FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 74, NO. 1 



militaris appears to reach 100 fathoms (183 m) 

 off southwestern Florida (Longley and Hilde- 

 brand 1941; Springer and Bullis 1956; Moe and 

 Martin 1965) as does P. roseus (Springer and 

 Bullis 1956). Bellator militaris has been recorded 

 by Bullis and Struhsaker (1970) from the 100- to 

 150-fathom (180- to 270-m) interval in their Ca- 

 ribbean study, and at 100 and 1,175 fathoms ( 180 

 and 2,150 m) in the northern Gulf by Springer and 

 Bullis (1956). The latter figure is likely wrong. 

 Since neither species was collected at 100 fathoms 

 (183 m) in the present study despite intensive 

 collecting at this depth, we conclude they rarely if 

 ever reach this depth in the northeastern Gulf 

 Both are seldom recorded from less than 20 m. 

 Moe and Martin (1965) recorded B. militaris in 

 less than 3 fathoms (5.5 m) and P. roseus from 

 approximately 6 fathoms (11 m) off Tampa, Fla. 



Miller and Kent (1971) gave the depth range for 

 P. alatus as 30 to 250 fathoms (55 to 457 m) 

 which would place it in the shallow to deep shelf 

 category. Our study reveals that this species 

 occasionally enters water shallower than 30 fath- 

 oms (55 m); two specimens were collected in 44 m 

 of water. 



Our study indicates that P. stearnsi is a mid- 

 shelf to deep shelf species. Like that of P. alatus, 

 its depth range extends to deeper waters than 

 those found in our study area. Excluding the 

 armored searobins (which are often placed in 

 Triglidae), it is one of the deepest dwelling west- 

 ern North Atlantic triglids. Ginsburg (1950) ex- 

 amined specimens from 169 fathoms (309 m). 

 Bullis and Struhsaker ( 1970) reported it from the 

 150- to 200-fathom (274- to 366-m) interval. 

 Springer and Bullis (1956) reported P. stearnsi 

 from as deep as 250 fathoms (457 m, excluding the 

 same erroneous 1,175-fathom station reported for 

 B. militaris). Prionotus stearnsi has also been 

 recorded from shallower waters. Ginsburg ( 1950) 

 listed specimens from 13 fathoms (24 m), Hilde- 

 brand (1954) from 12 fathoms (22 m), and 

 Springer and Bullis (1956) from 5.5 fathoms (10 

 m), though this last figure is based on a field 

 identification and is subject to error. We never 

 collected P. stearnsi at depths less than 60 m 

 despite intensive collecting and conclude that it 

 rarely enters shallower waters in the northeast- 

 ern Gulf 



Size-Depth Relationship 



In their study in Gulf waters off Pinellas 

 100 



County, Fla., Moe and Martin ( 1965) reported that 

 larger specimens of various fishes consistently 

 occurred at deeper depths. They pointed out that 

 this phenomenon had been noted before and was 

 correlated with increasing salinity (e.g. Gunter 

 1945). However, they were unable to draw such a 

 correlation, since salinity changed so little over 

 their study area. Topp and Hoff (1972) showed 

 statistically significant increases in the mean 

 size of Syacium papillosum (a bothid) collected 

 between 18 and 37 m and between 37 and 55 m 

 off southwestern Florida. Our results point to 

 similar conclusions. We found a highly signifi- 

 cant (P<0.001) positive relationship between in- 

 creasing size and increasing depth of capture for 

 all species except P. stearnsi. We concur with Moe 

 and Martin (1965) that this is not correlated 

 with salinity changes (which are small in our 

 study area). 



Temperature 



The four species in the first three bathymetric 

 categories occurred over a wide range of tempera- 

 tures. The only species that could in any way be 

 restricted by the temperature of its environment 

 is P. stearnsi, the deep shelf species, which was 

 taken over a limited range from 14° to 21°C. 



Bottom Type 



Bellator militaris was the only species which 

 showed any significant bottom type preference; it 

 was found in greater abundance over fine sandy 

 mud, silt, or clay bottoms. We conclude that 

 bottom type, at least as categorized in this study, 

 does not play a very important part in the dis- 

 tribution of four of the five species studied. 



Time of Capture 



Only one species, P. stearnsi, showed a sig- 

 nificant difference in the catch per unit effort 

 between day and night trawls; it was more abun- 

 dant in daytime trawls. Bellator militaris and P. 

 roseus were equally abundant in both day and 

 night trawls, while f! alatus andf! martis tended, 

 though not conclusively so, to be caught in 

 greater numbers at night. Hoese et al. (1968) 

 noted that P. tribulus crassiceps as well as other 

 unidentified triglids tended to be caught more 

 frequently at night, though not significantly so. 



