438 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



and its juvenile blotches persist to a little over 

 95 mm. 



(6) The opercular spot of hippos is much more 

 prominent and is definitive at a smaller body size 

 than is that of crysos. The opercular spot of 

 lotus is less prominent than in both of the pre- 

 ceding species. C. ruber and bartholomaei lack an 

 opercular spot. 



(7) C. dentex may be distinguishable from other 

 species by a dark-tipped upper caudal lobe at 

 certain sizes. 



(8) C. lugubris seems distinguishable from the 

 other species, at least above 240 mm., by a sooty 

 black or brownish body color. 



DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN ATLANTIC SPECIES 

 OF CARANX 



General Distribution 



crysos: Western Atlantic — Cananeia, Sao Paulo, Brazil 

 (Carvalho 1941 : 53) to Herring Cove, Nova Scotia (Vlady- 

 kov 1935: 4). ?Eastern Atlantic. ? Mediterranean. 



ruber: Western Atlantic — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Fowler 

 1940: 766, as Caranx crysos, locality questioned), Union 

 Island, British West Indies (Beebe and Hollister, 1935: 

 214), and Caledonia Bay, Panama (Breder 1925: 153) to 

 Cape Hatteras, N. C. (text, p. 468; USNM 53109), and 

 39°13' N., 71°13' W. (Mather 1954: 293). 



bartholomaei: Western Atlantic — Maceio, Brazil (Gilbert 

 1900: 167) to Woods Hole, Mass. (Smith 1898: 98). 



lalus: Western Atlantic — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Castel- 

 nau 1855) to Squan River (Manasquan River), N. J. 

 (Fowler 1905b: 258). 



hippos: Western Atlantic — 35°30' W. off Uruguay 

 (Pozzi and Bordale, 1935: 164) to Musquodoboit Harbor, 

 Nova Scotia (Vladykov 1935: 4). Eastern Atlantic. 

 Eastern and Western Pacific. Indian Ocean. 



dentex: Western Atlantic — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Cuvier, 

 in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1833: 87) to Bermuda (Bean 

 1906: 47); not on United States coast. Eastern Atlantic. 

 Eastern and Western Pacific. Indian Ocean. 



lugubris: Western Atlantic — Santos, Brazil (Miranda 

 Ribeiro 1918: 52) to Bermuda (Woods and Kanazawa, 

 1951: 631) ; not on United States coast. Eastern Atlantic. 

 Eastern and Western Pacific. Indian Ocean. 



Distribution off Southeastern Atlantic Coast of the 

 United States 



Early juveniles of crysos, ruber, and bartholomaei 

 have pelagic offshore habitats, probably directly 

 associated with the Gulf Stream. As late juveniles, 

 at least part of the populations of crysos and bar- 

 tholomaei move into inshore waters — crysos is the 

 most common Caranx in inshore waters along the 

 Atlantic coast. Juveniles and adults of ruber 

 maintain a pelagic offshore habitat, and the rare 

 inshore records probably represent stray speci- 



mens. Larvae and early juveniles of latus and 

 hippos apparently have an initial pelagic offshore 

 habitat, but at least some of the early and older 

 juveniles and the adults of these two species occur 

 in inshore and even brackish-water habitats — 

 hippos is the second most common Caranx in in- 

 shore waters along the Atlantic coast. There are 

 no reliable records of dentex and lugubris from in- 

 shore waters along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of 

 the United States, but both might be expected as 

 strays. Records of dentex and lugubris denote them 

 to be offshore, or at least insular species. 



The occurrence of young of the five common 

 species in this area is seasonal, and the larvae of 

 all species and the juveniles of at least crysos, 

 ruber, and bartholomaei probably comprise popu- 

 lations which move northward in the Gulf Stream 

 each year from about March to December. Some 

 of the annual recruitment of these populations 

 may result from spawning within this area, but 

 the major recruitment to each probably comes from 

 more southern waters that contribute to the Gulf 

 Stream off the southeastern United States (around 

 southern Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas and 

 from the eastern Gulf and the northern Carib- 

 bean). Larval and juvenile crysos and juvenile. 

 ruber are most abundant in this part of the Stream 

 from June through August. 



The factors that promote an association of 

 larvae and juveniles of Caranx species with the 

 offshore waters of the Gulf Stream are unknown. 

 The relation of their food habits to organisms that 

 might be associated with these waters and a 

 tropism to the currents may be involved, and there 

 are indications that temperature and salinity may 

 be influencing factors. Larvae and juveniles were 

 collected at Gill stations where surface temper- 

 atures ranged from 20.4° to 29.4° C. and surface 

 salinity values ranged from 35.2 to 36.7 parts per 

 thousand; however, at two-thirds of the stations 

 where they were taken, the temperature range was 

 only 27.4° to 29.4° C. and the salinity range 36.0 

 to 36.3 parts per thousand. Generally, the Gill 

 stations closest to inshore waters at which Caranx 

 specimens were taken had higher temperature 

 and/or salinity values than successive stations 

 closer to shore where Caranx were not taken. The 

 minimum temperature and salinity values of these 

 stations closest to inshore waters at which Caranx 

 species were taken varied with each cruise, 

 however. 



