Piscivory in age-0 summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus with a focus on predator-induced mortality of post-settlement winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Taylor, David L.; Cribari, Kelly J.; Scro, Abigail K.

doi:10.3354/meps12885

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The projections of the No Fishing and Business As Usual scenarios indicate that under present conditions absent harvest or present conditions with projected warming of summer water temperatures due to climate change, high rates of juvenile mortality make recovery of Narragansett Bay winter flounder very unlikely. This is largely in agreement with past work indicating that predation (Manderson et al, 1999, 2006; Sagarese et al, 2011; Taylor et al, 2019; Taylor & Collie, 2003), low dissolved oxygen (Dolan et al, 2021; Pereira et al, 1999), and warming temperatures (Dolan et al, 2021; Gallagher et al, 2015; Pereira et al, 1999; Taylor & Collie, 2003) can limit winter flounder productivity. The low probability of recovery observed in the No Fishing scenario supported the hypothesis that the current depleted state of this subpopulation is not primarily the result of harvest pressure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Taking stock: Is recovery of a depleted population possible in a changing climate?

Langan

Bell

Collie

2022

Fisheries Oceanography

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As the impacts of climate change become more severe throughout the global oceans, fisheries managers will be increasingly challenged to rebuild stocks exhibiting declining productivity. In such cases, detailed knowledge of species life history will be necessary to both restrict harvest and manage other environmental conditions, where possible, that impact survivorship. A current example of these challenges, the Southern New England/Mid‐Atlantic Bight winter flounder stock remains in a persistently depleted state due to a combination of past harvest and the effects of climate change mediated through increased predation. To explore the recovery capacity of a subpopulation of this stock, a life‐cycle model was fit to 29 year classes of stage‐specific winter flounder data from surveys conducted in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island and used to project future subpopulation abundance. Supporting a prevailing hypothesis, the results indicated that environmental factors influencing juvenile mortality were largely responsible for inhibiting recovery. Furthermore, recovery of the subpopulation to past levels of abundance was determined to be unlikely even under optimistic future conditions resulting from aggressive management interventions. Taken together, the findings of this work pose important questions regarding the realism of assessing climate‐challenged populations against biological reference points set under past environmental regimes and the degree to which harvest restrictions to promote recovery of such stocks should be allowed to limit warm‐water fisheries thriving in a warming ocean.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Taking stock: Is recovery of a depleted population possible in a changing climate?

Langan

Bell

Collie

2022

Fisheries Oceanography

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“…Winter flounder is a known prey item for summer flounder in estuarine systems (Poole, 1964;Manderson et al, 2000), but only our study and a recently published study in New England (Taylor et al, 2019) have reported winter flounder as the most important (% by weight and % frequency, respectively) prey item for summer flounder. Previous research in Great South Bay (New York) reported sand shrimp as the main prey item for summer flounder, and winter flounder as the secondary prey item (Poole, 1964).…”

Section: Importance Of Winter Flounder As Preymentioning

confidence: 53%

Composition and Intraspecific Variability in Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) Diets in a Eutrophic Estuary

Cernadas-Martín

Rountos²,

Nye

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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This study assessed the diet of Summer flounder (SF, Paralichthys dentatus) in Shinnecock Bay, NY. Summer flounder are a recreationally and commercially important marine flatfish species found along the Eastern United States coastline. Despite their importance, few studies have examined the trophodynamics of a broad size spectrum of this species. Diet composition of summer flounder (n = 88) was assessed from 2014 to 2016 throughout Shinnecock Bay, a eutrophic bar-built estuary in New York. Species consumed and diet species richness differed significantly amongst SF size classes, with large [≥375 mm total length (TL)] and medium (>225: <375 mm) summer flounder showing higher levels of piscivory and more diverse diets than small-sized (≤225 mm) conspecifics. As voracious plastic predators, trends in annual and monthly diet variation generally followed prey availability in Shinnecock Bay. One exception to this general pattern occurred for winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). Despite their low relative abundance in the bay, winter flounder was highly preferred as prey by summer flounder (Chesson index, α = 0.35) and was their predominant prey item accounting for 12.3% (SD ± 3.9%) of the diet by weight. Other factors that explained the variability of the diet of summer flounder were year, month, dissolved oxygen concentration, bay region and habitat, with a cumulative variance of 10.3%. Interestingly, clear differences in the diet (i.e., species richness and abundance) of summer flounder were found within regions of Shinnecock Bay, with a decrease in teleost biomass and species richness observed in the western region where water quality is more degraded and less seagrass is available compared to the more pristine eastern region. Distinct trophic dynamics in degraded habitats suggests fundamentally different food webs that could have important consequences to ecosystem stability and resilience. As coastal areas continue to experience degradation, diet studies of economically and ecologically important species can aid in the development of effective ecosystem-based management plans.

