Nearshore hardbottom fishes of southeast Florida and effects of habitat burial caused by dredging

The southeast coast of mainland Florida is within a biogeographic transition zone of high marine biodiversity (Briggs, 1974; Gilmore, 1995). This region is also undergoing some of the most rapid human population growth of any area of the United States (Culliton et al., 1990). Due to the economic and recreational value of beaches, substantial marine dredging projects (up to 1.5 × 105 m 3 of fill/project) are commonly used to widen beaches that are subject to erosion in the area (ACOE, 1996). Nearshore hardbottom habitats are the primary natural reef structures of this region at depths of 0–4 m and are often buried or indirectly affected by these projects. To date, no quantitative studies of the fish fauna of these habitats or the effects of beach dredge-and-fill projects on nearshore fishes are available (NRC, 1995). Nearshore hardbottom habitats of this area are derived from accretionary ridges of coquina mollusks, sand, and shell marl which lithified parallel to ancient shorelines during Pleistocene interglacial periods (Duane and Meisburger, 1969; Hoffmeister, 1974). The habitat complexity of these limestone structures has been expanded by colonies Nearshore hardbottom fishes of southeast Florida and effects of habitat burial caused by dredging