YOUNG JACK CREVALLES 



519 



small carangids (Trachinotus and Oligoplites) down 

 to 10 mm. standard length were frequently seined. 



7. Thirty-two early juveniles (24 to 39 mm.) 

 were taken from about 52 to 66 miles offshore 

 east to south-southeast of South Pass, La., in 

 1955 and 1956 at 10 collecting stations of the 

 M/V Oregon. Ten of these were taken witli four 

 of the smaller specimens (18 to 21 mm.) previously 

 described. 



8. There are many records of capture of larger 

 juvenile hippos from inshore waters along the At- 

 lantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. A 

 21.0-mm. specimen from St. Simons Island, Ga., 

 a 22.0-mm. specimen from Magnolia Beach, S. C., 

 and a 22.5-mm. specimen from Plantation Key, 

 Fla., are the smallest juveniles from inshore waters 

 that I have examined. Smith (1898: 98) recorded 

 young an inch long from Woods Hole, Mass., 

 about July 1 (1 inch total length converts to about 

 21.5 mm. standard length; but, since Smith's 

 measurements apparently were not critical, the 

 young he reported may have been more than 21.5 



mm.). Juvenile specimens about 39 to 41 mm. 

 (converted) were reported by Vladykov (1935: 4) 

 from Musquodoboit Harbor, Nova Scotia, in 

 summer (the most northern record for the genus in 

 the Western Atlantic). 



9. The distribution records of juvenile and adult 

 hippos in the Western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, 

 and Caribbean point to a habitat association with 

 continental waters or larger islands. While com- 

 monly reported from the eastern coasts of North, 

 Central, and South America and from the Greater 

 Antilles, the only records from the Bahamas are 

 from the analysis of the stomach contents of two 

 large fish and a report by Nichols (1921a: 22) from 

 Turk Island. 



There is a possible association between an ex- 

 pected movement of early juveniles to inshore 

 waters and the loss or absorption of the preoper- 

 cular spines. Specimens as large as 20.8 mm., 

 21.8 mm., and 22.1 mm. standard length taken 

 from offshore waters still possessed small pre- 

 opercular spines, while the smallest specimens 



160 



140 



120 



100 



<5 



80 



a 



ac 60 



< 

 o 



z 



CO 40 



20 - 



• hippos 



* latus and /or hippos 



J J 



MONTHS 



Figure 96.— Caranx hippos and Caranx sp. ("latus and/or hippos"): Size distribution, by months, of specimens taken 



off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States. 



