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Ladyfish, Elops saurus, are recognized as an estuarine-dependent species, although no published study has described how ladyfish use estuarine habitats. This study found ladyfish to be common throughout Tampa Bay and Indian River Lagoon, Florida. In both estuaries, metamorphosing larvae were collected during several months of the year, but they were most abundant in spring. Length-frequency analyses suggested that age-0 ladyfish grew from 20-30 mm to 200-300 mm standard length during their first year and that at least three age classes were present throughout the year. Age-0 ladyfish followed an ontogenetic migration with regard to salinity. They entered estuaries as metamorphosing larvae and became concentrated in waters of lower than median salinity for both estuaries (23-25 ppt). In Tampa Bay, which had a greater range of salinity than the Indian River Lagoon, age-0 ladyfish were found …