Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus)

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for Summer flounder:

• Eggs: 1) North of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the pelagic waters found over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the highest 90% of the all the ranked ten-minute squares for the area where summer flounder eggs are collected in the MARMAP survey. 2) South of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the waters over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to depths of 360 ft. In general, summer flounder eggs are found between October and May, being most abundant between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras, with the heaviest concentrations within 9 miles of shore off New Jersey and New York. Eggs are most commonly collected at depths of 30 to 360 ft.
  
  
• Larvae: 1) North of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the pelagic waters found over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the highest 90% of all the ranked ten-minute squares for the area where summer flounder larvae are collected in the MARMAP survey. 2) South of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the nearshore waters of the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral Florida, in nearshore waters (out to 50 miles from shore). 3) Inshore, EFH is all the estuaries where summer flounder were identified as being present (rare, common, abundant, or highly abundant) in the ELMR database, in the "mixing" (defined in ELMR as 0.5 to 25.0 ppt) and "seawater" (defined in ELMR as greater than 25 ppt) salinity zones. In general, summer flounder larvae are most abundant nearshore (12-50 miles from shore) at depths between 30 to 230 ft. They are most frequently found in the northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Bight from September to February, and in the southern part from November to May.
  
  
• Juveniles: 1) North of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the demersal waters over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the highest 90% of all the ranked ten-minute squares for the area where juvenile summer flounder are collected in the NEFSC trawl survey. 2) South of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the waters over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ) to depths of 500 ft, from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida. 3) Inshore, EFH is all of the estuaries where summer flounder were identified as being present (rare, common, abundant, or highly abundant) in the ELMR database for the "mixing" and "seawater" salinity zones. In general, juveniles use several estuarine habitats as nursery areas, including salt marsh creeks, seagrass beds, mudflats, and open bay areas in water temperatures greater than 37 ^oF and salinities from 10 to 30 ppt range.
  
  
• Adults: 1) North of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the demersal waters over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ), from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the highest 90% of all the ranked ten-minute squares for the area where adult summer flounder are collected in the NEFSC trawl survey. 2) South of Cape Hatteras, EFH is the waters over the Continental Shelf (from the coast out to the limits of the EEZ) to depths of 500 ft, from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida. 3) Inshore, EFH is the estuaries where summer flounder were identified as being common, abundant, or highly abundant in the ELMR database for the "mixing" and "seawater" salinity zones. Generally summer flounder inhabit shallow coastal and estuarine waters during warmer months and move offshore on the outer Continental Shelf at depths of 500 ft in colder months.
  
  

Habitat Areas of Particular Concern

The specific designation of HAPC for summer flounder is as follows:

All native species of macroalgae, seagrasses, and freshwater and tidal macrophytes in any size bed, as well as loose aggregations, within adult and juvenile summer flounder EFH is HAPC. If native species of SAV are eliminated then exotic species should be protected because of functional value, however, all efforts should be made to restore native species.