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Factors influencing suitable habitats of juvenile southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) within the Galveston Bay Complex (GBC), Texas, were assessed using generalized additive models (GAM). Fishery independent data collected with bag seines throughout the GBC from 1999 to 2009 were used to predict the probability of southern flounder occurrence. Binomial GAMs were used to assess presence/absence of southern flounder and models included temporal variables, benthic variables such as distance to habitats generated within a geographic information system, and physicochemical conditions of the water column. Separate models were generated for newly settled southern flounder, young-of-the-year (YOY) southern flounder observed in the summer, and YOY southern flounder observed in fall based on size and collection month. Factors affecting southern flounder occurrence changed seasonally, as …