Armstrong: Distribution and abundance of Pleuronectes putnami and Pleuronectes americanus 
419 
Table 2 
Results of ANOVA’s testing for differences in catches of smooth and winter flounder among three sites along the salinity gradient 
(sites 1, 2, and 3) and three sites along the depth gradient (5, 4, and 3). If there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in catches 
among sites, the results of Tukey’s HSD test are listed from lowest to highest. See Table 1 for a description of the sites, ns = not 
significant. 
Year and 
season 
Smooth flounder 
Winter flounder 
Salinity gradient 
(F- value; df) 
Salinity gradient 
(F-value; df) 
1989 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
site l<site 3<site 2 
site 3<site l=site 2 
site 3<site l=site 2 
(25.80; 2,20) 
( 6.13; 2,27) 
(20.29; 2,23) 
site l=site 2<site 3 
site l=site 2<site 3 
site l<site 3<site 2 
(46.64; 2,20) 
(38.11; 2,27) 
(12.62; 2,27) 
1990 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
site 3=site l<site 2 
site 3<site l=site 2 
site 3<site 2=site 1 
(36.42; 2,22) 
(13.88; 2,20) 
( 9.69; 2,23) 
site l=site 2<site 3 
site l<site 2=site 3 
ns 
( 8.24; 2,22) 
(12.99; 2,20) 
( 0.56; 2,23) 
1991 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
site 3<site 2=site 1 
site 3<site 2=site 1 
site 3<site l<site 2 
( 9.52; 2,29) 
( 4.80; 2,21) 
(121.79; 2,5) 
site l=site 2<site 3 
site l=site 2<site 3 
site l<site 3<site 2 
(11.56; 2,29) 
( 7.07; 2,21) 
(21.26; 2,5) 
Year and 
season 
Smooth flounder 
Winter flounder 
Depth gradient 
(P-value; df) 
Depth gradient 
(P-value: dD 
1989 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
ns 
ns 
site 3=site 5<site 4 
( 2.53; 2,11) 
( 0.28; 2,21) 
( 3.73; 2,23) 
site 5<site 4<site 3 
site 4=site 5<site 3 
site 5<site 4=site 3 
(17.15; 2,11) 
(16.62; 2,21) 
( 7.02; 2,29) 
1990 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
ns 
site 3<site 5=site 4 
site 3=site 4<site 5 
( 0.13; 2,28) 
( 4.41; 2,20) 
( 5.63; 2,29) 
site 5<site 4=site 3 
site 5=site 4<site 3 
site 5=site 4<site 3 
(10.87; 2,28) 
(14.03; 2,20) 
(7.96; 2,29) 
1991 
Spring 
Summer 
Autumn 
ns 
site 3=site 4<site 5 
site 3=site 4<site 5 
( 1.08; 2,29) 
(14.19; 2,17) 
(162.99; 2,5) 
site 5=site 4<site 3 
site 5=site 4<site 3 
site 5=site 4<site 3 
(13.45; 2,29) 
(5.87; 2,17) 
(5.82; 2,5) 
habitat. Seasonal movements were seen into and out 
of the oligohaline riverine station (site 1) and the 
polyhaline station in Great Bay proper (site 3). In 
all years, there was an up-estuary movement of 
smooth flounder associated with increasing salinity 
in summer and early autumn. This movement was 
most pronounced for larger smooth flounder. Greater 
movement by larger individuals is probably related 
to their superior locomotive abilities due simply to 
their larger body size. This trend towards increas- 
ing range of movement with increasing body size has 
also been found in the hogchoker, Trinectes maculatus, 
a flatfish that is similar in general size to smooth 
flounders and that is also found in estuarine rivers 
(Dovel et al., 1969; Smith, 1986). 
There is little information available on the distri- 
bution of smooth flounder along salinity gradients. 
Targett and McCleave (1974) found smooth flounder 
to be abundant in the Sheepscott River-Back Bay 
River estuary, Maine, in salinities of 17.3-24.7 ppt. 
Fried (1973), studying the same estuary, found that 
smooth flounder were not present above 28.5 ppt, 
whereas winter flounder occurred throughout the 
salinity range sampled ( 12.5 to 32.5 ppt). Gordon and 
Dadswell (1984) found the greatest abundance of 
smooth flounder in “warm, turbid, low-salinity wa- 
ter” in the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Smooth 
flounder larvae were most abundant in the low-sa- 
linity portion of the St. Lawrence River estuary 
(Powles et al., 1984). The conclusion of the present 
