Able et al.: Larval abundance of Pciralichthys dentatus as a measure of recruitment and stock status 
75 
Jenkins et al., 1998; Chapin et al., 2000). Thus, esti- 
mates of larval abundance at ingress could contrib- 
ute to an improved understanding of the relationship 
between stock size and larval supply, and larval supply 
and recruitment (e.g., Quinlan and Crowder, 1999). For 
summer flounder there appears to be no direct relation- 
ship between larval supply and recruitment at Beaufort 
Inlet or Little Egg Inlet (Taylor et al., 2009; this study). 
This finding implies that recruitment strength may be 
determined by factors later in the life cycle, likely during 
the estuarine juvenile stage. 
The complexity of habitats occupied by the early life 
history stages of fishes may be especially problematic 
for temperate species that encounter extended periods 
of low temperatures after ingress, which consequently 
result in suboptimal growth and potentially death, 
(Hurst, 2007; Able and Fahay, 2010). Slow growth may 
extend the period during which individuals are sus- 
ceptible to abiotic and biotic size-dependent selection 
pressures (see Houde, 1987). The above scenario ap- 
plies to summer flounder, which shows reduced growth 
and increased mortality at low temperatures (Malloy 
and Targett, 1991; Szedlmayer et al., 1992; Keefe and 
Able, 1994; Able and Fahay, 1998). Temperature effects 
may be most pronounced for those larvae that enter 
northern estuaries during the fall and are subsequently 
exposed to low winter temperatures, as is the case for 
summer flounder at Little Egg Inlet (Keefe and Able 
[1994] report 4°C as the lower lethal limit for summer 
flounder). In addition, during ingress and subsequent 
settlement, slow growing larvae may be more suscep- 
tible to predation by common invertebrate predators 
such as blue crabs ( Callinectes sapidus) and the seven- 
spine bay shrimp ( Crangon septemspinosa) (Witting and 
Able, 1995; Barbeau, 2000). If cold winters, combined 
with increased predation pressure, are relevant factors, 
