Turnure et al: Patterns of intra-estuarine movement in adult Cynoscion regalis 
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Discussion 
Seasonal patterns 
The data presented here indicate estuarine site affin- 
ity behavior and, in conjunction with prolonged estua- 
rine residency times (Manderson et al., 2014; Turnure 
et al., in press), also indicate that many adult weak- 
fish maintain strong spatial and temporal bonds with 
their seasonal estuarine residence. During this period 
of intra-estuarine residency, weakfish are known to 
reproduce (Connaughton and Taylor, 1995) and feed 
(Harfmart and Brandt, 1995), indicating that estuar- 
ies may provide a unique and crucial role during their 
life history for at least a proportion of the weakfish 
population. The motivations and mechanisms behind 
animal movements — specifically the establishment of 
restricted home ranges, site affinity, and homing be- 
havior — are complex (Dingle and Holyoak, 2001; Schick 
et al., 2008; Lowerre-Barbieri et al., 2013; White and 
Brown, 2013) but are thought to occur in response to a 
variety of seasonal factors (Mueller and Fagan, 2008), 
such as patchy resource distributions (e.g., spawning 
habitat and prey species) and extreme water tempera- 
tures that result in physiological limitations (Portner, 
2010). 
The location and abundance of spawning aggrega- 
tions and prey items are likely to influence the season- 
al, intra-estuarine movements of adult weakfish. For 
example, the resources needed for reproductive activity 
could influence their site affinity patterns, as seen in 
other sciaenid species. In the congener spotted seat- 
