Spanish mackerel were more abundant than those 

 of king mackerel, and spawning of this latter species 

 probably occurs over shallower depths than in the 

 northwestern GOMEX (Shaw et al. 1987). Only six 

 larvae of king mackerel were collected by Houde et 

 al. (1979), suggesting that this species does not use 

 the northeastern GOMEX as a major spawning area. 

 Larvae of cero, 5. regalis, have not been reported 

 from the study area. Larvae of sciaenids and en- 

 graulids occurred primarily within the 50 m depth 

 contour, with several species of sciaenids primarily 

 collected inside the 25 m contour (Table 2). Both 

 sciaenids and engraulids are relatively more abun- 

 dant in the north-central and northwestern than in 

 the northeastern GOMEX (Finucane et al. 1977, 

 1979b; Houde et al. 1979; Richards et al. 1984; 

 Kelley et al. 1986) (Table 4). Most larvae of clupeids 

 occur in shelf waters of <50 m depth, except those 

 of round herring, Etrumeus teres, which primarily 

 occur beyond the 50 m contour (Table 2). Larvae of 

 gulf menhaden are more abundant in the north- 

 central than either the northeastern or northwest- 

 ern GOMEX and occur primarily around the 

 Mississippi River Delta (Fore 1970; Christmas and 

 Waller 1975; Sogard et al. 1987; and others). Scaled 

 sardine and Atlantic thread herring larvae are 

 abundant in all three subregions of the northern 

 GOMEX; Spanish sardine are rare in the north- 

 central but relatively abundant in the northeastern 

 and northwestern GOMEX (Shaw and Drullinger 

 1985, 1986; Shaw et al. 1987). Larvae of gulf butter- 



Table 4— Comparison of 10 most abundant families of larval fishes 

 collected during major ichthyoplankton surveys of thie Gulf of Mex- 

 ico. Rank is based on number of individuals collected. Numbers 

 are % of total collection. 



fish, Peprilus burti, and harvestfish, P. paru, 

 are most common in the north-central GOMEX 

 (SE AMAP 1983), with only a few of their larvae (8 

 and 25, respectively) having been collected by Houde 

 et al. (1979) in the northeastern GOMEX. Although 

 gulf butterfish larvae have been collected during 

 every month (Table 1), larvae are most common 

 from November to March with very limited spawn- 

 ing during the summer (Ditty 1981; SE AMAP 1983). 

 Houde et al. (1979) also collected >90% of both 

 sparid and haemulid larvae inside the 50 m contour 

 during their Florida continental shelf survey and 

 found that although lutjanids occurred at all depths, 

 they were most abundant from 30 to 100 m. Unlike 

 larvae of other speciose families which primarily oc- 

 curred either within (e.g., clupeids, engraulids, and 

 sciaenids) or beyond (e.g., scombrids) the 50 m depth 

 contour, those of bothids, carangids, and serranids 

 were widely distributed and occurred at all depths. 

 Larvae of swordfish, Xiphias gladius, and sailfish, 

 Istiophorus sp., are oceanic and occurred primarily 

 outside the 200 m depth contour; leptocephali of 

 tarpon, Megalops atlanticus, and bonefish, Albula 

 vulpes, were seldom collected in the study area. Of 

 those taxa whose larvae were most abundant within 

 the 25 m contour (Table 2), several were most com- 

 monly collected at considerably shallower depths 

 (e.g., pigfish, Orthopristis chrysoptera <20 m; black 

 drum <18 m; and spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebu- 

 losus <15 m). Larvae of other taxa which occurred 

 primarily within the 25 m contour includes leather- 

 jacket, Oligoplites saurus (<20 m; Houde et al. 

 1979); kingfish, Menticirrhus spp. (<20 m; Walker 

 1978; Houde et al. 1979; Cowan 1985); and spottail 

 pinfish, Diplodus holbrooki (<15 m; Houde et al. 

 1979). Larvae of hogchoker, Trinectes maculatus, 

 and silver perch, Bairdiella chrysoura, were occa- 

 sionally collected in neritic offshore studies, but 

 were most abundant in pass/estuarine studies (e.g., 

 Sabins 1973; Allshouse 1983). 



In conclusion, these data represent the current 

 knowledge of the seasonality, peak occurrence, and 

 primary depth distribution of larval fishes in the 

 northern (rOMEX. This information provides a foun- 

 dation upon which sound management decisions con- 

 cerning both the commercial and recreational ex- 

 ploitation of spawning aggregations of fishes and 

 the potentially adverse impact on these fisheries 

 resulting from such exploitation can be based. 



Acknowledgments 



We would like to thank the Louisiana Department 



819 



