Ecophysiology of juvenile flatfish in nursery grounds

Relationships between biotic and abiotic factors and the ecological performance of late larval and juvenile flatfish in nursery grounds are examined from ecophysiological viewpoints. The first events in the nursery are metamorphosis and settlement. Development of organs, osmoregulation and behavioural changes during metamorphosis. and size at metamorphosis are regulated by environmental factors. Various hormones play critical roles in this regulation. Effects of environmental conditions on individual growth in the nursery grounds are described on the basis of Fry's five environmental factors: limiting, controlling, masking, directive and lethal factors. The main limiting factors are food and dissolved oxygen, controlling factors are temperature and body size; masking factors are salinity and pollutants; lethal factors are extreme environments; and directive factors are food, predators and dissolved oxygen. In addition to temperature, it has been indicated that dissolved oxygen seems to be relatively important for flatfish of the eastern US and northern European countries, while food abundance appears to be more critical for Japanese flounder. The feasibility is discussed of ecophysiological modelling to predict individual growth and subpopulation production based on the assessment of the role of environmental variability using the above classification, which organises and integrates environmental effects. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.