198 
Fishery Bulletin 111(2) 
Table 2 
Mean proportions of time Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus ) spent in each region of the 
Wachapreague lagoon system (upper channels, lower channels, and inlet) by month and period (resi- 
dency and emigration); proportions of Summer Flounder found in each area by month and period; 
and numbers of fish present in the system (AO by month and period. The residency period was from 
8 June to 10 October 2007, and the emigration period was from 11 October 2007 to 17 January 2008. 
Activity in tidal flats and supplementary channels was not included because of the low numbers of 
detections in these areas. 
Mean proportion of time (%) Proportion of fish (%) 
Upper 
Lower 
Upper 
Lower 
N 
channels 
channels 
Inlet 
channels 
channels 
Inlet 
Month 
2007 June 
45 
97.3 
2.0 
0.6 
95.6 
2.3 
17.8 
July 
31 
98.9 
1.1 
0.1 
80.7 
6.5 
6.5 
August 
30 
83.6 
15.0 
1.4 
74.2 
16.1 
32.3 
September 
25 
61.1 
34.4 
4.6 
44.0 
28.0 
12.0 
October 
23 
53.7 
43.7 
2.3 
43.5 
30.4 
21.7 
November 
16 
49.4 
46.1 
1.6 
43.8 
50.0 
50.0 
December 
10 
49.0 
29.1 
17.7 
30.0 
60.0 
90.0 
2008 January 
Period 
2 
32.7 
42.7 
24.6 
50.0 
50.0 
50.0 
Residency 
45 
86.3 
11.5 
1.5 
97.8 
17.8 
40.0 
Emigration 
16 
48.9 
14.6 
5.6 
50.0 
56.3 
87.5 
(Lucy and Gillingham 4 ), although not within the same 
year (as observed in our study). Early or temporary 
emigration from estuaries may occur in response to en- 
vironmental cues not monitored in this study, such as 
barometric pressure or rainfall, or may simply reflect 
variation in migratory behavior among fish (Sackett et 
ah, 2007; Henderson, 2012). Future research is needed 
to investigate the drivers of early and temporary emi- 
gration and the destination of fish that engage in these 
behaviors. 
Within-estuary behaviors 
The distribution of Summer Flounder in the Wachap- 
reague lagoon system was comparable to that observed 
in the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary (Sackett et ah, 
2008); in both studies, adult Summer Flounder were 
primarily detected in the lower bay near the inlet. In 
our 1-year study, nearly all tagged fish were released 
in the upper channels (where most fish remained). It 
is possible that tagged fish released in other regions 
exhibit fidelity to those regions and that the distribu- 
tion of tagged Summer Flounder within the system dif- 
fers by year; however, little difference was observed for 
Summer Flounder in the region of primary detection 
4 Lucy, J. A., and L. Gillingham. 2009. Virginia Game Fish 
Tagging Program annual report 2008. VIMS Marine Re- 
source Report No. 2009-4. Virginia Sea Grant Publication 
No. VSG-09-03, 149 p. [Available from http://web.vims.edu/ 
library/GreyLit/VIMS/mrr09-04.pdf.] 
over the 2-year study in the Mullica River-Great Bay 
estuary (Sackett et ah, 2008). 
Although adult Summer Flounder occupy a vari- 
ety of habitats in estuaries, sandier substrates enable 
these flatfish to bury themselves easily (Bigelow and 
Schroeder, 1953; Dahlberg, 1972; Orth and Heck, 1980; 
Roundtree and Able, 1992a). These substrates are of- 
ten found in areas with high-velocity currents, such as 
those currents in channels near an inlet. Fishes and 
crustaceans compose a large portion of the adult Sum- 
mer Flounder diet (Latour et ah, 2008; Buchheister 
and Latour, 2011), and higher current velocities most 
likely deliver more potential prey into an area per unit 
of time. Summer Flounder have been observed in deep- 
er areas (-8.5 m) of other MAB estuaries, presumably 
because of stable environmental conditions (Smith and 
Daiber, 1977; Sackett et ah, 2008). For future acoustic 
telemetry studies in the Wachapreague lagoon system 
and in other estuaries, the effects of release location 
and year on tagged fish should be considered in order 
to make inferences about Summer Flounder distribu- 
tion and habitat preferences within estuaries. 
The coexistence of behavioral types has been noted 
in other species and postulated to result in approxi- 
mately equal fitness among individuals (Bolnick et ah, 
2003; Kobler et ah, 2009). Summer flounder appear to 
fit this pattern. In our study, the majority of Summer 
Flounder resided primarily in the upper channels, al- 
though a small group of fish (12 individuals) did use 
the lower channels. The use of the lower channels in- 
creased as the study period progressed, and these fish 
