The Gulf menhaden (''Brevoortia patronus'') is a small marine
filter-feeding
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...
fish belonging to the family
Clupeidae
Clupeidae is a family of ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa, and menhadens. The clupeoids include many of the most important food fishes in the world, and are also commonly caught for production of ...
. The range of Gulf menhaden encompasses the entirety of 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 ...
nearshore waters, with the exception of the extreme eastern
Yucatan and western
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
[FAO 2002. The living marine resources of the western central Atlantic. ASIH special publication No. 5, Kent E. Carpenter, ed. ISSN 1020-6868.] Evidence from morphology
[Dahlberg, M.D. 1970. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico menhadens, genus Brevoortia (Pisces:Clupeidae). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 15:91-162.] and DNA analyses suggest that the Gulf menhaden is the Gulf of Mexico complement to the Atlantic menhaden (''Brevoortia tyrannus''). Both species support large commercial reduction fisheries, with Gulf menhaden supporting the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States.
[Pritchard, E.S. 2005. Fisheries of the United States 2004. Silver Spring, MD: National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Science and Technology, pp. 1-19.]
Range and distribution
The Gulf menhaden occurs throughout the Gulf of Mexico, but its distribution is patchy. The center of distribution of the species appears to be the northwest/northcentral Gulf,
particularly in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and
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 ...
where populations are very large and numerous. In the southern Gulf of Mexico, the range of Gulf menhaden overlaps that of the closely related finescale menhaden (''Brevoortia gunteri''), and there is evidence for resource partitioning (a process whereby closely related species occurring in close proximity results in subtle differences in ecological niches) between these species.
[Castillo-Revera, M., A. Kobelkowsky and V. Zamayoa. 1996. Food resource partitioning and trophic morphology of Brevoortia gunteri and B. patronus. Journal of Fish Biology 49:1102-1111.] In the eastern Gulf, the range of Gulf menhaden overlaps that of the
yellowfin menhaden
Yellow-fin may refer to one of the following species of fish:
* Yellowfin bream, several fishes in the family Sparidae
* Yellowfin croaker, a fish in the family Sciaenidae
* Yellowfin cutthroat trout, a fish in the family Salmonidae
* Yellowfin ...
(''Brevoortia smithi''), and hybridization between these species has been demonstrated using morphological
and DNA evidence.
[Anderson, J.D. and W.J. Karel. 2007. Genetic evidence for asymmetric hybridization between menhadens (Brevoortia spp.) from peninsular Florida. Journal of Fish Biology 71b:235-249.] Gulf menhaden also may have a presence on the southern Atlantic coast of Florida,
although this finding is based primarily upon DNA evidence.
General biology
Gulf menhaden are commonly 8 inches in length but can reach 12 inches. Gulf menhaden are a dull silver with a greenish back. Like their Atlantic counterpart, Gulf menhaden have a prominent black spot found behind the gill cover followed by a row of smaller spots
Diet
Gulf menhaden are filter feeders, meaning that they collect food by filtering water through modifications of the branchial apparatus (gill or
branchial arch
Branchial arches, or gill arches, are a series of bony "loops" present in fish, which support the gills. As gills are the primitive condition of vertebrates, all vertebrate embryos develop pharyngeal arches, though the eventual fate of these arc ...
es and
gill raker
Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of the ...
s). Like
Atlantic menhaden
The Atlantic menhaden (''Brevoortia tyrannus'') is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae.
Atlantic menhaden are found in North Atlantic coastal and estuarine waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida. They ar ...
, Gulf menhaden's diet depends on the size of their gill rakers, which change as menhaden age. Larval gulf menhaden feed primary on zooplankton because the rakers are not well developed. The juveniles, which generally correspond to when they are under the age of 1, feed on
phytoplankton
Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
Ph ...
. As they age and their gill rakers fully developed, menhaden shift their diet to primarily consume
zooplankton
Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...
.
[“Menhaden Facts.” Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.](_blank)
Life cycle
Spawning occurs offshore in winter (October–March).
Eggs and larvae are
pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
and are carried into estuarine nursery areas via prevailing currents. As a result, migration at this stage can be lengthy, and populations of Gulf menhaden throughout the Gulf of Mexico are generally thought to comprise a single genetic stock.
Relationship with humans
Commercial fishery
The Gulf menhaden fishery is one of the largest in the United States. In 2013, the fishery supported four of the nation's top ten ports by volume of landings. Gulf menhaden are harvested primarily for fish meal and fish oil based products. A much smaller number of menhaden are caught for use as bait. In addition to being one of the largest fisheries in the US, the Gulf menhaden fishery has also been recognized internationally for its sustainability.
The fishery's sustainability has also been certified by independent organizations.
Friend of the Sea
Friend of the Sea is a project of the World Sustainability Organization for the certification and promotion of seafood from sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture. It is the only certification scheme which, with the same logo, certifies ...
, an international seafood sustainability certification program, has recognized both the
Atlantic menhaden
The Atlantic menhaden (''Brevoortia tyrannus'') is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae.
Atlantic menhaden are found in North Atlantic coastal and estuarine waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida. They ar ...
and Gulf menhaden fisheries as sustainable. This is both due to the healthy status of the stock as well as the fishery's low levels of bycatch, which it achieves with the use of purse seine nets.
Recreational fishery
The gulf menhaden is an important bait fish for recreational anglers.
Management
Gulf menhaden are managed by an interstate compact called the
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) is an interstate compact among the five U.S. states that border the Gulf of Mexico: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Its purpose is to promote the conservation, development a ...
(GSMFC). According to the most recent 2013 stock assessment by the GSMFC, Gulf menhaden are “neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing.” According to the GSMFC, “the Gulf menhaden fishery is probably the most closely monitored and managed fishery in the Gulf of Mexico.”
An example of the fishery's monitoring is the Gulf of Mexico purse seine fishery's participation in NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Observer Program since 2011. Specifically, the Menhaden Advisory Committee (MAC) is the GSMFC subcommittee that oversees menhaden management.
Dead zones
According to the GSMFC: “Menhaden do not have the capacity to reduce unwanted phytoplankton blooms that arise from manmade sources, primarily because they eat mostly zooplankton. In addition, menhaden excrete large amounts of ammonia (a nitrogenous product), contributing to an already high nitrogen load.”
In addition, the commercial menhaden fishery only targets adult menhaden, which consume zooplankton, not juvenile menhaden, which do consume phytoplankton
NOAA, “Brief History of the Gulf Menhaden Purse-Seine Fishery”
/ref>
Sources
External links
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
menhaden page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2053687
Gulf menhaden
The Gulf menhaden (''Brevoortia patronus'') is a small marine filter-feeding fish belonging to the family Clupeidae. The range of Gulf menhaden encompasses the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico nearshore waters, with the exception of the extreme e ...
Fish of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf menhaden
The Gulf menhaden (''Brevoortia patronus'') is a small marine filter-feeding fish belonging to the family Clupeidae. The range of Gulf menhaden encompasses the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico nearshore waters, with the exception of the extreme e ...