East Matagorda Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

off Matagorda County on the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Gulf Coast (at 28°43' N, 95°49' W), enclosed by the

Matagorda Peninsula The Matagorda Peninsula () is a narrow Spit (landform), spit of land on the southeastern coast of Texas in the United States. The peninsula is in Matagorda County, Texas, Matagorda County, Texas. The barrier island lies between Matagorda Bay, an ...

and the tidal flats at the mouth of the Colorado River. It is a minor

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, one of a series of estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas, but it has no significant river sources, receiving only the runoff from the adjacent coastal watershed. Its only true opening to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

is through Brown Cedar Cut, near the north end of the peninsula. East Matagorda Bay was devastated by the 1942 Matagorda Hurricane, the most devastating hurricane of the

1942 Atlantic hurricane season The 1942 Atlantic hurricane season was one of seven seasons to feature multiple hurricane landfalls in Texas. The season officially lasted from June 16, 1942, to October 31, 1942. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each y ...

. It is part of the

Matagorda Bay Matagorda Bay () is a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, east-southeast of San Antonio, south-southwest of Houston, and south-southeast ...

system, the third largest estuarine system in the state of Texas.

Ecosystem

East Matagorda Bay’s ecosystem is home to many different species of marine and freshwater fish. Freshwater species of fish include

black bass Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

temperate bass The Moronidae are a family of perciform fishes, commonly called the temperate basses, consisting of at least six freshwater, brackish water, and marine species. Many members of this family are anadromous. Description These fishes reach 45 cm to o ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...

redbreast sunfish The redbreast sunfish (''Lepomis auritus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (family Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to the river systems of eastern Canada and the United Sta ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens. Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are co ...

gar Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...

, and

buffalo fish ''Ictiobus'', also known as buffalofish or simply buffalo, is a genus of freshwater fish native to North America, specifically the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. They are the largest and longest-lived of the North American sucker ...

. Marine fish may be in different areas of the bay that include open water of the Gulf of Mexico or shallow water or estuaries closer to shore. These species include

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

Atlantic Croaker The Atlantic croaker (''Micropogonias undulatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae and is closely related to the black drum (''Pogonias cromis''), the silver perch (''Bairdiella chrysoura''), the spot cro ...

southern flounder The southern (or armless) flounders are a small family, Achiropsettidae, of flounders found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. There are four genera, each with one species. The bodies of southern flounders are greatly compressed, with both ...

pinfish ''Lagodon'' is a genus of saltwater fish in the family Sparidae, the breams and porgies. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species ''Lagodon rhomboides'', commonly known as pinfish.Masterson, J''Lagodon rhomboides''.Smithsonian Mar ...

, mullet,

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin (Wales), peel or peal ...

tarpon Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Species an ...

amberjack Amberjacks are Atlantic and Pacific fish in the genus ''Seriola'' of the family Carangidae. They are widely consumed across the world in various cultures, most notably for Pacific amberjacks in Japanese cuisine; they are most often found in the ...

pompano Pompanos ( ) are marine fishes in the genus ''Trachinotus'' in the family Carangidae (better known as "jacks"). Pompano may also refer to various other, similarly shaped members of the Carangidae, or the order Perciformes. Their appearance is ...

common snook The common snook (''Centropomus undecimalis'') is a species of Seawater, marine fish in the family (biology), family Centropomidae of the order (biology), order Perciformes. The common snook is also known as the sergeant fish or robalo. It was o ...

, jack crevalle, Tripletail,

cobia The cobia (''Rachycentron canadum'') is a species of carangiform marine fish, the only extant representative of the genus ''Rachycentron'' and the family Rachycentridae. Other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfis ...

, and snapper species. Other species of animals that reside in the bay include Eastern

Brown Pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...

Crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

species,

American Alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the g ...

, and different turtle species. Texas's East Matagorda Bay also includes a wide variety of plant species and vegetation either in the coastal wetlands or on solid land. East Matagorda Bay also is considered a coastal marshland as there is a large absence of trees in bay. Some submerged salt water grasses that appear off the coast of the bay include shoal grass, widgeon grass, and

turtle grass ''Thalassia testudinum'', commonly known as turtlegrass, is a species of Marine (ocean), marine seagrass. It forms meadows in shallow sandy or muddy locations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Turtle grass and other seagrasses form sea ...

. Some mainland plants include the

common sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

, many different

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

species,

milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

, many

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

species,

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

saplings and trees, and many other different flower and tall grass species. Close to the coast, there are many different types of grasses and shrubs that grow in the salty environment.

Panicgrass ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, growi ...

ryegrass ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' is ...

, Gulf coast

Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

plants, and cutgrass are some of the most common plant life species that are apparent in the East Matagorda Bay area. Atlantic tarpon

Controversy

In early January 1990, the carcasses of twenty-three ''

Tursiops truncatus Bottlenose dolphins are Aquatic mammal, aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. molecular biology, Molecular studies ...

'' (Common Bottlenose Dolphin) were discovered off the inland coastline of East Matagorda Bay, TX. There were few cases that reported dead or live Common Bottlenose Dolphins in East Matagorda Bay, before and after the mass die-off. Natural causes and weather patterns prior to the findings of the dolphins were the most probable cause. In December 1989, Texas went through a number of arctic outbreaks, reaching lows of two degrees fahrenheit. Additionally, engineering programs such as the dredging of Mitchell's Cut, meant to provide flood relief at the time, ended up altering points of access between East Matagorda Bay and the

. The effects of these programs could have been a factor to the deaths.

References

External links

* {{Estuaries of Texas Bays of Texas Bodies of water of Matagorda County, Texas Estuaries of Texas