Estuarine and habitat-related differences in growth rates of young-of-the-year winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and tautog (Tautoga onitis) in three northeastern US estuaries

Monthly samples of winter flounder taken in Long Pond from November 1962 to October 1963 indicated that the flounder moved into deeper water (7–10 m) during the summer and returned to shallow water (1–2 m) from September to June. These movements corresponded to the end of the spawning season and the ripening of the gonads respectively. Spawning occurred from March until early June, most of it in May and early June. Most males were mature at age 6 and most females at age 7. Fifty percent of the males and females were mature at 21 and 25 cm respectively. The growth rates of the males and females were similar until the age of 8, after which the females apparently outgrew the males. Early growth and fecundity were similar to those reported for other areas. No feeding took place in December or January but the flounder fed in March and continued to feed throughout the summer; food intake decreased in the fall. They were omnivorous and the type of food eaten varied with the locality. Polychaetes, plant material, and molluscs were the most common food items throughout the year. Capelin eggs and fish remains were found only during a few months of the year but were eaten in great quantities.

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Evaluation of RNA concentration as an indicator of growth in young-of-the-year winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus and tautog Tautoga onitis

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps230265 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 230 ◽

pp. 265-274 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

C Kuropat ◽

R Mercaldo-Allen ◽

E Caldarone ◽

R Goldberg ◽

B Phelan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Winter Flounder ◽

Pseudopleuronectes Americanus ◽

Young Of The Year ◽

Rna Concentration

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Interpretation of Otolith Microstructure in Juvenile Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus): Ontogenetic Development, Daily Increment Validation, and Somatic Growth Relationships

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f91-220 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 48 (10) ◽

pp. 1862-1871 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Susan M. Sogard

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Somatic Growth ◽

Winter Flounder ◽

Pseudopleuronectes Americanus ◽

Otolith Growth ◽

Morphological Asymmetry ◽

Daily Increments ◽

Absolute Growth ◽

Left And Right ◽

Calcium Carbonate Deposition

In winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), sagittae developed secondary origins of calcium carbonate deposition during metamorphosis just prior to completion of eye migration. Sagittae and lapilli of larvae were bilaterally symmetrical, but those of postmetamorphic individuals showed increasing morphological asymmetry between the left and right side. In juveniles marked with oxytetracycline and maintained in field enclosures for 10 d, increment deposition on sagittae was daily if somatic growth following marking was good (> 0.25 mm∙d−1), but less than daily in individuals with poor or negative somatic growth (< 0.25 mm∙d−1). Narrowly spaced increments or divergence of otolith growth from the main rostral–postrostral growth axis, where counts were made, may have limited detection of daily deposition. Lack of detectable daily increments occurred primarily in larger juveniles (> 50 mm total length), which had lower absolute growth rates than newly settled juveniles. In oxytetracycline-marked fish there was a significant correspondence between otolith growth and somatic growth in both length and weight. The strength of this relationship, which varied with the specific radius used, was highest (r = 0.854) for the rostral radius of the left sagitta; increment widths along this radius are reliable estimators of prior somatic growth rates.

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