The Removal Method of Population Estimation

Abstract

A biweekly posttreatment fish census was taken along a 5,600-foot ditch traversing the marsh; enumerations and estimates of the numbers of each species encountered were supplemented by sampling collections. The census was abandoned when progress in repopulation ended its dependability. Repopulation by fishes began slowly about 4 weeks after the kill, was undeniable at 6 weeks, considerable by 8, and climactic at 10. It was initiated by the broad killifish (Cyprinodon v. variegatus), the dominant invader, and included record minimumsized tarpon by the seventeenth week, but large-sized fish of such species as snook were absent, perhaps significantly. The general absence of dead and dying fishes and the scarcity of living fishes in the marsh after 2 weeks and later suggests that much of the fish population commuting between the marsh and adjacent inshore shallows of Indian River was destroyed. LITERATURE CITED