122 



Fishery Bulletin 103(1) 



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O Warm 

 • Winter 



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O Inner □ Mid ir Outer 



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-Mpvn^Lxari 

 Lrtia 



Winter 



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CA 1 



Figure 10 



Correspondence analysis (CA) ordinations of the larval fish community data showing (A) the 

 first and second dimension scores and (B) the first and third dimension scores of the station 

 groups (inner, mid, and outer) defined within each season when the 10% data set was used. 

 Open symbols denote stations sampled during the warm weather season and filled symbols 

 denote stations sampled during the winter season. (C) The first and second dimensions and 

 (D) the first and third dimensions of the station and species groups in the full data set are 

 shown without the incorporation of the environmental data. The dashed lines intersect at the 

 origin of the plot. 



ever, the rarity of this species on the continental shelf 

 off the coast of Georgia provides evidence for relatively 

 limited onshore transport from off the shelf. Powell and 

 Robins (1994, 1998) and Govoni and Spach (1999) also 

 collected tropical and deepwater taxa inshore of the 

 shelf break. The presence of these taxa was likely due 

 to frequent but variable exchange of larvae across the 

 Gulf Stream front (Govoni and Spach, 1999). Less is 

 known about spawning of A. rochei but the species' lar- 

 val distribution represents restriction to offshore waters 

 (always collected offshore of the 40-m isobath). 



During winter, when B. tyrannus was found across 

 the shelf (Fig. 14), Bothus ocellatus /robinsi was col- 

 lected only on the outer part of the shelf (Fig. 14). Both 

 B. tyrannus and B. ocellatus /robinsi likely spawn on the 



outer shelf. However, unlike B. tyrannus, Bothus ocel- 

 latus /robinsi was never collected inshore of station 3 

 (the boundary between the inner- and mid-shelf zones), 

 indicating that the two taxa may experience different 

 transport pathways or different seasonal spawning pat- 

 terns (see "Discussion" section). 



Discussion 



Three cross-shelf regions were defined on the continental 

 shelf off the coast of Georgia based on the distribution 

 and abundance of larval fish: inner-shelf, mid-shelf, and 

 outer-shelf. Each region was dominated by a distinct 

 group of species (i.e., larval assemblage). The inner-shelf 



