Many flatfish species utilize coastal areas during at least one of their life-history stages. Estuaries on the eastern US Atlantic coast provide important settlement and nursery habitat for flatfishes. Small tidal creeks serve as transition zones between upland and estuarine environments and are a consistent settlement and nursery habitat for flatfish. Flatfish habitat use in Wylly Creek, a southeastern US tidal creek, was examined to determine whether assemblage composition has changed over a decadal time period (2004–2007 vs. 2016–2019). In addition, the potential effect of cold winters on juvenile flatfish recruitment and subsequent spring flatfish assemblage composition were examined. Flatfish assemblages have undergone subtle shifts in composition between initial and recent time periods, with decreases (5–16-fold) in abundance occurring for ocellated flounder Ancylopsetta quadrocellata, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, and southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, while abundances of more common species, bay whiff Citharichthys spilopterus and blackcheek tonguefish Symphurus plagiusa, remained relatively consistent. Bay whiff recruitment into the creek occurred in early spring, but was delayed in most years with colder winters. Minimum residency for bay whiff within an approximately 350 m stretch of creek was estimated to be approximately 5–10 days. Flatfish habitat use in this small tidal creek adjacent to a relatively undeveloped coastal area may reflect a shifting baseline against which potential assemblage shifts in developed areas can be assessed.

许多比目鱼物种至少在其生活史阶段之一利用沿海地区。美国东部大西洋沿岸的河口为比目鱼提供了重要的定居点和育苗栖息地。小潮汐小溪作为高地和河口环境之间的过渡区，是比目鱼的稳定定居点和育苗栖息地。对美国东南部潮汐溪威利溪 (Wylly Creek) 的比目鱼栖息地使用情况进行了检查，以确定组合组成是否在十年时间段内发生了变化（2004-2007 年与 2016-2019 年）。此外，研究了寒冷的冬天对幼年比目鱼招募和随后的春季比目鱼组合组成的潜在影响。比目鱼组合在最初和最近的时间段之间在成分上发生了微妙的变化，Acylopsetta quadrocellata、夏季比目鱼Paralichthys dentatus和南方比目鱼Paralichthys lethostigma，而更常见的物种，bay whiff Citharichthys spilopterus和黑颊舌鱼Symphurus plagiusa 的丰度保持相对一致。海湾气味在早春被吸收到小溪中，但在大多数年份因冬季较冷而被推迟。在大约 350 m 的小溪范围内，bay whiff 的最短停留时间估计为大约 5-10 天。在这条与相对未开发的沿海地区相邻的小潮汐小溪中，比目鱼栖息地的使用可能反映了一个不断变化的基线，根据该基线可以评估发达地区的潜在组合变化。