454 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Distribution off Southeastern Atlantic Coast of the 

 United States 



Caranx crysos has been reported from the follow- 

 ing specific localities within this area: Nassau, 

 Bahamas, by Lee (1889: 670), Bean (1905: 302), 

 Parr (1930: 45), and Ginsburg (1952: 96); the 

 Gulf Stream off Bimini, Bahamas, by Nichols 

 (1938b: 1); Biscayne Bay, Fla., by McCormick, 

 in Smith (1896: 174) ; Boca Raton, Fla., by Fowler 

 (1945: 292); St. Johns River, Fla., by Goode 

 (1879: 112; 1882: 35); Fort Macon, N. C., by 

 Goode (1882: 32); Cape Romain and Charleston, 

 S. C, by Fowler (1945: 191); and Beaufort, N. C, 

 by Goode (1882: 35), Jordan (1886a: 27), Yarrow 

 (1877: 208), Jordan and Gilbert (1879: 376), 

 Smith (1907: 84), and Nichols (1938a: 1). 



Figure 32 shows the locations of specimens taken 

 on the Gill cruises, specimens taken by the Combat 

 off Florida, other specimens in the SAFI collec- 

 tion (Brunswick, Ga.), USNM specimens ex- 

 amined (33 miles south of the Lookout Light Ship 

 in Gulf Stream), and ChM specimens examined 

 (Charleston and Cape Romain, S. C.) (tables 2 

 and 6); and specimens reported by Nichols (1938a: 

 1 ; in the Gulf Stream off Bimini, Bahamas, 

 22 mm.) and Fowler (1945: 292; Boca Raton. Fla., 

 about 63 mm., converted). The specimens re- 

 corded on this chart are larvae and juveniles with 

 the exception of the inshore records of larger 

 specimens from South Carolina which may have 

 been adult. The locations of capture of the larvae 

 and juveniles were generally near or beyond the 

 100-fathom line and indicate an association witli 

 the Gulf Stream, as depicted by the approximate 

 axis of the Stream in figure 32. Because of the 

 relatively less-concentrated collecting by the Gill 

 east of the axis of the Gulf Stream, it is not pos- 

 sible to estimate accurately the relative abundance 

 of these forms for that area. This occurrence of 

 young in the Gulf Stream extends from about May 

 into November, but in heaviest concentration 

 from mid-June to mid-August (fig. 33). 



Specimens of crysos above 100 mm. standard 

 length have commonly been taken inshore along 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States. Speci- 

 mens below this size occasionally occur inshore 

 on the Atlantic coast of southern Florida and at 

 Cape Lookout and Cape Hattcras, N. C. (where 

 the Gulf Stream moves in relatively close to the 

 shore). I have found few published inshore 

 records of crysos less than 100 mm. other than 



from these two localities: Smith (1898: 98) re- 

 ported specimens of about 36 mm. and 51 mm. 

 (converted) from Woods Hole, Mass., in summer. 

 Breder's (1926: 124) record of "a small example 

 of about 30 mm." identified as crysos from Sandy 

 Hook Bay, N. Y., is not convincing because he 

 describes the body as banded with five intense 

 black vertical bars, which description normally 

 applies to hippos or possibly latus. The larvae 

 and juveniles evidently have an affinity for the 

 Gulf Stream and offshore waters to a size of SO 

 to 100 mm., above which size at least a part of 

 the Stream population moves inshore. Records 

 of crysos taken inshore north of North Carolina 

 support this: Bean (1891: 87) reported specimens 

 of about 105 to 145 mm. (converted) from Cape 

 Charles City, Va., September 16 to October 3; 

 Murphy and Harper (1915: 41), specimens of 

 about 135 mm. (converted) from Long Island, 

 N. Y., in September; Latham (1918: 55), speci- 

 mens about 115 mm. (converted) on October 23 

 and about 141 mm. (converted) on November 4 

 from Long Island, N. Y.; Latham (1920: 92), 

 specimens about 95.5 mm. (converted) from Long 

 Island, N. Y., Jul}' 26; Bigelow and Schroeder 

 (1953: 377), specimens about 115 to 155 mm. 

 (converted) from Cape Cod Bay, Mass., in Septem- 

 ber; Leim (1930: x\vi,Ji(le Bigelow and Schroeder, 

 1953: 377), specimens about 95 mm. (converted) 

 from Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Vladykov (1935: 

 4), a specimen about 141 mm. (converted) from 

 Pubnico, Nova Scotia, September 1. 



I believe that the larvae and young juveniles 

 in the Gulf Stream are carried northward by the 

 Stream currents — a northward movement of 

 young is also probably effected by the Antilles 

 Current. At a juvenile size of 80 to 100 mm. 

 a portion of this developing population migrates 

 to Atlantic coast inshore waters, but another por- 

 tion may, at least temporarily, continue its move- 

 ment eastward with the Stream. A continuation 

 in movement with the Stream to Africa is also 

 possible. Nichols (1939: 5) hypothesized, "a 

 regular interchange between the continents of 

 America and Africa, eastward in the north and 

 westward in the south." Records of crysos from 

 the Azores and West Africa sponsored this theory, 

 but the inadequately known relations of this spe- 

 cies with C. fusus of the Mediterranean limit its 

 acceptability. If young crysos taken in the Gulf 

 Stream off the southeastern United States 



