Relationships between Juvenile Winter Flounder and Multiple‐Scale Habitat Variation in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

Abstract A rapid random sampling method was used to relate densities of juvenile winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus to multiple scales of habitat variation in Narragansett Bay and two nearby coastal lagoons in Rhode Island. We used a 1-m beam trawl with attached video camera, continuous global positioning system track overlay, and continuous recording YSI sonde to sample 163 sites in June and July 2002 and 2003. The YSI sonde recorded temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, depth, turbidity, and chlorophyll a throughout the tow, while the video camera recorded other habitat characteristics. Habitat patterns at larger spatial scales were assessed with aerial imagery and charted depth data. We caught 25 species and 977 fish, almost twice as many fish being captured in 2002 (596) as in 2003 (381). Winter flounder was the most common species in both years, comprising 60.2% of the catch in 2002 and 33.6% of the catch in 2003. Total fish and winter flounder were three times more abundant in the coas...