While Mnemiopsis was detected throughout the winter for 2 years at several sites in Narragabsett Bay in previous work (Costello et al., 2006a), we did not observe this in our data for two reasons. First, we believe it would not likely be found at our inshore stations because they are not located within the protected inlets that serve as seasonal refugia that were sampled by Costello et al. (Costello et al., 2006a). Rather, they are located at the interface of these inlets and the open bay. The inshore stations in our study are a gateway between the protected in lets where Mnemiopsis overwinters and the open bay from which it is readily flushed.