457 



Abstract — This study was designed to 

 improve our understanding of transi- 

 tions in the early life history and the 

 distribution, habitat use, and diets 

 for young-of-the-year (YOY) goose- 

 fish {Lophius americanus) and, as 

 a result, their role in northeastern 

 U.S. continental shelf ecosystems. 

 Pelagic juveniles (>12 to ca. 50 mm 

 total length [TL]) were distributed 

 over most portions of the continental 

 shelf in the Middle Atlantic Bight, 

 Georges Bank, and into the Gulf of 

 Maine. Most individuals settled by 

 50-85 mm TL and reached approxi- 

 mately 60-120 mm TL by one year 

 of age. Pelagic YOY fed on chaeto- 

 gnaths, hyperiid amphipods, calanoid 

 copepods, and ostracods, and benthic 

 YOY had a varied diet of fishes and 

 benthic crustaceans. Goosefish are 

 widely scattered on the continental 

 shelf in the Middle Atlantic Bight 

 during their early life history and 

 once settled, are habitat generalists, 

 and thus play a role in many conti- 

 nental shelf habitats. 



Transitions in the morphological features, 

 habitat use, and diet of young-of-the-year 

 goosefish (Lophius americanus) 



Kenneth W. Able (contact author)' 

 Peter J. Clarke' 

 R. Christopher Chambers^ 

 David A. Witting^ 



Email address for K. W, Able; able® manne.rutgers.edu 



' Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences 

 Manne Field Station 

 800 c/o 132 Great Bay Boulevard 

 Tucl<erton, New Jersey 08087-2004 



^ National Oceanic and Atmosphenc Administration (NOAA) 

 National Marine Fishenes Service 

 Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 

 James J Howard Marine Science Laboratory 

 74 Magruder Road, Highlands, New Jersey 07732 



3 NOAA/Montrose Settlements Restoration Program (MSRP) 

 501 West Ocean Blvd. Suite 4470 

 Long Beach, California 90802-4213 



Manuscript submitted 2 April 2004 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 14 March 2007 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull. 105:457-469 (2007). 



Our understanding of the life history 

 and ecology of the goosefish (Lophius 

 americanus) is incomplete. Much of 

 what we believe to be true is drawn 

 by analogy from European congeners 

 (Caruso, 2002). This lack of knowl- 

 edge is especially relevant given the 

 development of an important fishery 

 for goosefish since the 1980s (Caruso, 

 2002) and given the evidence that 

 goosefish were overexploited in the 

 1990s (Almeida et al., 1995). Goosefish 

 are found in the western North Atlan- 

 tic from the Grand Banks off New- 

 foundland to the east coast of Florida 

 (Wood, 1982; Caruso, 1983). Larval 

 development, from hatching to comple- 

 tion of fin rays (up to 12 mm total 

 length LTL]) has been described in 

 detail (Everly, 2002). Little is known 

 about pelagic and settled young-of- 

 the-year (YOY) life stages and thus 

 their role in continental shelf ecosys- 

 tems. The smallest benthic individu- 

 als reported by Caruso (2002) were 

 76-114 mm TL (?! = 3). 



Information on ages of YOY goose- 

 fish appears to be contradictory, but 

 does indicate that sizes attained by 

 the end of age 1 can be quite vari- 

 able. Size of YOY goosefish by their 



first fall has been variously report- 

 ed as 64-76 mm TL (Steimle et al., 

 1999) and as 59 mm TL (Scott and 

 Scott, 1988). However, larger sizes 

 have been reported by Armstrong et 

 al. (1992) for goosefish from southern 

 New England-Mid-Atlantic Bight (av- 

 erage of 123-126 mm TL at age 1 for 

 females and males) and by Hartley 

 (1995) for goosefish from the Gulf of 

 Maine (120-139 mm TL). Scott and 

 Scott (1988) reported fish of 100-114 

 mm TL to be 2 years of age. 



A portion of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) ground- 

 fish survey data and associated col- 

 lections along the northeast coast of 

 North America have been examined 

 to determine some aspects of the life 

 history and food habits for large juve- 

 niles and adult goosefish (Armstrong 

 et al., 1992, 1996; Almeida et al., 

 1995; Hartley, 1995; Martinez, 1999). 

 These studies focused on reproduc- 

 tion, age, and growth over short time 

 periods and relied on data collected 

 from geographically disparate sourc- 

 es. Recently, goosefish distribution 

 and abundance in relation to depth 

 and temperature were summarized 

 from a large portion of the NMFS 



