"Food habits of winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus), a common coastal fish in New England and found from Georgia to Labrador, were examined through stomach analyses. The specimens were caught in Woods Hole Harbor in 1961 and 1962. This harbor is largely ice-free through the winter, and we therefore collected fish for study year-round to learn seasonal variations in diet. The fish were caught in a small otter trawl towed from an outboard-powered skiff and in water depths of about 1-5 m (Lux and Nichy 1971). Bottom sediments ranged from sand in shallower areas to mud in the deepest. Samples were obtained at approximately weekly intervals from September 1961 to December 1962, although few were caught in the winter months when fish were largely absent, and less sampling was done then. No winter flounder were caught in February sampling. There were 11 sampling dates in 1961 and 42 in 1962"--Introduction.

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)