FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 76, NO. 1 



1966 aboard the RV Dolphin in continental shelf 

 waters, between Martha's Vineyard and Cape 

 Lookout, N.C. Four cruises were made between 

 May 1967 and February 1968 between New River 

 Inlet, N.C, and Palm Beach (Figure 1). Gulf V 

 samplers, with 0.4-m mouth and 0.52-mm mesh 

 openings, were used for plankton tows. The tows 

 were 0.5 h long at a speed of 9.3 km/h (5 knots) in a 

 step-oblique pattern. Normally the nets were low- 

 ered in six 3-m depth increments and towed for 5 

 min at each depth. One Gulf V net (net 1) sampled 

 from to 15 m, and a second net sampled from 18 to 

 33 m. While setting and retrieving net 2, contami- 

 nation above 15 m was inevitable, since the nets 

 were not equipped with closing devices. Plankton 

 samples were preserved in 5% Formalin^ buffered 

 with borax. Sampling time, whether day or night, 

 was essentially random, in that there was no 

 prearranged time schedule. At each station we 

 measured surface water temperature, made a 

 bathythermograph cast to a maximum depth of 

 275 m, and measured salinity with an in situ in- 

 duction salinometer at 5-m intervals down to in- 

 clude the plankton sampling depth. Additional de- 

 tails on the sampling scheme and gear used, as 

 well as temperatures, salinities, zooplankton vol- 

 umes, and midwater trawl catches, were sum- 

 marized by Clark et al. (1969, 1970). 



Identification of Eggs and Larvae 



Scomber scombrus eggs were identifiable using 

 criteria summarized by Berrien (1975). Briefly, 

 distinguishing features of this species' eggs are: 

 they are spherical and have a diameter of about 

 1.0 to 1.3 mm; they have a single yellowish oil 

 globule about 0.3 mm in diameter; and after blas- 

 topore closure, melanophores occur on the head, 

 trunk, and oil globule. Pigment is absent from the 

 yolk except just prior to hatching when one 

 melanophore occurs near each side of the embryo, 

 immediately posterior to the head. 



Despite a lack of information on S. japonicus 



'Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



Figure l. — Ichthyoplankton survey area; transects designated 

 by single letters were sampled eight times, December 1965 to 

 December 1966; those with two letters were sampled four times. 

 May 1967 to February 1968. Stations starting at 1 on the inshore 

 end of each transect were numbered consecutively, progressing 

 ocean ward. 



nOO 



*<" 



A MARTHA'S VINEYARD 

 i MONT AUK POINT 



■,■■••- C FIRE ISLAND 

  • 'D BARNEGAT INLET 



  • • • E GREAT EGG INLET 

 ;v 

 S 



. . <-■ F CAPE HENLOPEN 

 . . .: G ASSATEAGUE ISLAND 



.  H PARRAMORE ISLAND 

 . J CAPE HENRY 



. K CURRITUCK BEACH 



. L OREGON INLET 



. M CAPE HATTERAS 

  • . N OCRACOKE INLET 



. P CAPE LOOKOUT 



., AA NEWRIVK INLET 



CAPE FEAR 



• CC MYRTLE BEACH 

 . DD GEORGETOWN 



\ 



7(f 



zi 



\ 



 EE CHARLESTON 



FF SAVANNAH 



GG BRUNSWICK 



• HH JACKSONVILLE 

 .-,JJ MATANSAS INLET 



..KK PONCE DE LEON INLET 



. LL CAPE CANAVERAL 

 MM VERO BEACH 



. NN ST. LUCIE INLET 

 PP PALM BEACH 



\ 



A, 



3(f 



2^ 



80° 



In 



96 



