Table 3.— Location and sampling characteristics for northern Gulf of Mexico (GOMEX) ichthyoplankton studies. For months sampled: 

 Q = quarterly, M = monthly, S = synoptic, B = biweekly. Numbers in columns with asterisk (*) refer to footnotes. Numbers separated 

 by semicolons refer to specific gear types. 



'60 cm bongo. 



21 m met. 



^1 X 2 m neuston. 



■»0.5 m net. 



=1 X 0.5 net. 



«2 X 0.5 m. 



'Gulf-V sampler 

 BRenfro beam trawl. 

 sMultiyear. 



'015 months. 



"12 months. 



'214 months. 



'^Oblique. 



'••Surface. 



'^Subsurface. 



'^Middepth. 



"Bottom, 



'^Stepwise oblique 



"Horizontal 



2ooblique at select depth intervals. 



2'Surf zone. 



rhomboides), black drum, red drum, and gulf men- 

 haden. 



The seasonal occurrence of several taxa are known 

 only from a few scattered specimens (e.g., cornet- 

 fish, Fistularia sp.; ribbonfish, Trachipterus sp.; 

 cowfish, Lactophrys sp.; slender mola, Ranzania 

 laevis; threadfish, Polydactylus sp.; and cobia, 

 Rachycentron canadum) or a single monthly record 

 (Table 1). Larvae of other taxa (e.g., searobins, Pri- 

 onotus spp.; anchovies, Anchoa spp.; tonguefishes, 

 Symphums spp.; and puff erf ishes, Sphoeroides spp.) 



were collected during all months (Table 1), reflect- 

 ing the many species that comprise each genus. In 

 general, larvae of most scombrids were collected 

 beyond the 50 m depth contour, except Spanish 

 mackerel, Seomberomorus maculatus, which oc- 

 curred primarily within 50 m. Finucane et al. (1979b) 

 collected 50% of their king mackerel, 5. cavalla, lar- 

 vae off Texas during September and found this 

 species relatively more abundant and over greater 

 water depths (35-183 m) than Spanish mackerel 

 (<35 m). In the north-central GOMEX, larvae of 



818 



