170 
Fishery Bulletin 115(2) 
Total length (mm) 
Figure 2 
Monthly length-frequency distributions of winter flounder {Pseudopleuronectes ameri- 
canus), indicated with white bars, and summer flounder {Paralichthys dentatus), indi¬ 
cated with gray bars, collected from the Seekonk River in (A) May, (C) June, (E) July, 
and (G) August-September and in the Taunton River in (B) May, (D) June, (F) July, 
and (H) August-September. Lengths are “fresh” total lengths (i.e., measured immedi¬ 
ately after capture), and catches were compiled across the years 2009-2015. 
It is important to note that numerical counts are 
potentially problematic for soft-bodied prey because 
mastication of one dietary item could result in multiple 
countable parts. Accordingly, for soft-body prey, conser¬ 
vative estimates of %N were made by counting distinct 
body features (e.g., counts for polychaetes were typi¬ 
cally limited to head and posterior segments, including 
distinctive tentacles, palps, proboscises, jaws, or cirri). 
Moreover, when present in the stomach of a winter or 
summer flounder, a numerical count of 1 was recorded 
for food items that occurred in nondiscrete units (i.e., 
detritus; Hyslop, 1980). 
