Flounder 



Fact: 

 Southern 

 flounder feed 

 by partly 

 burying 

 themselves 

 in the sand 

 and waiting 

 to ambush 

 their prey. 

 The diet 

 changes as 

 the fish grow. 

 Small flounder 

 feed on mysid 

 and penaeid 

 shrimp and 

 other small 

 crustaceans; 

 larger flounder 

 eat blue crabs, 

 penaeid shrimp 

 and fish. 



Once spawning is complete, the fertilized 

 eggs, which are naturally buoyant, float to the top 

 of the tank. They are carried over the side by 

 overflow waters and captured in an egg collector. 



The fertilized eggs are incubated for about 

 48 hours before they hatch into tiny helpless 

 larvae with no fins, scales, eyes or mouths. For 

 the next four days, as they develop mouths and 

 fins, they survive by absorbing the nutrients in the 

 attached yolk sac. At this point, Daniels takes 

 over study of the larvae. 



The larvae live in a small tank, about 100 

 fish per liter of water. After four days, it's time 

 for the larvae's first real meal. Daniels feeds them 

 live microorganisms, primarily rotifers. 



"This is a critical time," Daniels says. "A lot 

 of the larvae are unsuccessful at eating. They 

 don't capture the rotifers and quickly starve to 

 death. We have the highest mortality at this point 

 — 60 to 80 percent." 



Many larvae suffer from mouth deformities, 

 particularly gaping mouth syndrome. The mouth 

 hangs open, and the larva has no ability to close it 

 and hold in food. 



Daniels is working to determine what causes 

 the deformities but suspects it may be bacteria or 

 an environmental factor such as temperature. 



Fifteen to 20 days after the larvae hatch, 



Daniels introduces them to larger feed: brine 

 shrimp. At this point, the tiny youngsters 

 resemble other fish larvae. They swim in an 

 upright position, have an eye on each side of the 

 head and are nearly translucent. 



But at 25 days of age, all begins to change. 

 During a two-week period, the fish metamor- 

 phose. The body flattens, and the left side 

 darkens. The right eye migrates so that both are 

 on the left side of the head. The young flounder 

 become miniatures of their parents. 



"This year, we had thousands of flounder 

 metamorphose," Daniels says. "We were pleased 

 with our success." 



After metamorphosis, Daniels weans the 

 young flounder from their expensive diet of brine 

 shrimp to a more cost-effective dry feed. Then 

 begins the quest for grow-out information, and 

 Hodson joins the research team, adding his 

 knowledge gained from years of raising hybrid 

 striped bass. 



Daniels and Hodson will experiment with 

 the young flounder, now considered fingerlings, 

 to determine survival rates; habitat needs; 

 stocking densities; feed types, amounts and 

 schedules; salinity and temperature tolerances; 

 and growth rates. 



All of these variables must be tested so that 



