IMPACT OF THE EXTENT AND LOCALITY OF MUD PATCHES ON THE DENSITY AND GEOGRAPHIC-DISTRIBUTION OF JUVENILE AGULHAS SOLE AUSTROGLOSSUS-PECTORALIS (SOLEIDAE)

The main focus of this study was to gain an understanding of the distr ibution of juvenile (10-24 cm L(t)) Agulhas sole and some factors that could govern their dispersal and migration. The hypothesis that the s ize and the locality of mud patches determine the density and geograph ic distribution of juvenile sole was investigated. Data from 10 trawli ng surveys, between 20 and 27-degrees-E along the southern Cape coast during the period 1986-1992, were analysed to assess the density and g eographic distribution of juvenile Agulhas sole. Within the distributi on area of Agulhas sole there are two localities which differ widely i n the size of mud patches. Agulhas sole do not appear to be dependent on estuaries as nursery grounds, but juveniles were more abundant on t he extensive mud patches of open marine coastal waters of the central Agulhas Bank than in large sheltered bays, with limited patches of mud , farther east. Spawning adults were found mainly on sandy sediment cl ose to mud patches or farther offshore. The locality of spawning, in r elation to the current dynamics, suggests that, on the inner shelf of the central Agulhas Bank, spawning products would not be dispersed by the Agulhas Current. However, towards the east, spawning products coul d be advected eastwards and sometimes be entrained in the eddies of th e Agulhas Current.