FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



were collected throughout the year in the lower 

 reach, mostly over shell bottoms at trawl sta- 

 tions 3 to 6. 



Centrarchidae - sunfishes 



Twelve centrarchids (Table 2) were common 

 in the creeks of the Coastal Plain. Six species 

 (Centrarchus macropterus, Lepomis auritus, L. 

 gulosus, L. macrochirus, L. piinctatus, and Mi- 

 cropterus sahnoides) were also collected in the 

 oligohaline creek. Although sunfishes have 

 marked tolerance for salinity (Bailey, Winn, 

 and Smith, 1954), none of these were found 

 at a salinity above 0.5^c. 



Percidae - perches 



The swamp darter (Etheostoma fusi forme 

 barratti) was collected only at freshwater sta- 

 tions 3, 4, and 5. 



Pomatomidae - bluefishes 



The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is often 

 caught by anglers in the beach and lower reach 

 habitats but was rarely taken in this study. 

 Only four young (115-196 mm) were collected, 

 one in each season of the year. 



Echeneidae - remoras 



A sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) is re- 

 corded for the lower reach and beach habitats 

 since one was attached to a lemon shark that was 

 caught from the beach in Doboy Sound (Dahl- 

 berg and Heard, 1969). 



Carangidae - jacks and pompanos 



Nine species of carangids occurred primarily 

 in the beach and lower reach habitats. The horse- 

 eye jack {Caranx latus) is represented by four 

 specimens from St. Simons Beach (Miller and 

 Jorgenson, 1969). The crevalle jack (C. hippos) 

 was occasionally caught by anglers in the lower 

 reach of the estuary and a few juveniles were 

 seined as far up the estuary as the upper reach 

 when the salinity was 10.8/^f . Five small spec- 

 imens (24-77 mm) were collected in the summer 

 and autumn. 



The Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chry- 

 surus) and leather jacket (Oligoplites saurtis) 

 were mostly caught at the high-salinity stations. 

 The lowest salinity recorded for the leather jack- 

 et was 16.S%c. Both occupied shallow waters and 

 the bumper was also caught in trawls. 



The lookdown (Selene vomer) and Atlantic 

 moonfish (Vomer setapinnis) were found in the 

 beach habitat generally from May to November. 

 Lookdowns were occasionally trawled in the 

 sounds. 



Young of the commercially important Florida 

 pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) and young 

 permit (T. falcatus) were common in the beach 

 habitat and occasionally wandered to the high 

 marsh. Young pompano were present from 

 spring to autumn. The palometa (T. goodei) 

 was present in summer and autumn at St. Si- 

 mons Beach (Miller and Jorgenson, 1969), and 

 the permit followed the same pattern at Sapelo 

 Beach. 



Lutjanidae - snappers 



The gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) spawns 

 offshore, and the young have occasionally been 

 collected in the beach, high marsh, and tidal 

 pools habitats. This primarily tropical species 

 was collected from August to November. The low- 

 est salinity recorded for this species was 13.1%o. 



Gerreidae - moj arras 



Three species of moj arras, Irish pompano 

 (Diapterus olisthostomus) , spotfin mojarra 

 (Eucinostomus argenteus) , and flagfin mojarra 

 (E. melanopterus) , were collected. The flagfin 

 mojarra was represented in one collection that 

 contained all three species. This unusual collec- 

 tion was at a sand bar in the oligohaline creek 

 on 22 October 1969 when the salinity was 0.7%o 

 and the temperature was 24°C. The Irish pom- 

 pano was represented by juveniles collected at 

 six shallowwater habitats. They occurred from 

 July to November at salinities and temperatures 

 of 0.7 to 31.3%f and 19.4° to 31.8°C. 



The spotfin mojarra was collected in seven 

 habitats by seining and was the only mojarra 

 collected (twice) by trawling. This species was 



340 