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“…Comparisons between bays were hindered by low statistical power, likely due to uncertainty associated with estimating mortality utilizing survey-based abundance approaches. However, consistent mortality estimates across bays could also be a symptom of climate-driven synchronization of nursery production (Manderson 2008) and/or trophic interactions with other species that are more directly impacted by climate (Liebhold et al 2004;Able et al 2014;Taylor et al 2019). To the latter point, predation mortality on age-0 Winter Flounder in Long Island bays can be up to six times greater than other causes of natural mortality (Dolan 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the latter point, predation mortality on age-0 Winter Flounder in Long Island bays can be up to six times greater than other causes of natural mortality (Dolan 2020). Summer Flounder Paralichthys dentatus may consume up to ~60% of the age-0 Winter Flounder within the immediate area during peak settlement (Taylor et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first summer after transitioning to demersal life is a particularly vulnerable time for Winter Flounder, not only due to predation but because of their stage-specific physiological requirements and the variety of abiotic stressors they face during their postsettlement estuarine residence (Sogard et al 2001;Bell et al 2014;Frisk et al 2018). Abundance of newly settled Winter Flounder peaks in late spring and early summer in coastal estuaries (Sogard et al 2001;Manderson 2008), where they serve as an important prey source for transient marine predators arriving in coastal bays following overwintering offshore (Polis et al 1997;Taylor et al 2019). High interannual variability in juvenile densities and growth indicate a potentially important interplay between local environmental factors, predation mortality, and fine-scale genetic differences in controlling recruitment dynamics (Sogard et al 2001;Manderson et al 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Winter Flounder Navigate the Postsettlement Gauntlet with a Bet‐Hedging Strategy

et al. 2021

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Winter Flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus, a coastal flatfish species of historically economic and cultural importance, have declined throughout the past few decades within the southern New England and mid-Atlantic region of the United States, reaching a low point of less than 9% of their historic biomass in 2009. Unusually high postsettlement mortality is thought to impose a critical recruitment bottleneck on the population, potentially stalling recovery of Winter Flounder populations despite management measures. Survival and growth during early life history play a key role in the recruitment dynamics of marine fishes. Spatiotemporal differences in these vital rates from young-ofthe-year (i.e., age-0) Winter Flounder have been variously linked to environmental gradients, anthropogenic stressors, differences in the timing of settlement, and location. To better understand local declines in recruitment productivity, we assessed vital rates of age-0 Winter Flounder in five different bays in Long Island, New York. A weekly or biweekly beam-trawl survey targeting age-0 Winter Flounder was implemented over five summers. We compared survey-based estimates of age-0 mortality and growth, finding significant differences between locations in growth but not mortality. A consistently high abundance of age-0 Winter Flounder in Shinnecock Bay and Mattituck Creek was prolonged by a secondary settlement pulse later in the season. Hypothesizing that multiple settlement pulses are a bet-hedging strategy against temporally varying environmental conditions, we compared mortality, growth, and occupied habitat conditions between settlement pulses (cohorts), finding differences in growth and habitat occupancy that varied across years.

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Piscivory in age-0 summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus with a focus on predator-induced mortality of post-settlement winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Cited by 7 publications

References 54 publications

Taking stock: Is recovery of a depleted population possible in a changing climate?

Taking stock: Is recovery of a depleted population possible in a changing climate?

Composition and Intraspecific Variability in Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) Diets in a Eutrophic Estuary

Winter Flounder Navigate the Postsettlement Gauntlet with a Bet‐Hedging Strategy

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