FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 2 



DEPTH(m) 



3 

 ? 



SHALLOW 

 NET 



I I 

 1 I 



U I 



S I 

 i I 



I 



I SHALLOW 



I 



NET 



DEEP 

 NET 





 3 

 6 

 9 



12 

 15 

 IB 

 21 

 24 

 27 

 ,30 

 33 

 36 



Figure 2. — Vertical sampling profiles for 30-min tows with Gulf V nets. The number of sampling depths in the 

 step-oblique pattern was determined by depth of water. Sampling profiles on the right side of the figure were 

 considered standard tows. 



season usually peaks in the fall along the Middle 

 Atlantic Bight, data are lacking on the duration 

 of the season. Herman (1963) reported the 

 earliest seasonal occurrence of young from 

 larvae captured in Narragansett Bay, R.I., in 

 July 1957. He concluded that spawning had 

 commenced during the summer. Gravid females 

 taken as late as mid- April off Nantucket Island 

 led Bigelow and Schroeder (1953:267-270) to 

 conclude that spawning occurred through 

 spring. During our survey, it appears that 

 some spawning may have lingered into early 

 spring in waters off North Carolina, but not 

 as far north as New England. Nor can I find 

 other data to substantiate that spawning nor- 

 mally begins as early as July or ends as late 

 as April off southern New England. 



After studying gonads from fishes landed 

 by the winter trawl fishery, Eldridge (1962) 

 concluded that most spawning off the Virginia 

 Capes occurred in November. Eldridge's findings 

 agree closely with those of Murawski (1965), 

 who observed a sharp rise in maturation of 

 gonads in fish caught off New Jersey during 

 the first half of October and running ripe females 

 from late September through early November. 

 Our results generally agree with these authors. 

 In 1966, spawning evidently began in the north- 

 ern part of the Middle Atlantic Bight in early 

 September, progressed southward with the sea- 

 son, and ended in February off Cape Lookout. 

 The season reached its peak in October north 

 of Chesapeake Bay and in November south of 

 the Bay. 



530 



