Steves et al.: Settlement and nursery habitats for demersal fishes 



175 



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Figure 3 



Weighted mean (A) depth, (B) saHnity, and (C) temperature (±1 SDl for all species of 

 age-0 fishes. Species are ordered on the v-axis of each plot by their mean depth. See 

 Table 3 for definitions of species codes (at bottom). 



warming trend, temperatures decreased by about 

 1°C per month until they reached their minimum in 

 April. Late winter bottom temperatures in 1997 were 

 not as cold as midshelf temperatures during summer 

 1996. 



Salinity was a more conservative hydrographic 

 variable than temperature. Variation in seasonal 

 bottom salinity was slight; all cruises had a salinity 

 range of approximately 31-35.5 psu. Bottom salin- 

 ities were lowest inshore near inlets (station 1) 

 and the Hudson River (station 15). The correlation 

 between bottom salinity and bottom depth was high 

 (r=0.87). Higher bottom salinities (>34 psu) off- 

 shore showed some fluctuation in their distribution 

 on the outer shelf associated with similar fluctua- 



tions in warmer bottom temperatures. These warm, 

 high-salinity bottom waters are representative of 

 slope water intrusions (Churchill, 1985; Flagg et al., 

 1995). 



The total catch of benthic organisms from the trawl 

 varied greatly between stations, but there were gen- 

 erally three major groups or types of trawl samples. 

 Groups were delineated to some extent by the depth 

 at which they were collected. Inner-shelf stations 

 (<40 m) typically included such organisms as the 

 common sea star iAsterias forbesi) and fig sponge 

 {Suberitesficus). Gammarid amphipods, sand shrimp 

 (Crangon septemspinosa), and northern moon snail 

 iEuspira heros) constituted much of the rest of the 

 nonfish fauna collected there. Sand dollar (Echina- 



