If we generalize, we can assume that the large phytoplankton population of Matagorda Bay along with the decaying debris (seston) from the adjacent marshes and from the submerged beds of seagrasses and seaweeds supports large populations of zooplankton, such as the copepods, combjellies, jellyfish, and larval shrimps, crabs, mullet, spot, croaker, trout, menhaden, flounders and others. Only very incomplete surveys of Matagorda Bay nekton and benthos were located (Day 1960a,c,d). The composition of these populations is probably somewhat similar to those described for the Galveston Bay System earlier in this section. The location of oyster reefs and patches of scattered live oysters is shown in Figure 23. Figure 23. Distribution of Oysters in the Matagorda Bay System (from Day, 1960a; and Munro, 1961) Covelo Pess 8. Common Coastal and Marine Birds of the Gulf of Mexico "Birds are unlike any other class of animals in their relationship to water as an environment. Although some of them are absolutely dependent upon the sea for their existence, none of them are creatures of that medium in the same sense that a marine inverte brate is, or even a marine mammal such as a whale." (Lowery and Newman, 1954). The birds within the proposed area range from passerine to pelagic species. The great diversity may largely be attributed to the fact that the Texas coast is near the center of the Central and Mississippi waterfowl flyaways. In addition, variable coastline conditions lend to favorable geographic locations for a variety of birds. The following tables (Tables 7 and 8) are inventories, according to seasonal occurrences, of certain groups of birds in the Anahuac and Brazoria National Wildlife Refuges. There were no extensive data on the newest refuge of San Bernard, established November, 1968. Nonetheless, records for this area indicate a total of 97,000 sitings of geese, ducks, wading birds, shorebirds, and waterfowl. |