FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70. NO. I 



of the caudal fin when the caudal rays are 

 squeezed together (Hubbs and Lagler, 1949). 



We separated young menhaden into three 

 stages on the basis of body form and the length- 

 weight relation of individuals within each stage. 

 Length and weight ranges of all the fish used 

 in the study are given in Table 1, An illustra- 

 tion of each stage (larva, prejuvenile, and ju- 

 venile) that occurs during the first year in the 

 estuary is shown in Figure 1. 



Allometric growth, with stanzas for larvae, 

 prejuveniles, and juveniles is shown in Figure 2. 

 The inflection points, indicating change in slope, 

 are 30 and 38 mm for length, and 70 and 469 mg 

 for weight. We considered specimens less than 

 30 mm and 70 mg as larvae; they are long and 

 slender, and even at 30 mm total length the body 

 depth is only 4 mm or less. In the next group, 



Table 1. — Lengths and weights of Atlantic menhaden 

 from the White Oak River estuary, N.C., arranged in 

 order of increasing weight classes. 



B 



Figure 1.— Atlantic menhaden (a) larva 27.0 mm total length (TL) ; (b) prejuvenile 32.0 mm TL; and (c) ju- 

 venile, 64.0 mm TL. The alimentary tracts are shown as they were visible in the preserved specimens used in 

 drawings. 



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