YELLOWTAIL FLOUNDER OFF NEW ENGLAND 



175 



Figure 2. — Yellowtail flounder fishing areas and catch during 1947. Solid dots indicate 1 million pounds taken ; partial 



dots represent fractions of 1 million pounds. 



flounder which, like others of the group, adjusts 

 its color quickly to the bottom type. Character- 

 istically, on most grounds where it is taken, the 

 yellowtail is speckled with rusty red spots from 

 y 2 to 1 centimeter in diameter; hence, its other 

 common name, rusty dab. 



With a preference for coarse, reddish sand in 15 

 to 35 fathoms of water, the yellowtail of com- 

 mercial size on many of the grounds are sur- 

 rounded by water depths and bottom types that 

 may be a deterrent if not a bar to migration. The 

 Fundian Channel, more than 100 fathoms deep, 

 separates the Georges and Nova Scotian Banks; 

 the South Channel with a minimum, central depth 

 of 36 fathoms separates Georges Bank from the 

 Nantucket Shoals region and only a narrow and 

 tenuous strip of between 15 and 35 fathoms exists 

 around Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals. Thus 



it would appear that movement of yellowtail pop- 

 ulations among these areas may be sparse or 

 lacking. 



MIGRATIONS 



The yellowtail in northwest Atlantic waters 

 has been described as a single species with a range 

 from Labrador to Virginia. While morphologi- 

 cal differences between populations of the yellow- 

 tail may exist, 1 we believe that they are slight in 

 the fishing areas from Maine to New Jersey. 

 Therefore, we have not attempted to show morpho- 

 logical differences, but we have relied on tagging 

 to indicate the extent of intermingling and the 

 heterogeneity of the populations. 



•Scott (1954) has demonstrated differences In the relative size 

 of the head, right pectoral fin, left otolith, and dorsal and anal 

 fin-ray numbers between Nova Scotian and Cape Cod yellowtail. 



