Juvenile winter flounder distribution by habitat type

Shallow embayments in Connecticut were sampled with a 1-m beam trawl for young-of-year winter flounder from 1990–1993 to determine if there are habitat types within nursery areas which consistently yield higher abundances. Initial examination of catch frequencies and all physical measurements indicated that only sediment type correlated with abundance. There was no consistent pattern in winter flounder catch in relation to salinity, water temperature, water column turbidity, depth interval, channel/non-channel, or the presence of sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca). Catch data were then classified into five habitat types defined by a combination of sediment and overlying litter. Analysis of variance in catch among habitat types showed that mean catch was significantly different among four of the five habitat types. Highest densities within a site most often occurred in mud/shell-litter habitat, followed by mud/wood-litter and mud/no litter habitat; sandy sites with or without litter yielded the lowest densities. Independent sampling of new sites corroborated the distributional pattern seen at the original sites, and importance of mud/shell-litter habitat. The distributional pattern seen here can provide a means of assessing which sites would be expected to support a higher abundance of young-of-year winter flounder, and which sites might provide less, if no other factors intervene.