Diet, consumption, and growth of juvenile fringed flounder (Etropus crossotus); a test of the ‘maximum growth/optimum food hypothesis’ in a subtropical nursery area

Recent somatic growth of juvenile fringed flounder (Etropus crossotus) collected in North Inlet (South Carolina, USA) was determined based on the width of the 24 most recently deposited daily increments in sagittal otoliths. Growth rates were estimated using previously published data on the experimentally validated relationship between the daily increment width and the somatic growth. A comparison of the realised growth with experimental data indicated that growth rates in the field were near optimum values determined under ad libitum food conditions. Gut contents analysis of field collected fringed flounder indicated that food consisted predominantly of zooplankton and motile epibenthic prey with calanoid copepods, in particular Pseudodiaptomus coronatus, as the most important food items. There was no clear ontogenetic shift in prey with increasing fish size. Copepods and their eggs remained a significant prey item in even the largest fish examined (>9 cm SL), while larger prey items like polychaete worms, cumaceans, bivalves, and mysids were found in the stomachs of smaller fish. The prey organisms were abundantly available during the period of highest settlement (May through September). Growth rates, biomass, consumption estimates, and prey availability in North Inlet indicated that growth of juvenile fringed flounder is not limited by food, but predominantly determined by water temperature. During the summer months temperature and food supply in North Inlet are near optimal for juvenile fringed flounder. This allows this short-lived species to grow rapidly to attain a mature size and migrate to near-shore waters to reproduce within one growing season.