FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



and by dip net in habitat 8 and in Riceboro Creek 

 at the Seaboard Railroad. 



All specimens were preserved in lO^^f formal- 

 dehyde solution and analyzed in the laboratory 

 except when numbers in trawls were too large to 

 retain more than a sample. Representatives of 

 all species were retained at the Marine Institute. 



The phylogenetic order and names recom- 

 mended by Bailey (1970) are followed herein. 



HABITATS OF COASTAL FISHES 

 ORDER SQUALIFORMES - SHARKS 



Ten species of sharks (Table 2) were col- 

 lected in this study and by Dahlberg and Heard 

 (1969). Nearly all specimens, bonnethead ex- 

 cepted, were caught with fishing poles at the 

 beach and in the sounds. Only three sharks 

 were trawled, one each of the spiny dogfish 

 {Squalus acanthias) , bonnethead (Sphyrna ti- 

 huro), and the blacktip shark {Carcharhinus 

 limbatus). 



Most shark species have distinct seasonal mi- 

 gratory patterns. Carcharhinid sharks appar- 

 ently migrate into the estuary during the warm 

 months as all six were collected from June to 

 September. The spiny dogfish is a cold-water 

 species that migrates into Georgia estuaries 

 during the coldest months (Dahlberg and 

 Heard, 1969); it was collected only in January 

 and February. 



ORDER RAJIFORMES 

 AND RAYS 



SKATES 



The Atlantic guitarfish (Rhinobatos lentigi- 

 nosus) and clearnose skate (Raja eglanteria) 

 are most common in the ocean and were not col- 

 lected farther up the estuary than the sounds. 

 Although the guitarfish was collected only in 

 May and June, the skate was taken throughout 

 the year. 



Three stingrays of the genus Dasyatis (Table 

 2) are common in the sounds and shallow waters 

 along the beaches. The Atlantic stingray (D. 

 sabina) was the most abundant of the three spe- 

 cies taken by trawling and angling. It was com- 

 monly trawled in the middle reach of the estu- 



ary at salinities as low as 9.9^f. This species 

 is euryhaline (Gunter, 1956). 



The smooth butterfly ray (Gymnura micrura) 

 was collected by trawl in the estuary as far up 

 as the middle reaches but not at salinities lower 

 than 24.4%c. 



ORDER SEMIONOTIFORMES 



Lepisosteidae - gars 



Two species of Lepisosteus were taken in the 

 study area. The Florida gar (L. platyrhincus) 

 occurred only at freshwater station 2. The eury- 

 haline longnose gar (L. osseus) was abundant 

 and was often seen or trawled in fresh and brack- 

 ish waters throughout the year. The longnose 

 gar has been collected in the ocean off Georgia. 



ORDER ELOPIFORMES 



Elopidae - tarpons 



Small ladyfish {Flops saurus) were common 

 in enclosed waters of tidal pools and the tidal 

 ditch. Only two specimens were collected in 

 open waters, one at Sapelo Beach and one in the 

 upper reach of North Newport River. The lady- 

 fish was common in both the high- and low-sa- 

 linity pools at a salinity range of 0.1 to 28.7%f. 

 It entered the pools in May and remained until 

 November when the temperature was 19.9°C. 



Small tarpon (Megalops atlantica) were com- 

 mon in enclosed waters of tidal pools and the 

 tidal ditch, and large tarpon were often hooked 

 by anglers along Sapelo Beach. Young were col- 

 lected only from July to October at a temperature 

 range of 20.0° to 31.9°C and were more common 

 in the low-salinity pools than the high-salinity 

 pools; the recorded salinity range was 0.1 to 

 24.8^f. Rickards (1968) found tarpon at Sa- 

 pelo Island from July to November at salinities 

 of 0.0 to 22.3;^r and temperatures of 16° to 36°C. 



Albulidae - bonefishes 



Inclusion of the bonefish (Albula vulpes) in 

 Table 2 is based on a record from St. Simons 

 Beach (Miller and Jorgenson, 1969). 



334 



