NELSON ETAL.: LARVALTRANSPORTOFB/?£VOO/?77A TYRANNHS 



". . . (only 11 specimens containing numerous ripe 

 ova were encountered in the routine field 

 examination of several hundred thousand fish 

 during 4 years of sampling), . . . ." Based on a 

 sample of approximately 37,000 female menhaden 

 from all Atlantic coast fishing areas, they con- 

 cluded, p. 270, "Spawning apparently occurred in 

 the North Atlantic Area [north of Long Island] 

 from May to September; in the Middle Atlantic 

 [south to Cape Hatteras], from March through 

 May and again in September and October; and in 

 the South Atlantic [south of Cape Hatteras] , from 

 October through March." Based on the percent- 

 ages of sexually active (ripening but not ripe) 

 females in their samples, it appears that a major- 

 ity of spawning activities take place in the South 

 Atlantic Bight. The spawning cycle appears to be 

 one of limited spawning during a spring north- 

 ward migration, limited early and late summer 

 spawning as far north as Cape Cod and occasion- 

 ally into the Gulf of Maine, increased spawning 

 activity during a southward fall migration, and 

 intensive (90-100% sexually active) winter 

 spawning in the South Atlantic Bight. 



Spawning activities through the winter are 

 difficult to determine because the stocks move 

 offshore and there is no fishery for menhaden 

 during that period. This is the only time during 

 the year that menhaden schools are not available 

 in coastal waters, and that fact leads to specula- 

 tion about an offshore spawning migration. 



Available information about the distribution of 

 menhaden eggs and larvae has been reviewed by 

 Kendall and Reintjes (1975) and Chapoton. 5 In- 

 ferences regarding spawning activities have been 

 drawn from various surveys of restricted time and 

 coverage which have been conducted on the east 

 coast since 1937 (Permutter 1939), primarily in 

 sounds, bays, and creeks. Only two egg and larval 

 research efforts have provided large-scale sys- 

 tematic coverage of major menhaden spawning 

 areas on the Atlantic coast. Those are the cruises 

 of the MV Theodore N. Gill (Reintjes 1961) and the 

 RV Dolphin (Kendall and Reintjes 1975). The 

 distribution of larvae collected by the Dolphin 

 cruises is in general agreement with the spawning 

 cycle documented by Higham and Nicholson 

 (1964). RV Dolphin cruises covered the entire 

 continental shelf from Cape Lookout, N.C., to 



5 Chapoton, R. B. 1972. On the distribution of Atlantic menha- 

 den eggs, larvae, and adults. Unpubl. manuscr., 69 p. Atlantic 

 Estuarine Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 NOAA, Beaufort, NC 28516. 



Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in 14 transects from 

 December 1965 to May 1966. 



The southern part of the menhaden spawning 

 range was covered by cruises of the Theodore N. 

 Gill in 1953 and 1954 (Reintjes 1961). The absence 

 of menhaden larvae during all but the winter 

 cruises led Reintjes to conclude that menhaden 

 spawn along the south Atlantic coast generally 

 from December to February. The southern limit of 

 the spawning range of the Atlantic menhaden is 

 undetermined because a southerly species, the 

 yellowfin menhaden, Brevoortia smithi, has an 

 overlapping spawning range. Those larvae col- 

 lected by the Theodore N. Gill off southern Florida 

 were probably B. smithi and those collected off 

 Cape Lookout, the other area of larval concentra- 

 tion located by the Theodore N. Gill, were un- 

 doubtedly B. tyrannus. Based on the distribution 

 of juveniles and adults, it seems safe to assume 

 that Atlantic menhaden spawn as far south as 

 northern Florida, but at a low intensity in the ex- 

 treme southern part of their range. Reintjes 

 (1969) hypothesized that much of the spawning 

 takes place south of Cape Hatteras. 



Atlantic menhaden appear to spawn over most 

 of the continental shelf. The general timing se- 

 quence and location of spawning during migra- 

 tions indicates that eggs and larvae are subjected 

 to an open ocean environment for a sufficient 

 length of time to be affected by oceanic conditions. 

 Both the Dolphin and Theodore N. Gill cruises 

 resulted in catches of small larvae from nearshore 

 to the edge of the shelf. Dolphin records show a 

 general increase in average size of larvae from 

 offshore to inshore stations as well as increased 

 distance offshore from north to south. Major sum- 

 mer spawning in the New York-New England 

 area appears to occur well inshore, and large 

 numbers of eggs and larvae have been taken in 

 bays and sounds from Long Island north. Matth- 

 iessen (1974) reported concentrations of eggs that 

 exceeded 20,000/100 m 3 in June 1972 in Nar- 

 ragansett Bay, R.I., and computed the total pro- 

 duction of eggs in the Bay during the summer of 

 1973 as being in excess of 4.64xlO n . 



Concentrations of eggs and small larvae are 

 found progressively nearer the offshore edge of the 

 shelf during the fall and winter southward migra- 

 tion. Massmann et al. (1962) found larvae as small 

 as 7 mm 79 km off Chesapeake Bay, and concluded 

 that spawning and hatching occurred more than 

 that distance offshore. Reintjes (1968) reported an 

 extensive patch of menhaden eggs in Onslow Bay, 



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