Able et al.: Early life history of Centropnstis striata 



443 



by the increase in catch rates of black sea bass juve- 

 niles when shell was added to estuarine substrate to 

 improve oyster recruitment (Arve, 1960). Dissolved 

 oxygen also may influence patterns of habitat use 

 because juveniles are intolerant of low levels (Hales 

 and Able, in press a). The similarities in the densi- 

 ties and in sizes attained in the fall by juveniles in 

 the estuary and in the adjacent inner continental 

 shelf suggest that habitat quality is similar for both 

 these areas, if one assumes that size differential pre- 

 dation or movements did not occur at either site dur- 

 ing the sampling period. In summary, these data in- 

 dicate that both estuaries and the inner continental 

 shelf are important as nursery areas and that juvenile 

 black sea bass are not strickly estuarine dependent. 



Acknowledgments 



Numerous individuals assisted in the preparation of 

 this manuscript. Rutgers Marine Field Station per- 

 sonnel provided assistance in sampling, particularly 

 Roger Hoden, Chris Wright, Matt Pearson, Lynn 

 Wulff, Rich McBride, Stan Hales, and Rick Laubly. 

 Rose Petrecca provided video images from SCUBA 

 dives, and Dave Witting made data from SCUBA 

 dives available. Don Byrne and Arnold Howe pro- 

 vided data from New Jersey and Massachusetts in- 

 shore trawl surveys, respectively. This work is the 

 result, in part, of research sponsored by NOAA, Of- 

 fice of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce, under 

 Grant No. NA36-RG0505 (Project Nos. R/F-42, R/F- 

 65). This is Sea Grant Publication Number NJSG- 

 94-301. Funding was also provided through Rutgers 

 University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences 

 (IMCS), and through NOAA-NURP New York Bight 

 Center. 



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