FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 2 



Table 4. — Total number of sand lance larvae per positive tow, and the numbers of larvae per tow within five size 

 groups, in shallow and deep tows during the night and during the day, from four 1966 RV Dolphin cruises. 



' Only category with catches in December. 



number of specimens of large size, i.e., above 

 30 mm, occurred from New Jersey south. 



The greatest number of recently hatched 

 larvae — those from 4 to 8 mm — were taken 

 inshore in late fall and early winter off southern 

 New England and in early winter along the 

 Maryland and Virginia coasts (Figure 8). 

 Additional small specimens taken in April off 

 Montauk Point indicate a long spawning sea- 

 son (Figure 9). In winter, they were caught 

 mostly during the day and in shallow water, 

 yet some occurred offshore in deep water south 

 of Montauk Point in winter and off Barnegat 

 Inlet in spring. The absence of this group in 

 May (Figure 10) suggests spawning probably 

 ceased by late March or early April, as previously 

 noted by Norcross et al. (1961) and Wheatland 

 (1956). Distribution of this size group did not 

 seem to be correlated with the distribution of 

 zooplankton organisms. Larvae of this size 

 are still dependent on phytoplankton for food 

 (Covin, 1959). 



The size group containing specimens from 

 8 to 17 mm was most abundant in winter (Figures 

 7 and 8) and well dispersed along the coast 

 between Montauk Point and south of Chesapeake 

 Bay. By April, larvae in this size group oc- 

 curred primarily from Martha's Vineyard to 

 Barnegat Inlet. They were still available in 

 that region in May. Larvae of 8 to 17 mm 



were most abundant at night in deep tows. 

 During the day, they occurred primarily in 

 surface collections, probably because they were 

 feeding there (Table 4). Their horizontal dis- 

 tribution coincided somewhat with that of 

 greatest plankton volumes along the coast 

 during the winter and April cruises. Covill 

 (1959) indicated that sand lances are primarily 

 zooplankton feeders by about 9 mm. 



Larvae longer than 17 mm were much less 

 common in midwinter than those of the smaller 

 size groups (Figures 7 and 8). They were 

 primarily offshore off the New Jersey-Delaware 

 Bay area and Chesapeake Bay south to Cape 

 Hatteras, indicating that spawning had begun 

 as early as late November or early December, 

 as previously indicated by Norcross et al. (1961) 

 and Williams et al. (1964). By April, those 

 between 17 and 31 mm were the most abundant 

 group of larvae, being found well offshore off 

 southern New England and inshore off Dela- 

 ware Bay (Figure 9). None were taken near- 

 shore off Chesapeake Bay; the larvae there 

 were all much larger. In May, a few specimens 

 were taken 10 to 15 miles off southern New 

 England and Long Island (Figure 10). 



During winter, there were no specimens 

 larger than 31 mm (Figures 7 and 8). In 

 April, large specimens were common. Off Long 

 Island and New Jersey, they occurred in small 



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