KENDALL and REINTJES: DISTRIBUTION OF ATLANTIC MENHADEN EGGS AND LARVAE 



Eggs 



We found menhaden eggs at only six stations, 

 five from the October cruise and one from the late 

 fall cruise in 1966 (Figures 6, 7). All but one sample 

 contained less than 100 developing eggs. The ex- 

 ceptional sample was from 85 km off Delaware 

 Bay in October where about 2,000 eggs were taken. 

 Precise counts were not possible due to the poor 

 state of preservation of the samples when they 

 were examined. Eggs were collected in areas 

 where small larvae were taken. Apparently 

 menhaden spawn as large schools producing dense 

 patches of eggs (Reintjes 1969). During the short 

 incubation time (48 h), these patches do not 

 become dispersed. Thus the distribution of 

 menhaden eggs at sea is probably more uneven 

 than that of larvae. Chance was a dominant factor 

 in catching menhaden eggs so distributed in our 

 survey. 



Mid-Water Trawl Catches 



Sampling by mid- water trawl during the cruises 

 collected a few larval and adult menhaden. 

 Sampling effort was good in areas where the 

 catches were made, so they probably reflect the 

 actual geographic distribution of menhaden sub- 

 ject to capture by this type of sampling (Clark et 

 al. 1969). A few large larvae, 21-37 mm, were taken 

 in August off the Chesapeake Bay area. Age-0 fish, 

 89-177 mm FL (fork length) (Reintjes 1969), oc- 

 curred close to shore from southern New England 

 to Chesapeake Bay in late fall 1966. These proba- 

 bly represent young fish migrating south after 

 spending the summer in estuaries (June and 

 Chamberlin 1959). Other catches included two 

 large fish, 305 and 361 mm FL, close to shore off 

 southern New Jersey in May, and several age-0 

 fish off Oregon Inlet, N.C., in June. 



DISCUSSION 



Much speculation has surrounded the distribu- 



- 10,000 



1000 



-100 



-1 10 



-1 



s 



n 





o 

 o 



n 



> 



25 



30 

 SALINITY(S^o) 



35 



Figure 13.-Relation between surface salinity to menhaden lar- 

 val catch and sampling effort. 



tion of early stages of menhaden. Spawning times 

 and places have been inferred from examination 

 of gonads of adults (McHugh et al. 1959; Higham 

 and Nicholson 1964) and nearshore and estuarine 

 samples of larvae and juveniles (e.g. Richards 

 1959; Sutherland 1963; Pacheco and Grant 1965). 

 Few studies have actually taken menhaden eggs 

 and larvae to determine more directly the area of 

 spawning (Reintjes 1961; Massmann et al. 1962). 

 Controversy has concerned whether menhaden 

 spawn in Chesapeake Bay (Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder 1928) and whether there are two 

 separate populations along the east coast, one 

 spawning in spring and one in fall (Nicholson 

 1972). Annual variation in time of spawning and 

 entry of larvae into estuaries may account for 

 some of the confusion, since most studies have 

 been short-termed and in a relatively small por- 

 tion of the range of menhaden. 



Caution needs to be exercised in analyzing the 

 present data since they were collected during a 

 single year and do not encompass the entire range 

 of spawning of menhaden (Reintjes 1969). During 

 summer larvae were taken from our inshore sta- 

 tions to our farthest offshore station and at our 

 most northerly station. The possibility of spawn- 

 ing within estuaries is indicated by the presence of 



Table 3.-Diel and depth distribution of menhaden larval catches and mean lengths. 



327 



