The spatial and temporal distribution of young-of-the-year Osmerus mordax in the Great Bay Estuary

Juvenile smelt, Osmerus mordax, were collected from four eelgrass, Zostera marina, beds in the Great Bay Estuary, two within Great Bay and two located nearer the coast. Lapillar otoliths were used to estimate the ages of the smelt and to calculate daily somatic growth based on the widths of otolith increments. Smelt collected from the Bay sites were consistently younger and shorter in total length than smelt collected from the coastal sites. A repeated measures analysis of variance found significant differences among growth trajectories of smelt grouped by their dates of 'birth'.