YOUNG JACK CREVALLES 



501 



0.7 



0.6 — 



2 

 X 



5- 



04 — 



CO 



o 



0.3 — 



cr 

 < 

 _: 0.2 



Z> 

 O 



cr 



LU 

 CL 



o o.i 



LU 



cr 

 a 



0.0 



10 



20 30 



STANDARD LENGTH IN MM 



40 



Figure 79. — Caranx latus and Caranx sp. ("latus and/or hippos") : Relation of length of preopercular-angle spine to stand- 

 ard length. Dotted line separates the two forms. 



(North Edisto River, S. C), specimens taken by 

 SAFI (St. Simons Island and Turtle River, Ga.), 

 UF specimens examined (St. Augustine Inlet, 

 Vilano Beach, and St. Lucie Inlet, Fla.), and a 

 CBSFP specimen examined (Hog Island, Ba- 

 hamas) (tables 2 and 19). The specimens re- 

 corded on this chart are all juveniles. If any 

 of the "latus and/or hippos" larval specimens 

 recorded on figure 95 are this species, then the 

 period of larval development of latus probably 

 takes place offshore and, in this area, in asso- 

 ciation with the Gulf Stream. The 17.1-mm. 

 juvenile latus taken at the 100-fathom line off 

 Cape Lookout, N. C, contributes to this theory. 

 The 16.1-mm. specimen from St. Lucie Inlet, 

 Fla., distracts from it; but in that area the Gulf 

 Stream is moving close to the coast, and this 

 specimen could have been carried inshore by the 

 current. The small juveniles reported by Nichols 

 (1939: 6) from about 37°N., 69°W., were more 

 than 300 miles offshore in the Gulf Stream. The 

 several records of juvenile latus above 20 mm. 

 standard length for the northern Bahamas and 

 Atlantic coast of the United States, and the 



scarcity of records of capture of juveniles above 

 this size in offshore waters, indicates that the 

 species in this area adopts an inshore habitat at 

 about 20 mm. or slightly larger. I have examined 

 11 juveniles 20 to 38 mm. taken by the Oregon in 

 the Gulf of Mexico from 7 localities ranging from 

 about 47 to 65 miles offshore, and there are several 

 published records of larger juveniles and adults 

 being taken inshore from the Gulf. Unless the 

 habits and habitats differ greatly in the Gulf and 

 in the Atlantic Ocean, the evidence indicates that 

 the larvae and small juveniles are probably 

 associated with offshore currents, and when 

 about 16 to 20 mm. some, at least, migrate 

 inshore. 



The species occurs seasonally but not abun- 

 dantly on the Atlantic coast of the United States. 

 Presumably there is a migration southward or to 

 warmer offshore waters during the colder months. 

 Fowler (1905b: 258) listed the most northern in- 

 shore record for latus at Squan River, N. J. 

 Dr. J. E. Bohlke stated in a personal communica- 

 tion that Dr. Fowler had said this specimen came 

 from the mouth of the Manasquan River. 



