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Variability in the early life stages of juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) on west of Ireland nursery grounds: 2000–2007

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2011

Paula S. Haynes ,
Deirdre Brophy  and
David McGrath
Paula S. Haynes*
Affiliation:
Commercial Fisheries Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
Deirdre Brophy
Affiliation:
Commercial Fisheries Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
David McGrath
Affiliation:
Commercial Fisheries Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P.S. Haynes, Commercial Fisheries Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland email: paula.haynes@gmit.ie
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Abstract

Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) are the most abundant juvenile flatfish present on west of Ireland nursery grounds. 0-group plaice were collected from eleven sandy beach nursery areas along the west coast of Ireland by beach seining (2000–2007). In the majority of years examined, certain beaches were found to support a higher abundance of juvenile plaice, or individuals that were larger in size and exhibited good condition, suggesting that differences in habitat quality exist between beaches. Monthly mean densities of plaice ranged from 2.4 (± 2.4) to 100 (± 1.3) individuals 1000 m−2. Mean lengths of plaice ranged between 6.0 (± 1.0) and 10.1 (± 0.5) cm. No evidence of density dependent growth was detected over the eight years of the study. The length and condition of juvenile plaice also differed between hauls, indicating the existence of microhabitat effects and emphasizing the importance of selecting an appropriate spatial resolution to adequately assess an area. Similar to other locations in Europe, juvenile plaice abundances on nursery grounds were inversely related to mean spring seawater temperatures during the pelagic stage. Abundances of 0-group plaice were not related to the number of either 1- or 2-group individuals collected during bottom-trawl surveys off the Irish west coast, demonstrating the difficulties associated with developing a recruitment index for plaice.

Keywords

0-group plaicenursery groundstemporal and spatial variabilityabundancelengthcondition
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 395 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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