Tampa Bay National Estuary Program Technical Publication #07-94



# HARD BOTTOM MAPPING OF 

# TAMPA BAY

FINAL REPORT

OCTOBER, 1994

# HARD BOTTOM MAPPING OF 

# TAMPA BAY

Prepared 

### for: Tampa Bay National Estuary Program 111 Seventh Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 by Daniel 

### M. Savercool

Roy R. Lewis III August 1994 Revised October 1994



### LEWIS ENVIRONMENTAL 

### SERVICES, 

### INC. 

### Post Office 

### Box 20005 Tampa, 

### FL 

### 33622
-0005INTRODUCTION Hard bottom communities are benthic habitats dominated by epifaunal organisms such as sponges, hard and soft corals, hydroids, anemones, barnacles, bryozoans, decapod crustaceans and gastropods. By nature, these organisms are sessile and most are attached directly to the hard substrate. Although hard bottom communitiesdo not dominate Florida's estuarine and marine benthos, they are found throughout the central to southern coastal regions of the state from Port Canaveral on the east coast to Hernando Beach on the west coast. Community composition varies 

### as bottom type varies from the welldocumented coral reefs of southeastern and Keys region of the state to the vermetid and coquina reefs of east central Florida and the limestone outcroppings of the west central coast.
Hard bottom community composition typically is defined by the relatively narrow water temperature and salinity ranges of the benthos. However, many benthic species are able to tolerate the variable environmental conditionspresent 

### in estuaries. Previous studies conducted by Dawson (1953) and Derrenbacker and Lewis (1985)report that hard bottom communities are located in Tampa Bay, Florida's largest estuary. Although Dawson first reported the hard bottom communities in the bay, it was Derrenbacker and Lewis who provided the description of the flora and fauna associated with the hard bottom. Both studies located two hard bottom communities within Tampa Bay. The northernmost community was located in the central portion of the bay around the Gandy Bridge and the other was located south from Bishop Harbor to Terra Ceia Bay 

### in Lower Tampa Bay. During recent 

### years, the development 

### of a baywide environmentalmanagement plan has become a common goal of the local and regional regulatory agencies. Management of environmentally sensitive organisms such 

### as those commonly associated with hard bottom communities is included in the plan. To effectively manage the hard bottom communities and their associated populations, the communities must first 

### be located before detailed quantitative studies can 

### be performed. Although only two communities have been located, the presence of other benthic communities in Tampa Bay that 

### are associated with hard bottoms, such as oyster bars, suggest that others exist. Also, limestone bedrock has


### 1become exposed through dredging to maintain shipping channels, making habitat potentially available for epifaunal benthos.
In May 1993, Lewis Environmental Services, Inc. was contracted by the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program to locate and map existing hard bottom communities in Tampa Bay. This report presents the results 

### of aerial photointerpretation, groundtruthing and mapping tasks pursuant to that contract.


### METHODS True color aerial photography (9" x 9" contact prints) from the 1990 SWIM series for Tampa Bay were interpreted to determine approximate locations of areas exhibiting the signature of hard bottom communities (Figure 1). These locations were overlaid onto NOAA Charts #11414 Ed. #29 and #11413 Ed. #35 to determine location relative to latitude and longitude coordinates. Location coordinates were entered into a Magellan GPS NAV 5000D. The GPS was used as a navigational aid to locate in the field those areas delineated in the photography.
Each area delineated from the aerial photography was inspected to determine substrate type (hard or 

### soft bottom). 

### If the substrate was a hard bottom, the sites were visually analyzed to determine dominant species composition, substrate (concrete, limestone or oyster shell), water depth, habitat size and updated location. If the water depth was in excess of 

### six feet, SCUBA divers or snorkelers were deployed to collect 

### the descriptive data. Many sites were photographed using underwater cameras. Upon return to the lab, data were tabulated and maps showing hard bottom community locationswere updated.
RESULTS Three distinct hard bottom habitat locations were analyzed (Table 

### 1). Two 

### of the 

### three were the communitiespreviously described by Derrenbacker 

### and

### Lewis (1985). The first is located from the mouth 

### of Cockroach Bay south to the mouth 

### of Terra Ceia Bay in Lower Tampa Bay (Figure 2). The hard bottom community in 

### this area 

### is on native

2Figure 1. Vertical aerial photograph of Little Cockroach Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, February 8, 1994. Hard bottom (HB) is shown extending in a linear fashion parallel to the sandbar (SB)jut offshore of the seagrass beds (SG). Also shown are drift algae (A), oyster bars (OB) and mangroves (M). Photograph by Candy Photography, Inc.

## HARD BOTTOM 

## COMMUNITIES
1 INTERPRETED FROM 1990 1:24,000 TRUE COLOR ! VERTICAL AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY I AND GROUNDTRUTHING

HARD BOTTOM COMMUNITIES



# \ 

# 4

FIGURE LEWIS ENVIRONMENTAL TAMPA, FT. LAUDERDALE & SUMMERLAND KEY, FL. (813) 889-9684 SERVICES. INC

. 

