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Distribution of Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, in the Hampton–Seabrook Estuary, New Hampshire: Observations from a Field Study

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Abstract

From July to October 2004, five sites in the Hampton–Seabrook Estuary in New Hampshire were sampled with beam and otter trawls. The goals were to describe winter flounder (1) abundance in the estuary, (2) size class distributions, (3) spatial distribution by different size classes, and (4) distribution patterns. Of the 19 species caught, winter flounder was the most abundant and was dominated by young-of-the-year (YOY) fish. The five sites were fairly homogenous in depth, bottom type, salinity, and temperature. However, YOY abundance ranged from 2.1 to 32.1 fish 1,000 m−2 depending on the site. Benthic community was the best indicator of juvenile winter flounder abundance. Catch data of other organisms fluctuated, but no one species was a strong predictor of winter flounder abundance and distribution. During late summer and early fall, the estuary is used primarily by YOY winter flounder, indicating that this estuary functions as a nursery ground.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank J. T. Taylor for statistical guidance, S. Elzey for field assistance, S. Jones and L. Ward for Hampton–Seabrook Estuary data, Normandeau Associates, Inc. Hampton Field Office for use of their dock, the NH Port Authority for mooring services, and to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. Special thanks are due to D. Danila for beam trawl calibration, without which we would have caught nothing. This project was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through a grant to the Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment. This is Jackson Estuarine Laboratory Contribution Series number 468.

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  1. James Sulikowski

    Present address: University of New England, Marine Science Center, Biddeford, ME, 04005, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Spaulding Hall, 38 Academic Way, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Elizabeth A. Fairchild, Nathan Rennels, W. Huntting Howell & Christopher W. D. Gurshin

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  1. Elizabeth A. Fairchild
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Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Fairchild.

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Fairchild, E.A., Sulikowski, J., Rennels, N. et al. Distribution of Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, in the Hampton–Seabrook Estuary, New Hampshire: Observations from a Field Study. Estuaries and Coasts 31, 1158–1173 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-008-9091-2

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