Larval Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) Body Condition Relative to Environmental Variability and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, 2007–2013

The effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico remain largely unknown. We examined patterns in larval abundance and body condition of an economically important species, Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), relative to the physical environment and the timing of the oil spill. Larvae were collected during a long-term ichthyoplankton survey off coastal Alabama within a region that was frequently exposed to oil during 2010. Larval Red Snapper were in poorer body condition during 2010, 2011, and 2013 as compared to during 2007–2009. This trend was strongly related to variation in freshwater discharge from Mobile Bay, such that high discharge periods generally coincided with poorer larval body condition. However, larvae collected during and after 2010 were in relatively poorer body condition even after accounting for variation in the physical environment, including wind speed and directionality, water temperature, and freshwater discharge. These results do not provide direct evidence that the released hydrocarbons during the oil spill event caused poor larval body condition. Rather, our results suggest that some combination of variables related to the timing of this event negatively impacted the quality of Red Snapper larvae.