A team of Stockton University students and faculty is conducting a long-term fish monitoring survey at the university’s Marine Field Station on Nacote Creek in Port Republic, as announced on June 3. The project aims to describe small-bodied fish assemblages local to the field station using a series of minnow traps.
Dana Christensen, an adjunct professor in Stockton’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, is leading the effort with students. “We want to identify where the fish are now and how that changes over time. We can look at the size of the fish, the number of species that we get, the potential age classes of the fish, look at different micro habitats and see which ones are preferred,” she said.
The research involves setting minnow traps in various locations including subtidal creek areas, shallow water in a boat basin, and a marsh pool protected from deeper water. In recent years, mature killifish—also known as mummichog—have not been caught in mid-creek traps, which are set at the deepest sampling locations so far. Alexander Wroblewski, a senior from Havertown, Pennsylvania, said: “The biggest surprise is that the mummichogs here at the Marine Field Station don’t appear to be using the marsh pool that we were sampling at as significantly as we’d be expecting them to. We’re seeing very significant use of this boat basin, the intertidal anthropogenic habitat.” This observation suggests there may be differences in habitat use among local species.
Christensen emphasized that collecting data offers students valuable research opportunities: “The data set itself is a good indicator of how the habitat is doing,” she said. Students analyze this information by asking research questions and seeking answers through hands-on analysis.
Several students described their experiences working on this project. Wroblewski said: “It’s been really impactful and really empowering. I’ve had the opportunity to do data collection on something that I’m interested in…and actually put skills that I’m learning in classes into practice.” Jess Taylor, a first-year Marine Science major from Whiting who plans to study parasites found in fish samples for her next project, said: “Every couple of months I get to present…Now getting up in front of my classmates and doing a class project is no issue.” River Hammell called participation an “invaluable experience,” adding it provided practical exposure with equipment they otherwise would not have used.
