218 



Fishery Bulletin 9 1(2). 1993 



August 1977 



T - 



t. t, 



August-September 1976 



NS 



tot 3^1 55 



NS 



October 1975 



00 



NS 



November 1976 



N3 E3 

 Station 



F2 



Figure 6 



Range and mean size of Urophycis chuss in neuston and bongo collections at stations off 

 Virginia and New Jersey. Solid and dashed lines indicate neuston and bongo collections, 

 respectively. Horizontal lines show mean values. Two neuston ranges are shown if more 

 than one size-mode is present. NS = no samples taken; numbers = no. larvae/lOOOm 1 . 



central and northern MAB where water depth was 

 40-60 m. Urophycis chuss was the only species of lar- 

 val hake found in summer collections, and accounted 

 for 80% of all hakes collected during this 2-year study. 

 Most U. regia in the present study were collected in 

 November, but some larvae or neustonic juveniles were 



collected from October to May. 

 Urophycis regia in the MAB is 

 reported to spawn from late Sep- 

 tember through November, and 

 possibly to February, with peak 

 activity in October (Barans & 

 Barans 1972). Urophycis regia 

 was most abundant during fall 

 in the southern MAB in the rela- 

 tively shallow 1 4 1-43 m) midshelf 

 area. Size range of Urophycis re- 

 gia collected in this area was 2- 

 34 mm, and although some of the 

 larger specimens may have 

 drifted from deeper water, small 

 larvae were most likely spawned 

 on the shallower central shelf. 

 Evidence of U. regia spawning in 

 shallow water was also found in 

 October 1975 off New Jersey 

 where larvae as small as 4mm 

 were found in water as shallow 

 as 12 m. However, not all speci- 

 mens off New Jersey originated 

 in shallow water; a second group 

 of larvae 6-23 mm in length was 

 found offshore. 



The offshore distribution of U. 

 regia became quite distinct in 

 winter collections, with abun- 

 dances being greatest at offshore 

 stations in February 1976, Feb- 

 ruary-March 1977, and May 

 1977. These U. regia were prob- 

 ably spawned in offshore waters 

 of the MAB or in offshore waters 

 of the South Atlantic Bight and 

 transported northward. Larval 

 U. regia have been found in 

 abundance in winter collections 

 from offshore waters off North 

 Carolina in the South Atlantic 

 Bight (Fahay 1975, Powles & 

 Stender 1976). 



Late-summer spawning by 

 U. tenuis occurs in shallow wa- 

 ter of the southern Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence and the Scotian Shelf 

 (Markle et al. 1982). Fahay & Able (1989) suggest the 

 existence of a second stock of U. tenuis that spawns in 

 deep water during early spring on the slope of Georges 

 Bank, and probably also along the slopes of the Scotian 

 Shelf, southern New England, and the MAB. The 

 present study found direct evidence of spring spawn- 



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