Ethan Getz

Texas Parks and Wildlife · Coastal Fisheries - Upper Laguna Madre

Artificial reefs have been shown to support important reef fishes such as red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus [Poey, 1860]), however, few studies have compared fish behavior on artificial and natural habitats. We examined activity levels and behavioral patterns of red snapper over natural reefs, oil platforms and submerged ships. Telemetry tags (Sono...

In recent years, the abundance and distribution of snook species (Centropomus spp.) have increased and expanded in Texas. As mobile predators, snook have the potential to alter marine communities as they expand; however, little is known about the functional impact of snook in Texas. Here, a long‐term (1982–2019) fishery‐independent data set was uti...

Salinity is often considered one of the most influential environmental factors affecting estuarine communities. This is particularly true for low-inflow estuaries, which typically experience limited freshwater input for long periods of time. Disturbance events related to hypersalinity (> 35) occur commonly in Baffin Bay, TX, and have been linked to...

Recent population expansion of Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus, in the northern Gulf of Mexico is driving increasing catch in the recreational fishery in Texas. We assessed long term trends in distribution and abundance of Gray Snapper in Texas using fishery dependent and fishery independent data collected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department...

Penaeid shrimp are a major contributor to commercial landings in the Gulf of Mexico, with White Shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) and Brown Shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) making up the bulk of the landings off Texas. In this study, we examined seasonal trends in White and Brown Shrimp population demographics (relative abundance, monthly proportion o...

A presentation discussing the multivariate analyses used to examine the diet of Common Snook in Texas. This was presented at a Texas Parks & Wildlife statistics workshop.

A presentation from the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation conference discussing emaciation events of Black Drum in Baffin Bay, Texas.

Salinity is one of the main environmental components affecting species distribution and diversity in estuaries. The Baffin Bay complex of the Laguna Madre is recognized as a hypersaline lagoon which supports valuable fisheries and is frequently subjected to disturbances such as droughts. Here, we use a long-term fishery-independent dataset collecte...

Variations in salinity can have significant impacts on estuarine communities and have been particularly consequential for systems in Texas. Here we examined long-term fishery independent gill net and bag seine data collected from the Baffin Bay complex. Samples collected from September-November during the years 1983-2019 were used to evaluate varia...

Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) distribution and patterns of abundance were examined from eight estuaries along the Texas coast during a 35-year period. Long-term monitoring data from bag seine and gillnet samples were used to describe juvenile and adult population trends respectively. Sex and diet data were also recorded from Snook caught i...