## MIDDLE & 

## LOWER TAMPA 

## BAYlimestone outcroppings. Much of the limestone has been naturally exposed, with the exception of the area 

### in the shipping channel east of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Here, the limestone has been exposed by dredging operations and has remained exposed through the swift tidal currents flowing in the channel. At the hard bottom community in Lower Tampa Bay, the dominant epibenthos are sea whip 

### (Leptogorgia virgulata, Figure 3), starlet coral 

### (Siderastrea radium),loggerhead sponge 

### (Spheciospongia vesperia),boring sponge 

### (Cliona 

### celata) and the alga 

### Sargassum filipendulum (Table 2). 

### Thiscommunity is located in water depths which range 

### from approximately 4' to 22' MSL.
Table 1. Location and size of verified hard bottom communitiesby bay segment, Tampa Bay, Florida. BAY SEGMENT LATITUDE (N) LONGITUDE (W) ACREAGE Upper Old Tampa Bay 27o59'43'' 27o57'35" 27o56'40'' Subtotal Lower Old Tampa Bay 27 o 53'29" 27 o 52'52" Subtotal
Middle & Lower Tampa Bay 27o43'00'' 27o41'58" 27o38

### '17" 27o37'40'' 27o36'30" 27o36'38'' 27o33 I 11" 27o32'25'' Subtotal Tampa Bay Total 82o39'34" 82o34'27'' 82o34'27''

82o32'41 " 82o34'41 "

82o30'00" 82o31'23" 82o34'35" 82o34'50'' 82o35' 12'' 82o38' 14'' 82o38'14" 82o 35'24" 65.4 111.8

56.0 233.2 2.0 15.4 17.4
59.3 41.4

2.3 12.2 162.9 185.3

72.1 66.2 601.7 852.3

### Table 2. 

### Lower Tampa Bay hard bottom community species list. Porifera 

### Cliona celata boring sponge 

### Spheciospongia

.

### vesparia loggerhead sponge Cnidaria 

### Leptogorgia virgulata sea whip 

### Cerianthopsisamericanus 

### tube anemone 

### Haloplenella sp. 

### Siderastrea radians rock anemone starlet coral Mollusca Pol

### ychaeta Crustacea
Urochordata Vertebrata 

### Thais haemostoma floridana Florida rock snail 

### Dodecacaria concharum boring polychaete 

### Alpheus sp. 

### Paguruspollicaris snapping shrimp flat-clawedhermit crab 

### Amaroucium stellatum starred tunicate 

### Archosargus probatocephalus sheepshead 

### Lagodon rhomboides pinfish 

### Haemulon sp. grunt Algae 

### Sargassum filipendulum sargassum 

### Caulerpa mexicana caulerpa

The second distinct hard bottom habitat 

### is located in the area 

### of the Gandy Bridge in Middle Tampa Bay (Figure 4). 

### Although some of the community is 

### on naturally exposed native limestone, much 

### has recruited onto concrete rubble placed within the right

-of

-way during previous bridge construction activities. The dominant species 

### in this 

### area are similar to 

### those of the hard bottom of 

### Lower Tampa Bay, with the exception of 

### the absence of hard corals and 

### Sargassum (Table 3). This 

### community also supports large populations of caprellid amphipods 

### (Caprella spp.) which use their posterior appendages to grasp the soft 

### coral surfaces (Lombardo and Lewis 1981; Figures 5 and6)

### . 

### Thewater depth in this 

### area ranges from approximately 

### 3' to 12' MSL.

### 5 3 

## 3

a 0 

### 6 m .d 

### 8 Q) c



### E 0 Y C 

## 3 a c 'd Q) rc 5 0 c a 0 

# Ei

Y P c4 a % C 

# E -3 3



### 2 3 b4 Lr, .d 9 

## s 

## YJ

'jt 3

a 

### 2

n

Et E: 0 

# 9

M 

# 5

Q) -E, M .Ei 3 0 

## 582' 30'0 0" 

### +

c
FIGURE LEWIS ENVIRONMENTAL TAMPA ,FT. LAUDERDALE & (813) 889-9684 SERVICES. INC
. 

