Population dynamics of an intertidal 0-group flounder Platichthys flesus population in the western Dutch Wadden Sea

Abstract

Larval immigration and subsequent settlement, abundance fluctuations, growth, and mortality of a O-group flounder population were studied in a tidal flat area, the Balgzand. Larvae entered the area from early April to early May. The first settled flounder were found 1 mo after larval immigration started. Settled flounder were restricted to the siltier areas of the tidal flats. Growth did not seem to be food-limited and depended only on prevailing water temperatures. Year-class strength was generated in the open sea and after settlement a period of density-dependent mortality followed, probably due to predation by crustaceans. The instantaneous mortality rate Z during summer seemed to be higher (0.08 d-1) than in plaice Pleuronectes platessa (0.03 d-1), probable due to a combination of higher water temperature and higher abundance of predators in summer than during the settlement of plaice in spring. -from Authors