Delivery of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) larvae to settlement habitats in coves near tidal inlets

The east coast of the United States is lined by a series of shallow inlet/b ays systems that provide essential habitats for a number of important fish species. The strongest currents in these systems are typically found near t he inlet where they are dominated by semidiurnal tidal motion. Beam-trawl s ampling in the vicinity of Little Egg Inlet in southern New Jersey over sev eral years indicates that the settlement of winter flounder, Pseudopleurone ctes americanus, occurs predominantly within small coves just inside the in let. Because of the strong tidal currents, horizontal motion of pre-settlem ent larvae is strongly influenced by advection. Based on hydrodynamic surve ys of the region, a mechanism is suggested by which coves immediately insid e of tidal inlets favour the delivery of estuarine larvae for subsequent se ttlement. The mechanism involves the filling of the coves with estuarine wa ters trapped just inside the inlet by flow separation during the flood. As a result, these observations suggest that coves near inlets may provide imp ortant settlement habitats for this estuarine species. (C) 2000 Academic Pr ess.