Able et al : Use of ocean and estuanne habitats by young-of-the year Pomatomus saltatrix 



207 



20 



10 





 80 



40 





 60 



30 



60 

 30 H 



30 

 15 



E 



5- 



1200 



600 





 150 



75 







1200 

 600- 



150 

 75 



I I -I I I 'l "l "l 



June 14 -18 1995 

 n=10 



t 



I I I I -I' 'l' ■!' -T I I 



T — I — I — 1 — I — I — I — \ — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — r 

 Aug. 23 -27 1995 

 n = 233 



I I I I I 1* 



-I T "r t 't'i-'tt t t -i  



Oct. 19-25 1995 

 n = 567 



■^ "r , -i-i 4 i'i- i - i 'r 44 



^ 



I \ I r 



June 16 -20 1996 

 n=1 



I I 1 I 



T — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — r 

 Aug. 12-17 1996 

 /i = 328 



T — I — I — I — r 



T T T ' f f 



1 



Vr- 



T — I — I — I — I — m- 



_ 

    - -^  I 1^ L klhlhi^.n 



1 — I — I — I — r 

 Oct. 21 -26 1996 

 n = 203 



T ■. " ■.  ■|i 'f  ■| " -|--| " I I I I I 



July 19 -25 1997 

 n = 10 



il 



-i — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — \ — I — I — I — I — I — r 

 Sept.9-15 1997 

 n = 3129 



I -I "l " l T T T T "I — I — I — I — \ — r 



T — I — I — I — I — I — I — r 



I "r " J ^  ^^  i -' r V 'f "r - i 



Oct. 13-18 1997 

 n = 676 



n I I I I I I r 



Aug. 17-21 1998 

 n=1751 



I -I 'l 'l " l "I ■! I 



i\ 



1 — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — 1 — I — I — t — I — I — I — r 

 Oct. 30 -Nov. 4 1998 

 n=373 



Jr 



*rV 



T — I — I — I — I — I — I — I—I — I 'I ■! ■! T n T ~i ~i — I — I — \ — I — rTn — i — i — i — i — r 

 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 

 Fork length (cm) 



5-10 m 



D 



ll-20m 



D 



21-30 m 



Figure 5 



Size composition of young-of-year bluefish from inner continental shelf collections by 

 collection date during 1995-98. 



and fish occurred in over 70% of the diet at larger sizes. In 

 the estuary, fish were consumed at smaller sizes, 50-60 mm 

 FL, where they made up 100% of the diet. At larger sizes 

 they continued to be of considerable importance. 



Discussion 



Habitat use in the ocean 



Our results indicated that YOY bluefish use the inner 

 continental shelf and ocean beaches in the New York 



Bight during summer and fall. They occurred consistently 

 and abundantly in these habitats during July through 

 mid-September during 1995-98, at a period when blue- 

 fish populations were at very low levels. In addition, an 

 extensive analysis of bluefish from the Middle Atlantic 

 Bight from 1973 through 1995 indicated that YOY were 

 consistently collected in the summer in nearshore waters 

 (Munch and Conover, 2000). Young-of-year have also been 

 found on ocean beaches in the summer on the south shore 

 of Long Island (Schaefer, 1967) and southern New Jersey 

 (McDermott, 1983). These should be distinguished from 

 the collections on ocean beaches in the fall when other 



