Flatfish Habitat Use of a Small Southeastern US Tidal Creek: Long- and Short-term Occupancy Patterns

Abstract

Many flatfish species utilize coastal areas during at least one of their life-history stages. Estuaries on the eastern US Atlantic coast provide important settlement and nursery habitat for flatfishes. Small tidal creeks serve as transition zones between upland and estuarine environments and are a consistent settlement and nursery habitat for flatfish. Flatfish habitat use in Wylly Creek, a southeastern US tidal creek, was examined to determine whether assemblage composition has changed over a decadal time period (2004–2007 vs. 2016–2019). In addition, the potential effect of cold winters on juvenile flatfish recruitment and subsequent spring flatfish assemblage composition were examined. Flatfish assemblages have undergone subtle shifts in composition between initial and recent time periods, with decreases (5–16-fold) in abundance occurring for ocellated flounder Ancylopsetta quadrocellata, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, and southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, while abundances of more common species, bay whiff Citharichthys spilopterus and blackcheek tonguefish Symphurus plagiusa, remained relatively consistent. Bay whiff recruitment into the creek occurred in early spring, but was delayed in most years with colder winters. Minimum residency for bay whiff within an approximately 350 m stretch of creek was estimated to be approximately 5–10 days. Flatfish habitat use in this small tidal creek adjacent to a relatively undeveloped coastal area may reflect a shifting baseline against which potential assemblage shifts in developed areas can be assessed.