The Long Island Sound is an estuary, which is an area where fresh water and salt water meet as well as mix with constantly changing conditions, that serves as a productive and rich ecosystem for animals and plant life. It is composed of various habitats, such as salt marshes, tidal flats, sandy beaches, and the subtidal zone. There are more than 120 finfish species in the Long Island Sound; 21 tropical species stay there seasonally, and at least 50 species originate in the Sound. Because the Sound is long, narrow, and shallow, over 1,200 species of invertebrates, 170 species of fish, and dozens of species of birds live, feed, breed, and nurse their young. In the Long Island Sound, there are several vascular plant species. Eelgrass in shallow waters feed bay scallops and brant, which is a species of geese. Bayberry, marsh elder, saltwater cordgrass, saltmeadow grass and sea lavender grow amongst the salt marshes in the Long Island Sound. Whether these vascular plants in the salt marshes are alive or dead, organisms, such as fiddler crabs, snails, worms, finfish and shellfish, will use them as a food source. Other vascular plants including beach pea, dune grasses, dusty miller and jimson weed grow amongst the sandy beaches of the Long Island Sound. There is also a diverse community of animal life living in the Long Island Sound. Attached to rock surfaces and borrowed in offshore muds in the Long Island Sound are sea anemones, which are a part of a group of organisms called cnidarians. Another cnidarian that is found in the Long Island Sound, specifically in large collections on rocky reefs, is the star coral. Large numbers of worms also live in the Long Island Sound; they consume decaying matter, such as algae and bacteria, and serve as food sources for larger animals. When the Sound contains a rich supply of nutrients, cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, that can also be black, yellow, green or red, may grow, but it contains toxic substances or heavy metals that can be harmful to other organisms living in the water. Many species of mollusks, such as snails, mussels, oysters and clams, are also inhabitants of the Long Island Sound. Crustaceans, organisms that have a hard exterior skeleton and jointed limbs, also live in the Long Island Sound as well. These include crabs, shrimps and lobsters. Perhaps the most important resources living in the Long Island Sound are the fish species. The fishing industries of the Long Island Sound are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Finfish, winter flounder and blackfish are amongst the large number of fish species living in the Long Island Sound.
Sources:
1. Wahle, Lisa. Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. <http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/conn/connh90001.pdf>.
2. http://longislandsoundstudy.net
3. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2010/3/10.03.05.x.html