MAY JUNE 



JULY 



AUGUST SEPTEMBER 



Figure 26. Comparison of weekly mean length of young winter flounder taken at station LR in the Niantic River from 

 1983 through 1985. 



The catch curves for LR had relatively good fits with r^ ranging from 0.60 to 0.83 (Fig. 27). 

 Remarkably similar values of Z were obtained, resulting in monthly survival estimates of 0.552 to 0.569. 

 A larger estimate of survival was found for WA (0.661). This is in contrast to the more variable survival 

 estimates determined by the method of Jones (1981) and reported in NUSCo (1986a). The monthly 

 survival estimates at station LR in the Niantic River were less than the value of 0.69 reported by Pearcy 

 (1962) for the Mystic River estuary, which is the only published estimate for young winter flounder. 

 Factors affecting the survival of young are unknown, but predation and disease probably cause most 

 deaths. The piscivorous summer flounder {Paralkhthys dentatm) reached peak abundance during the past 

 decade in the Niantic River during 1984, when it was 2.75 times more numerous than in 1983. However, 

 in 1985 its numbers fell to levels slightly below those in 1983. The abundance of other predators of 

 juvenile winter flounder commonly found during the summer in the Niantic River, such as the double-crested 

 cormorant {Phalocrocorax auritus), grubby (Myoxocephalus aenaeus), and bluefish (Pomalomus saltatrix), 

 have not been studied. 



96 



