FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 82. NO. 2 



Fall-spawned L. fasciatus gradually disperse 

 toward deeper water in late spring or summer. The 

 distribution of young-of-the-year in May- July was 

 similar to that in November- April (Fig. IOC). Fish 

 approaching age I showed a clear offshore shift in 

 distribution by August-October when abundance 

 greatly declined at 5-13 m, became highest at 

 16-22 m, and was as high at 24-27 m as at 5-13 m 

 (Fig. 10D). Fish approaching age I became distrib- 

 uted to 36 m, a depth they previously did not oc- 

 cupy, in August-October. 



Larger L. fasciatus lead the offshore dispersal 

 as they approach age I. Size compositions of the 

 young-of-the-year were uniform with depth in 

 November-April (Fig. 10A, B). They became 

 skewed toward the right in May-July and show a 

 gradient of increasing size with depth in August- 

 October which suggests larger, presumably older, 

 fish move offshore first. 



Adult fall-spawned L. fasciatus in the north- 

 western Gulf occupy the 13-24 m bathymetric 

 range from November through April while 



A. NOVEMBER-JANUARY 



15r 



10 



5 

 



o 



Z 

 LU 



D 



O 15 

 LU 



CC 10 - 

 LL 



5 

 



5r 

 



•0 



C/f =5 6 



vv 



9M 

 n 171 



I C/f<0 1 



C/f 1 6 



1 



/ VVV 



' I 



■4-^ 



~i  — 



13M 



n 53 



■I— I C/f = 0.2 



C/f = 1 8 



t 



16M 

 n 282 



A~t ^ 



C/! = 3 



-*A 



22M 

 n 33 



C/f 1 



24M 

 n 19 



40 



— i — 

 80 



120 



160 



200 



5r 



B.FEBRUARY-APRIL 



C/f =92.5 



55M 

 n 1 



-I — 

 40 



TOTAL LENGTH (mm) 



I c *<o 1 



— i 



80 



120 



~n — 

 160 



200 



FIGURE 10. — Length frequencies and catch per effort (mean number of individuals per 10 min tow) by depth for Larimus fasciatus off 

 Freeport, Tex.: A) November-January, B) February-April, C ) May-July, and D) August-October. Data in each panel were pooled over the 



352 



