FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL 79, NO. 4 



history and population dynamics at Cape Hat- 

 teras. This phenomenon needs to be considered in 

 management; because given rates of fishing, for 

 example, would more strongly affect stocks north 

 of Cape Hatteras. 



In contrast to the zoogeographic differences 

 within C. regalis, the life history and population 

 dynamics of C. arenarius appear similar to C. re- 

 galis south of Cape Hatteras. Reproduction is 

 similar in age at maturation, age at first spawn- 

 ing, and the spawning period. The bimodal spawn- 

 ing periodicity in C. arenarius differs, at first 

 glance, from that of C. regalis south of Cape Hat- 

 teras, but this has been recognized only recently 

 for C. arenarius and may exist in southern C. re- 

 galis (Merriner 1976). Differences in typical 

 maximum sizes and ages are small, if real, and 

 this suggests mortality rates more similar than 

 present data indicate. The similarity of the life 

 history and population dynamics ofC. arenarius to 

 that of C. regalis south of Cape Hatteras is consis- 

 tent with Weinstein and Yerger's (1976) sugges- 

 tion that they may be one species. 



Finally, the population dynamics of C. 

 arenarius, including its short lifespan, high mor- 

 tality rate, and rapid turnover of biomass, are 

 similar to those of C. nothus (DeVries and Chit- 

 tenden footnote 6) and Atlantic croaker of the 

 Carolinean Province (White and Chittenden 1977; 

 Chittenden 1977). This supports the suggestion 

 (Chittenden and McEachran 1976; Chittenden 

 1977) that the abundant species of the white and 

 brown shrimp communities in the gulf have 

 evolved towards a common pattern of population 

 dynamics. Moreover, Chittenden's (1977) simula- 

 tions on Atlantic croaker could serve as a first 

 approximation of the effects of harvesting C. 

 arenarius, and C. regalis , sowth of Cape Hatteras. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We are much indebted to D. DeVries, P. Geoghe- 

 gan, M. Murphy, M. Burton, T. Crawford, J. 

 Pavela, M. Rockett, J. Ross, B. Slingerland, G. 

 Standard, H. Yette, and Captains H. Forrester, J. 

 Forrester, M. Forrester, P. Smirch, and A. Smircic 

 for assistance in field collections. We also thank 

 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and 

 particularly the crews of the Drum II (L. Be- 

 nefield, L. Gale, and C. Wilkes) and Western Gulf 

 (T. Cody, K. Rice, Captain D. Perez, and D. 

 Mejorado) for their cooperation and assistance. 

 B. Pridgeon of Texas A&M University provided 



data from Cedar Bayou, and E. Wenner of the 

 South Carolina Department of Wildlife and 

 Marine Resources provided data on length fre- 

 quency of C. regalis in trawl catches from South 

 Carolina estuarine surveys for 1973-78 inclusive. 

 T Bright, R. Noble, J. Ross, and K. Strawn re- 

 viewed the manuscript. Financial support was 

 provided, in part, by the Texas Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station; by the Strategic Petroleum Re- 

 serve Program, Department of Energy; and by the 

 Texas A&M University Sea Grant College Pro- 

 gram, supported by the NOAA Office of Sea Grant, 

 Department of Commerce. 



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