Wilk et at - GSI annual cycles as indicators of finfish spawning in the New York Bight 



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Str/ped Searobin 



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M A M J 

 1975 



Ffgure 10 



Annual cycle of gonad-somatic indices for striped searobin Prionotus 

 evolans collected in the New York Bight, June 1974-June 1975, in- 

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

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

 given on the upper axis. 



% RIPE 



Summer Flounder 



J J A S O N D 

 1974 



J F M A M J 

 1975 



Figure 1 1 



Annual cycle of gonad-somatic indices for summer flounder Para- 

 lichthys dentatus 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. 



searobin. Perlmutter (1939) collected larvae off Long 

 Island, New York between May and June; and Herman 

 (1963) reported spawning from June through August 

 off Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. 



This study indicated temperature preferences dur- 

 ing spawning were somewhat cooler than those of the 

 northern searobin, while depths were similar (Table 1). 

 However, throughout the remainder of the year, 

 striped searobin were collected in comparatively 

 warmer and shallower waters than northern searobin. 



Summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus 



Ripe females, 309-716 mm, were collected from Sep- 

 tember through November, and sporadically from 

 February to June (Fig. 11). Although there were 

 several slight peaks in GSI during the spawning season, 

 these probably resulted more from individual sample 

 variability than actual peaks in spawning activity (Fig. 

 11). Morse (1981), using additional maturity data from 

 the New York Bight, reported spawning from Septem- 

 ber through March with a peak in October. Smith (1973) 

 reported that eggs and larvae began to appear in 

 September off Long Island, New York and southern 

 New England, and occurred farther southward as fall 

 progressed. After December, recently hatched larvae 

 were common only south of Chesapeake Bay (Smith 

 1973). 



Summer flounder range between Nova Scotia, 

 Canada and Florida with their center of abundance 

 lying in the Middle Atlantic region (Leim and Scott 



1966, Gutherz 1967, Wilk et al. 1980). They migrate 

 to shallow coastal waters and bays in summer, then 

 offshore in fall (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). At the 

 GSI peak in October, developing females were collected 

 in relatively warm shelf waters (Table 1). Depths of col- 

 lection for summer flounder varied during the year, 

 from a mean of 11 m in July to 92 m in April, reflect- 

 ing their seasonal migration pattern. 



Fourspot flounder Paralichthys oblongus 



Mean GSI were highest in June and July 1974 and 

 again in June 1975, with ripe females, 153-419 mm, 

 present from April through September (Fig. 12). Smith 

 et al. (1975) found small larvae off North Carolina and 

 Chesapeake Bay in May and June, and off New Jersey 

 and New York in July and August. 



Fourspot flounder are widely distributed on the con- 

 tinental shelf between Georges Bank and Cape Hat- 

 teras, North Carolina (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, 

 Gutherz 1967). In the New York Bight, they inhabit 

 the entire shelf, with deepest occurrences during 

 winter (Ralph 1982). Collections from this survey in- 

 dicate they were deepest during February and March, 

 averaging 90 and 92 m, respectively, moving somewhat 

 inshore during the rest of the year, but always at 

 depths averaging >40 m. They were collected over a 

 wide range of depths and temperatures during the June 

 spawning peak (Table 1). Smith et al. (1975) collected 

 larvae between 6 and 9°C at depths of 35-80 m. 



