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Fishery Bulletin 98(1) 



cies collected at near-settlement sizes on the shelf 

 (Table 3). Two species represented 88.9% of the age-0 

 fishes collected: yellowtail flounder {Pleuronectes fer- 

 rugineus, 67.8%) and silver hake (Merluccius bilin- 

 earis, 21.1%). Overall, densities of these dominant 

 species on the shelf during peak settlement averaged 

 55.7 and 26.23 per 1000 m-, respectively (Table 4), 

 although maximum densities of 771.4 and 660.9 per 

 1000 m''^, respectively, occurred during peak settle- 

 ment in individual tows. In addition to age-0 juveniles, 

 both larval (ri=267, <2'/, total), and adult («=2765, 



13.0% total) fishes were captured with the trawl. Of 

 the 25 species collected at or near-settlement size, 11 

 included individuals smaller than predicted settle- 

 ment size, based on published maximum lai-val size 

 (Fahay, 1983). 



Most ( 94% ) age-0 fishes were collected in the summer 

 and fall (Table 4). P. ferrugineus and M. bilinearis, the 

 two dominant species, settled almost exclusively during 

 summer and fall, respectively (Fig. 2). However, if 

 species richness is considered rather than species 

 abundance, summer and fall are still the primary 