## LOWER OLD 

## TAMPA SUMMERLAND KEY, FL. 

## BAY 4

- ~-
~~~ 

## - - ~__ - -~
~ 

# -Table 3. Lower Old Tampa Bay hard bottom community species list. Porifera 

### Cliona celata Cnidaria 

### Leptogorgia virgulata Cerianthopsis americanus Bundosoma sp. Mollusca 

### Thais haemostoma floridana Crustacea 

### Caprellapenantis Caprella equilibra Alpheus sp. 

### Paguruspollicaris Urochordata 

### Styela sp. Vertebrata 

### Hypleurochilusgeminatus Syngnathus sp. 

### Lagodon rhomboides boring sponge
sea whip tube anemone burrowing anemone Florida rock snail caprellid amphipod caprellid amphipod snapping shrimp flat

-clawed hermit crab
sea squirt crested blenny pipefish pinfish

The third hard bottom habitat, previously unreported, is located in the northern portions of Old Tampa Bay off of Booth and Rocky Points (Figure 7). Many hard bottom communitieswithin this location are on naturally exposed native limestone, but the majority are associated with living oyster reefs. Dominant epifaunal species are the sea whip (L 

### virgulata) and American oyster 

### (Crassostrea virginica). Finfish species associated with oyster reefs (such as red drum, 

### Sciaenops ocellatus) are also present 

### in this area (Table 4). The water depth at 

### this location ranges from approximately 

### 0’ to 9‘ 

### MSL. DISCUSSION When Dawson (1953) first reported the hard bottom communities in Tampa Bay, the discovery had little impact on management 

### ofthe bay because of 

### the lack of environmental awareness at the time. Since the advent of environmental regulations in the late 1970s, management to protect the bay’s environmental integrity has become an important local and regional issue. But when Derrenbacker and Lewis (1985) described the hard bottom communities reported by Dawson, environmental regulations still offered little assistance towards managing these habitats. Although hard and soft corals 

### are 9Figure 

### 5. Underwater photograph of the orange 

### formof the gorgonian, 

### Leptogorgia virgulata, south 

### of the Gandy Bridge, Old Tampa Bay.

10Figure 

### 6. Underwater macrophotograph 

### of the surface of a gorgonian covered with caprellid amphipods. Two species, 

### Caprellapenantis and C. 

### equilibru, utilize the soft coral as habitat.

11

## HARD 

## BC TTOM INTERPRETED 

## COMM

## UNITIES FROM 1990 1:24,000 TRUE COLOR VERTICAL AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND GROUNDTRUTHING

FIGURE 7 

## UPPER 

## OLD TAMPA 

## BAY LEWIS ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES. INC. TAMPA FT. LAUDERDALE & (813) 889-9684 SUMMERLAND KEY, FLprotected by Florida law, acknowledgement

### oftheir presence in Tampa Bay has been largely ignored by the various management plans that have been drafted in the past two decades.
Table 

### 4. Upper Old Tampa Bay hard bottom community species list. Porifera 

### Cliona celata boring sponge Cnidaria 

### Leptogorgia virgulata sea whip 

### Cerianthopsis americanus tube anemone Mollusca 

### Thaishaemostomafloridana Florida rock snail 

### Crassostrea virginica American oyster Crustacea 

### Caprellapenantis Caprella equilibra Alpheus 

### sp. Paguruspollicaris caprellid amphipod caprellid amphipod flat

-clawed hermit crab snapping shrimp
Urochordata 

### Styela sp. sea squirt Vertebrata 

### Hypleurochilus geminatus crested blenny 

### Syngnathus sp. pipefish 

### Lagodon rhomboides pinfish 

### Sciaenops ocellatus red drum
Figures 

### 3, 

### 4 and 

### 7 reflect the location 

### of only those hard bottom communities located in water shallow enough to allow detectionby visual inspection 

### of aerial photography. It is suspected that a far larger hard bottom community is associated with those portions of the Tampa Bay ship channel where rock has been dredged and exposed, and in deeper portions of the bay not routinely visible in aerial photography. Because of this, any proposed disturbance to bay bottom should have a required preliminary live bottom survey. An example of this was the benthic survey performed by Mote Marine Laboratory related to the possible upgrading 

### of a natural gas pipeline in Old Tampa Bay (Mote Marine Laboratory 

### 1993).



### 13

### The Tampa Bay National Estuary Program, in its goal to produce a comprehensive managementplan for the bay, has recognized the unique nature of these habitats in an estuary, their implications with respect to water quality, and the importance of 

### their protection. Although locating these habitats is 

### an important management tool, further quantitative analysesregarding species composition should be 

### conducted. The presence of 

### soft corals, a faunal group associated with very clear unpolluted water, in 

### Upper Tampa Bay, an 

### area where water quality once was severely degraded, is an indication that efforts to improve the bay's water quality are successful.
LITERATURE CITED 

### Dawson, C. E., 

### Jr. 1953. A 

### survey of the Tampa Bay area. Fla. State Board Conserv. Mar. Lab. Tech Ser. 8. 

### 39 pp. Derrenbacker, J. A., Jr. and R. R. 

### Lewis. 1985. Live bottom communities of 

### Tampa Bay. Pp. 

### 385

-392 in S.

### Treat, J. L. 

### Simon, R. Lewis and R. Whitman (eds.), 

### Proceedings, Tampa Bay

### Area Scientific Information Symposium [May 1982]. Bellwether Press, Minneapolis. Lombardo, R. 

### and R. 

### Lewis. 1981. Grasping appendages of 

### Caprellapenantis Leach (Amphipoda). Fla. Scientist 45(1):304 (abst). Mote Marine Laboratory. 1993. Survey 

### of the benthos along the 

### natural gas pipeline corridor from West Gandy Causeway to the Interbay Peninsula, Old Tampa Bay, Florida. Technical Rep. 

### No. 330. Sarasota, Fla. 10

### pp + 

### figs, 

### tables, app.