FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 73, NO. 2 



caught were concentrated close to its mouth. The 

 distribution of the collections indicates spawning 

 was not widespread. Stations north of these 

 collections were sampled about 10 days earlier, 

 possibly accounting for the limited distribution we 

 observed. The absence of larvae to the north in 

 these earlier collections would indicate spawning 

 had recently started. Temperatures in June in the 

 area of capture ranged from 15° to 19°C, and 

 salinity varied from 30.3 to 32. IVoo (Figure 4). 

 Hydrographic conditions within these ranges oc- 

 curred widely along the coast during this cruise 

 (Clark et al. 1969). 



During our cruise in August there was evidence 

 of limited spawning nearshore (Figure 5). A few 

 small larvae, 5.6-10.5 mm, were taken off Long 

 Island and New Jersey. Perhaps the earlier 

 spawning in June was so limited that with disper- 

 sal during growth, insufficient larvae survived to 

 be taken in our August sampling. Temperatures in 



the area of capture in August were warmer than in 

 June, 18° to 22°C at the surface, and the seasonal 

 thermocline was well developed about 15 m below 

 the surface (Figure 5). Temperatures below the 

 thermocline were less than 10°C. Larvae were 

 collected only in the shallow net, indicating they 

 were in the warm water above the thermocline. 

 Salinity in the area of capture ranged from 30.1 to 

 31.0''/oo. 



In October 5,420 larvae were collected that 

 ranged from 3.5 to 18.5 mm (Figure 2). The 

 length-frequency distribution was skewed to the 

 left (mean 7.3 mm; mode 6.5 mm). Larvae were 

 more widespread and in greater concentrations 

 than during any other cruise (Figure 6). They oc- 

 curred from Martha's Vineyard to Currituck 

 Beach, N.C., and were abundant from Long Island 

 to Maryland, near the middle of the shelf. They 

 occurred nearshore from southern New England to 

 New Jersey and near Chesapeake Bay. The fish 



Figure 4.-Distribution and abundance of menhaden larvae in 

 the June cruise. 



Figure 5.-Distribution and abundance of menhaden larvae in 

 the August cruise. 



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