Warlen et al.: Recruitment of larval Brevooitia tyiannus to North Carolina and New Jersey estuaries 



613 



24 



20 



— 16 



2 12 



8 



4 





 -2 



24 



20 



16 



12 



8 



4 





 -2 



1989-90 



NOV ' DEC ' JAN ' FEB ' MAR ' APR ' MAY 



NOV ' DEC 



JAN FEB MAR ' APR ' MAY 



NOV 



DEC ' JAN ' FEB ' MAR ' APR ' MAY ' 



Collection date 



Figure 3 



Surface water temperature at Pivers Island, North Carolina, 

 and Little Sheepshead Creek, New Jersey, during collections in 

 1989-90, 1990-91, and 1992-93. 



over all collections was a measure of the total abundance 

 during a year. The total yearly densities (larvae/100 m') 

 for North Carolina were 173 (1989-90), 128 (1990-91), 

 and 286 ( 1992-93) and for New Jersey were 5.5 ( 1989-90), 

 8.4 ( 1990-91 ). and 7.3 ( 1992-93). Although there appeared 

 to be generally large differences in overall abundance 

 between the two areas, we could not determine how much 

 of the 15-39x difference was due to the geographic loca- 

 tion, the catch efficiency of the two types of gear, or to dif- 

 ferences in sampling effort. Nightly mean densities were 

 always low in New Jersey and, with one exception (20 



October 1992), never exceeded 2.0 larvae/100 m^, whereas 

 in North Carolina nightly catches could exceed 40 larvae/ 

 100 m' every season (Fig. 2). 



There were apparent differences in the timing of larval 

 Atlantic menhaden entering estuaries in North Carolina 

 and New Jersey (Fig. 2). Larval recruitment in New Jer- 

 sey, which extended over a longer period (8-9 months) 

 than that in North Carolina (5-6 months), began in Octo- 

 ber and ended in June (Fig. 2). Recruitment in New Jersey 

 was discontinuous and was punctuated by periods of no 

 catch, usually in late fall to early spring. The absences of 



