780 



Fishery Bulletin 88(4), 1990 



Figure 8 



Annual cycle of gonad-soniatic indices for butterfish Peprilti^ triaran- 

 thua collected in the New York Bight, June 1974-June 1975, including 

 monthly means, ranges, 95% confidence intervals, and number ex- 

 amined. In addition, percent ripe females pjer month is given on the 

 upper a.xis. 



Figure 9 



Annual cycle of gonad-somatic indices for northern searobin Pritimi- 

 tus carolinus collected in the New York Bight, June 1974-June 1975. 

 including monthly means, ranges, 95% confidence intervals, and 

 number examined. In addition, percent ripe females per month is 

 given on the upper axis. 



variable (Kendall and Mercer 1982). In this study 

 female and male black sea bass were in the range 

 173-452 and 178-556 mm, respectively. Bigelow and 

 Schroeder (1953) reported spawning from mid-May 

 through June off southern New England and New 

 Jersey. To date, black sea bass eggs have not been 

 reported from plankton collections. However, larvae 

 have been collected from Long Island, New York 

 waters from mid-May to June (Perlmutter 1939) and 

 from offshore New York Bight waters from June 

 through November (Kendall 1977). 



Black sea bass are common from Cape Cod, Massa- 

 chusetts to Florida (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928, 

 Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). In the Middle Atlantic, 

 they migrate northward and inshore in spring and off- 

 shore and southward in fall (Kendall and Mercer 1982). 

 Mean temperature and depth of occurrence in July, the 

 month of highest mean GSI, were among the warmest 

 and shallowest of the survey (Table 1). 



Butterfisli Peprilus triacanthus 



Highest mean GSI occurred in June 1974 and again in 

 May and June 1975, with ripe females, 124-242 mm, 

 being present throughout the survey area from May 

 through August (Fig. 8). The butterfish is a migratory 

 semi-pelagic species which ranges from Newfoundland, 

 Canada to Florida (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, Leim 

 and Scott 1966). Colton et al. (1979) reported butter- 

 fish spawning in the Middle Atlantic from May through 

 October with a peak in July or August. Smith et al. 

 (1980) collected eggs off North Carolina during spring 

 and larvae off New Jersey during early summer. 



Kawahara (1978) reported the spawning time of butter- 

 fish in the Middle Atlantic as April or May through 

 August. Butterfish were collected at a wide range of 

 temperatures and depths during the months of peak 

 GSI (Table 1). 



Northern searobin Prionotus carolinus 



Highest mean GSI was in July; however, ripe females, 

 143-341 mm, occurred from May through September 

 (Fig. 9). According to Richards et al. (1979), based on 

 data from the north shore of Long Island, New York, 

 GSI rose early in May, peaked in late May, and declined 

 gradually through June and July. Colton et al. (1979) 

 reported spawning from Block Island, Rhode Island 

 to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from May through 

 November. 



Eggs and larvae of Prionotus spp. are among the 

 dominant ichthyoplankton occurring in the Middle 

 Atlantic from New Jersey to Cape Hatteras, North 

 Carolina during June through October (Smith et al. 

 1980, Sherman et al. 1984). This survey demonstrated 

 that northern searobin favored warm shallow inshore 

 waters during peak spawning (Table 1); however, from 

 November through April they favored depths >50 m. 



Striped searobin Prionotus evolans 



Highest mean GSI occui'red during June and .luly 1974 

 and again in June 1975, with ripe females, 204-414 

 mm, present from May through August (Fig. 10). 

 Richards et al. (1979) determined spawning time for 

 striped searobin to be almost the same as northern 



