28 per cent from the 1960 commercial production. Data collected this year further substantiates the need for closing certain shallow nursery areas to shrimping. There also appears to be a need for additional regulations of the inshore Gulf to protect the transit, undercount brown shrimp during the summer and fall.Item Study of the Fishes of Upper Galveston Bay - Ecological Survey of Area M-2(Texas Game and Fish Commission, Marine Laboratory, 1962) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Fisheries Project Reports 1960-1961Forage fish and juvenile game fish samples were taken regularly with standard trawls and seines, while trammel nets, gill nets, beach seines, and rod and reel were used extensively to sample adult game fish. Hydrographic and climatitological data were collected in conjunction with each sample to correlate these factors with the seasonal abundance, occurrence, and distribution of the collected vertebrates. Three hundred and thirty samples were made, resulting in the collection of over thirty thousand fish. Ten new species and one species, last collected two years ago, were recorded in this year's checklist, while nineteen species collected or observed last year were missing. Anchovies, croakers, and sand trout, respectively, were the most abundant forage species in the collections. Game fish seemed to be more abundant in the bays in 1961 than in 1960. A total of 580 redfish, sand trout, speckled trout, drum, sheepshead, and flounder were tagged for growth and migration studies. Spawning and/or nursery habitats of these species were located and plotted. Population mass and species composition varied with the seasons. The summer populations were usually large and predominantly marine, while the smalled winter populations were generally a mixture of fresh water and marine species.Item Study of the Juvenile Shrimp Populations, Penaeus aztecus and Penaeus setiferus, of Galveston Bay(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Fisheries Project Reports 1961-1962One hundred and twenty-three samples were collected producing 3085 white shrimp and 3703 brown shrimp. Juvenile brown shrimp entered the bay in three waves in April, July, and August. Young whites entered in three waves in July, August, and September. The brown shrimp was the more abundant species. Samples produced about one-third as many brown and white shrimp as those of 1961 and about one-tenth as many as those of 1960. Temperatures followed the normal seasonal trend, except for the freeze in January, and a six degree centigrade decline in March. The reduced amount of rainfall and river flow this year resulted in the higher bay salinities than in 1960-61.Item Study of the Marsh and Marine Plants in Upper Galveston and Trinity Bays - Ecological Survey of Upper Galveston and Trinity Bays(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Pullen, Edward J.; Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Fisheries Project Reports 1960-1961This report covers a year's study of the march and marine vegetation of Area M-2 in relation to hydrographic and climatological conditions. Vegetation was collected by hand, and in trawl, seine, and plankton net in conjunction with other jobs. The marine plants are included in a check-list with related hydrographic data. The main purpose of this project was to determine if a species was eliminated or reduced due to natural causes, and if the associated organisms were affected. Marine vegetation seemed to have the same general distribution, although some species were not as wide spread as in the 1959-60 survey. Seven major marine species were found in the bays. These were Ruppia maritima, Lyngbya sp., Enteromorphia sp., Ulva lactuca, Polysiphonia sp., Gracilaria sp., and Sargassum sp. The present crop of marsh plants changed little, following the same general distribution as in the 1959-60 survey. Spartina alterniflora and Scirpus robustus were the marsh plants producing the greatest influence on the marine environment.