NOTES 



OCCURRENCE OF MATURE REDFISH, 



SEBASTES MARINUS, IN SPORT FISHERY 



OF THE NEW YORK BIGHT 



In the 1971 sport fishery survey of the New York 

 Bight waters, party boat captains reported 

 catching redfish, Sebastes marinus, along the 

 edges of the Hudson Canyon. Specimens ob- 

 tained and examined later were found to be 

 sexually mature fish. This is the first record of 

 redfish being caught in the marine sport fishery 

 off New York, and is a substantial extension of 

 the southern and western breeding range for 

 Sebastes in the north Atlantic. 



Redfish occur on both sides of the north 

 Atlantic and Goode and Bean (1895) listed the 

 southernmost limit in the western Atlantic off 

 the northern coast of New Jersey (lat 39°48'N; 

 long 71°49'W). Schroeder (1955) reiterated this 

 limit when he reported catching redfish between 

 long 70°00'W and 71°59'W in water deeper 

 than 394 m. Davis and Joseph (1964) reported 

 one specimen (330 mm SL) off Virginia (lat 

 37°38'N; long 74°15'W) but did not include 

 details on maturation. Prior to my find, the 

 southernmost extent of a breeding population in 

 the western Atlantic was that reported by 

 Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) from Great South 

 Channel off Nantucket Island. 



Redfish exist in commercial concentrations 

 from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank north 

 to southern Greenland. Although an excellent 



table fish, redfish are not actively sought by 

 New England anglers because they are usually 

 found in deep water and provide little sporting 

 action. They are caught regularly by anglers 

 at Eastport, Maine (Kelly and Barker, 1961) 

 and occasionally elsewhere along the Maine 

 coast, but few are caught by sportsmen south 

 of there. 



During July and August 1971, I collected 

 14 specimens (13 ripe males and 1 gravid 

 female containing well-developed larvae) from 

 party boat captains. These redfish had an 

 average length of 208 mm. ranging from 188 to 

 222 mm and averaged 257 g, ranging from 

 190 to 309 g. Ages ranged from 7 to 11 years 

 with 8-year-old fish being the dominant age 

 group. Their physical characteristics are like 

 those described and pictured by Bigelow and 

 Schroeder (1953) for Sebastes marinus from 

 the Gulf of Maine. Each fish had a well- 

 developed bony protuberance on the lower jaw 

 and the anterior preopercular spine projected 

 anteroventrally (Figure 1). The average ratio of 

 horizontal diameter of orbit to head length was 

 29.5% . 



Party boat captains caught these specimens 

 incidentally while fishing for red hake, Uro- 

 phycis chuss; tautog, Tautoga onitis; and black 

 sea bass. Ce)itropnstis striata; on wrecks in 55 

 to 69 m in the upper end of the Hudson Can- 

 yon (general area: lat 40°12'N; long 73°44'W) 

 (Figure 2). Party boat captains also reported 



Figure 1. — A mature male red- 

 fish, 222 mm SL. caught at the 

 northern end of the Hudson 

 Canyon. 



597 



