address this question directly, evidence from ich- 

 thyofaunal surveys in South Carolina indicate 

 that M. menidia abundance remains high in 

 intertidal creeks (Cain and Dean 1976; Shenker 

 and Dean 1979) and in the surf zone of barrier 

 beaches (Anderson et al. 1977) throughout win- 

 ter. 



The relative abundance of Atlantic silversides 

 over the continental shelf is difficult to judge 

 from this study, since bottom trawling is a rela- 

 tively ineffective method for catching small 

 pelagic fish such as M. men idia (see Conover and 

 Ross in press). In addition, the low overall catch 

 frequency for M. menidia reported herein is pri- 

 marily due to the relatively small number of sta- 

 tions sampled in midwinter when maximum 

 catches might be expected. Neves and Depres 

 (1979) used similar NMFS offshore survey data 

 on a larger pelagic species, the American shad, 

 and reported catches at 527 of the 10,435 stations 

 sampled (5.05%). Considering the methods used, 

 the percent occurrences of M. menidia in the in- 

 shore and offshore surveys of the mid-Atlantic 

 during midwinter (34 and 11%, respectively) 

 may indicate considerable abundance. 



In a previous study, Conover and Ross (in 

 press) showed that Atlantic silversides reach a 

 high level of biomass during late fall in marsh 

 areas and also suffer a high rate of winter mor- 

 tality (90-99%). Their hypothesis that winter 

 movement and mortality patterns of M. menidia 

 represent a one-way export of biomass from the 

 shore zone of bays, marshes, and estuaries to off- 

 shore communities is strengthened by this study. 

 The causes of high winter mortality experienced 

 by Atlantic silversides at northern latitudes are 

 unknown but conceivably could include preda- 

 tion and perhaps physiological stress imposed by 

 the migration itself and prolonged exposure to 

 cold temperatures. Atlantic silversides could be 

 an important forage fish over the inner continen- 

 tal shelf, but it will require an analysis of the food 

 habits of offshore fishes in midwinter to address 

 this question. 



Acknowledgments 



The authors wish to thank the staff of the Re- 

 source Surveys Investigation Section and other 

 members of the staff at NMFS, Woods Hole, who 

 have participated in the cruises, and B. E. Brown 

 and M. R. Ross for reviewing the manuscript. 

 The senior author also received support from the 

 Graduate School of the University of Massa- 



chusetts and the Massachusetts Cooperative 

 Fishery Research Unit, which is jointly spon- 

 sored by the Massachusetts Division of Marine 

 Fisheries, the Massachusetts Division of Fish 

 and Wildlife, the University of Massachusetts, 

 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 



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