Analysis of benthic invertebrate samples from the Caloosahatchee River, Florida. A technical report.

Abstract

A program was initiated in 1986 to characterize the ecosystem changes related to varying freshwater inflows to the Caloosahatchee estuary, located on the southwest coast of Florida. Monthly benthic macroinfaunal samples were collected and analyzed in 1986-1989. However, the inflow conditions encountered during this three year period of record did not sufficiently incorporate the very high inflows that have historically occurred in this system. Therefore, 12 additional sampling surveys were conducted at the same locations in 1994-1995. The surveys were conducted during a period of extremely high freshwater discharges, in order to aid in the determination of maximum inflow limits for the estuary. Benthic macroinfauna from 192 samples were delivered to Mote Marine Laboratory for taxonomic analysis. This report provides the results of this analyses of aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates from four locations in the Caloosahatchee River. In addition to taxonomic identification, information for benthic community metrics and select indices are presented.