FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 1 



44*00' 



69*45' 



Figure 1. — Sampling stations in the Boothbay region, 

 January through August 1968 and November 1969 

 through October 1970. 



of the net and the distance towed. The mesh 

 opening of the trawl net (2 mm) was larger 

 than that of the meter net (0.51 mm) used by 

 Graham and Boyar (1965), Small larvae 

 (<2 mm) probably escaped through the larger 

 mesh, but the species composition of the larvae 

 caught in both the Boothbay Depressor Trawl 

 and meter net was similar. 



Larval identification was based on known 

 spawning time and on previously reported iden- 

 tifications. References used most often in identi- 

 fication were Colton and Marak (1969), Bigelow 

 and Schroeder (1953), and Graham and Boyar 

 (1965). 



RESULTS 



Twenty-two kinds of larvae were represented 

 in the collections in the Boothbay region during 

 January to August 1968 and November 1969 to 

 October 1970 (Table 1); 17 kinds were iden- 

 tified to species, 3 to family, and 2 were not iden- 

 tified. All of the species were boreal with centers 

 of abundance north of the mid-Atlantic coast, 

 and many of the more abundant larvae do not 

 occur south of New England. Most of the larvae, 

 particularly the more abundant ones, hatch from 

 demersal eggs. 



SPECIES ABUNDANCE AND 

 COMPOSITION 



preserved in 5% Formalin' and identified in the 

 laboratory. The stations were grouped accord- 

 ing to general location within the sampling area 

 and are termed upper estuarine stations (1, 2, 

 and 3), lower estuarine stations (4, 5, and 6), 

 and outer stations (7 and 8) . The outer stations 

 were approximately 4 miles from the headlands. 

 Larvae were collected with a Boothbay De- 

 pressor Trawl (Graham and Vaughan, 1966) 

 using a 3-stepped oblique tow (10 min each level) 

 from bottom to surface. The trawl was towed 

 at 4 knots for 30 min. The amount of water 

 strained was determined by using the opening 



^ Reference to trade names does not imply endorse- 

 ment by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



Larvae were most abundant during late winter 

 to early spring ( Figure 2 ) . The dominant larvae 

 at this time were Pholis gunnellus, Liparis sp., 

 Cryptacanthodes maculatus, Lumpenus lumpre- 

 taeformis, and the Cottidae; they represented 

 91% of the total catch. In addition, Anguilla 

 rostrata and a species of Gadidae (probably 

 Gadus morhua) occurred in small numbers 

 (0.1% and 0.01% of the total catch) . The com- 

 position of the dominant kinds of larvae differed 

 between years. The Cottidae was dominant in 

 1968 and P. gunnellus in 1970; C. maculatus, L. 

 lumpretaeformis, and the Liparis sp. were more 

 numerous in 1968 than in 1970. 



Catches of larvae in the winter and early 

 spring were large between February and April 



106 



