It is now well known that some areas of Lemon Creek within Wildflower Preserve,
Charlotte County, FL (owned by the Lemon Bay Conservancy) are filled with
juvenile tarpon that thrive in its lowest oxygen waters which provide
significant protection from predatory fish such as snappers, snook and jacks.
There are however other predators such as otters and diving birds which are not
deterred by the toxic creek waters. While watching from the lower boardwalk in
Lemon Lake (fed by the tidal Lemon Creek but inside Amberjack Preserve) I
noticed that an anhinga had caught a young tarpon about eight inches long and
manipulated and then swallowed it. My photo shows the final process with the
tarpon's tail just protruding from the anhinga's mouth.
This illustrates that in a healthy ecosystem, natural predation can impact
species of special interest such as tarpon. While some would advocate killing
or removing such predators, other would advise that this is part of the natural
evolutionary process. Lemon Lake has not yet been studied as tarpon habitat and
it would useful to initiate some fish surveys in this lake that undergoes large
fluctuation in depth from dry to full when heavy rains fall and add to the
tidal waters that enter via Lemon Creek. Bird predation on fish in Lemon Lake
is a major feature that periodically draws wonderful flocks of aquatic birds,
especially during dry-downs, so more information on the dynamics of this
process would be helpful in managing the Lemon Creek ecosystem.
Bill Dunson
Englewood, FL
Attachment:
Tarpon baby in the hand at Wildflower.jpg
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Attachment:
Anhinga adult male at WF pond 4 1.18.16 Bill Dunson IMG_0992 aa.JPG
Description: JPEG image
Attachment:
Anhinga eating tarpon Lemon Lake 2.8.16 Bill Dunson IMG_1315 a.JPG
Description: JPEG image
