Able et al.: Early life history of Centropristis striata 



439 



Figure 8 



Distribution of age 0+ black sea bass, Centropristis striata, during the fall, spring, 

 and summer in inner continental shelf sampling areas off New Jersey during 

 1988-91. No fish were collected during winter. 



temperatures (Fig. 7). This same trend was also noted 

 in Chesapeake Bay estuaries (Musick and Mercer, 

 1977) and off the coast of Massachusetts (Lux and 

 Nichy, 1971). This response is not surprising given 

 the inability of young (Schwartz, 1964b) and age 0+ 

 ( Hales and Able, in press b) black sea bass to toler- 

 ate temperatures below 2-3°C, which can occur in 

 the Great Bay estuary during the winter (Able et al., 

 1992; Szedlmayer et al., 1992). Age 0+ individuals 

 apparently spend the winter on the outer continen- 

 tal shelf, but by early spring they can be found over 

 most of the shelf (Fig. 10). Musick and Mercer ( 1977) 



have suggested that they overwinter on the conti- 

 nental shelf in somewhat shallower depths (56-110 

 m). This year class reenters New Jersey estuaries in 

 the spring, where it spends the summer, then mi- 

 grates offshore again in the fall. A similar seasonal 

 pattern occurs in Chesapeake Bay estuaries (Musick 

 and Mercer, 1977, and references cited therein). 



The 70-180 mm TL size range attained during the 

 first year (ending July) is similar to that reported 

 from back-calculated lengths from scales (approxi- 

 mately 40-159 mm TL; Briggs, 1978) and otoliths 

 (75-107 mm SL; Alexander, 1981). The 1+ age class 



