Nelson: Abundance, growth, and mortality of young-of-the-year Lagodon rhomboides 
319 
Relative abundance at fixed seine stations peaked 
in January and May in Choctawhatchee Bay, gener- 
ally during March-April in Tampa Bay and Char- 
lotte Harbor, and declined thereafter (Fig. 2). In 
Choctawhatchee Bay and Tampa Bay, relative abun- 
dance at trawl stations generally followed fluctua- 
tions in seine catches, but usually peaked one to two 
months before the peak at seine stations (Fig. 2). A 
second peak in trawl abundance was observed in 
Tampa Bay from August to October (Fig. 2). In Char- 
lotte Harbor, relative abundance at trawl stations 
peaked during June-September, two to five months 
after the peak in seine abundance (Fig. 2). 
In all bays, smaller pinfish were generally captured 
at fixed trawl stations during November to March 
than at fixed seine stations (Figs. 3-5). Progression 
of the smallest fish size beyond the minimum size 
measured during the months of first capture indi- 
cated that settlement of postlarvae to fixed stations 
ended by March-April in all bays (Figs. 3-5). In Tampa 
Bay, catch proportions of YOY <40 mm decreased 
at trawl stations in March. In July, YOY >60 mm were 
captured in higher proportions at trawl stations in 
all bays than during the preceding months (Fig. 3-5). 
Pinfish overwintering at shallow-water seine stations 
in Choctawhatchee Bay tended to be smaller than 
those remaining at seine stations in Tampa Bay and 
Charlotte Harbor (Figs. 3-5). 
Depth distribution 
About 80% of the trawl catches ofYOY pinfish in spring 
occurred in waters <3.1 m, <3.5 m, and <2.8 m in 
Choctawhatchee Bay, Tampa Bay, and Charlotte 
Harbor, respectively. Few fish (<1% of total catches) 
were captured in waters >5 m. The Kolmogorov- 
Smirnov test showed that cumulative frequency dis- 
tributions for YOY pinfish depth were significantly 
different from those for trawl depth in all bays 
(Choctawhatchee Bay: Z)=0.51, n depth = 80, n^ ish = 34, 
P <0.001; Tampa Bay: D=0.44, n d th = 373, n fish = 76, 
P<0.001; Charlotte Harbor: D- 0.48, n . ,=268, 
n fis/ =59, P<0.001). 
Factors influencing YOY spatial abundance 
The final GLM’s accounted for proportions of 0.33- 
0.44 of the total variation in spring catches, depend- 
ing on bay system (Table 1). Pinfish abundance was 
associated with the presence of bottom vegetation in 
all bays (Table 1; Fig. 6A), with rivers (zone F) and 
zones near bay mouths in Tampa Bay (D and E) and 
Table 1 
Final results of the general linear model analyses of pinfish catches for Choctawhatchee Bay, Tampa Bay, and Charlotte Harbor 
in spring. Partial (type-III) mean squares are shown. * = P<0.05, **= P<0.01, and *** = PcO.001. 
Location 
Source 
df 
Mean square 
P-value 
Choctawhatchee Bay 
Model 
3 
71.120 
23.70*** 
Year 
1 
0.097 
0.03 
Deployment 
1 
42.637 
14 21*** 
Bottom vegetation 
1 
179.747 
59.89*** 
Error 
92 
3.001 
Corrected total 
95 
5.152 
Tampa Bay 
Model 
11 
67.312 
19.84*** 
Year 
5 
14.041 
4.14** 
Zone 
5 
65.287 
19.25*** 
Bottom vegetation 
1 
193.316 
56.99*** 
Error 
425 
3.392 
Corrected total 
436 
5.005 
Charlotte Harbor 
Model 
13 
59.461 
15.85*** 
Year 
5 
24.823 
6.62*** 
Zone 
4 
33.193 
8.85*** 
Bottom vegetation 
1 
24.406 
6.51* 
Bottom sediment 
1 
43.380 
11.56*** 
Salinity 
1 
62.795 
16.74*** 
Temperature 
1 
22.778 
6.07* 
Error 
283 
3.752 
Corrected total 
296 
6.198 
r 
2 
0.436 
0.334 
0.421 
