FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 82, NO. 4 



have been presented by Mendoza (1968), Marquez 

 (1973), and Berrien and Finan (1977b). There is 

 also a useful annotated bibliography by Manooch 

 et al. (1978). The Spanish mackerel is clearly a 

 migratory species that moves north from Florida 

 along the Atlantic coast of the United States and 

 north and west along the coast of the Gulf of 

 Mexico in the spring and returns in the fall, but 

 the details of the migration are not completely 

 known. There are large concentrations in the 

 winter in Florida and the Florida Keys (Beau- 

 mariage 1970) which move north to reach Charles- 

 ton, S.C., in late March, North Carolina in April, 

 Chesapeake Bay in May, and Sandy Hook, N.J., 

 to Narragansett Bay, R.I., by late July (Earll 

 1883; Beaumariage 1970). Schools also move north 

 along the Gulf coast of Florida in the spring (Moe 

 1972), and west across the northern Gulf from 

 Panama City, Fla., to Mobile, Ala. (Sutherland 

 and Fable 1980), and possibly on into Texas reach- 

 ing Galveston in early March and Port Aransas in 

 late March (Baughman 1941). There is also north- 

 south migration along the Mexican coast, from 

 south to north in March- April, north to south in 

 August-November (Mendoza 1968). Tag returns 



support the Panama City to Mobile and Port 

 Aransas to Veracruz migrations (Sutherland and 

 Fable 1980). Spawning takes place in New York- 

 New Jersey late August-late September, in Chesa- 

 peake Bay mid-June to the end of summer, and in 

 the Carolinas starting in April (Earll 1883). Ripe 

 females were found in Florida from July to Sep- 

 tember by Klima (1959) and from April to Septem- 

 ber by Powell (1975). Powell felt that individuals 

 spawned repeatedly in a prolonged spawning 

 season in Florida. Spanish mackerel spawn from 

 May to September in waters < 50 m over the inner 

 continental shelf of Texas (McEachran et al. 1980). 

 Spawning in Veracruz takes place in July-Sep- 

 tember (Mendoza 1968). Early studies on develop- 

 ing eggs and larvae (to 6 d old) were carried out by 

 Ryder (1882) in North Carolina. Larvae have been 

 described from North Carolina (14-20 mm, Hilde- 

 brand and Cable 1938; some misidentified, see 

 Wollam 1970), the west coast of Florida (3.1-35.0 

 mm, June-September, Wollam 1970), the north- 

 eastern Gulf of Mexico (2.8-42.2 mm SL, June- 

 September, Dwinell and Futch 1973), and Texas 

 (1.8-11.5 mm SL, May-September, McEachran et 

 al. 1980). Most were taken over the middle and 



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