593 



Abstract — The goal of this study 

 was to provide insight into habitat 

 use of the inner continental shelf off 

 southern New Jersey by summer- 

 spawned bluefish {Pomatomus salta- 

 trix). Throughout the August-October 

 1998 sampling period, a total of 

 1071 bluefish were collected from 

 shelf surface waters, during which 

 the mean density and body size was 

 3.7 bluefish/1000 m^ and 13.7 mm 

 standard length (SL), respectively. 

 Spatiotemporal variability in bluefish 

 density was explained by an inverse 

 relationship with Secchi depth, and 

 body size was explained by water tem- 

 perature and depth. Bluefish size- 

 structure in August was bimodal and 

 comprised larval, transitional, and 

 juvenile stages (3-48 mm SL). Size 

 frequencies in subsequent months 

 were unimodal and consisted of blue- 

 fish <25 mm SL. Synoptic sampling 

 of multiple habitats indicated that 

 the earliest life stages of bluefish 

 extensively, and perhaps exclusively, 

 use inner continental shelf surface 

 waters. Summer-spawned bluefish 

 numerically dominated the popula- 

 tion across all habitats and temporal 

 scales examined. 



Habitat use of the inner continental shelf 



off southern New Jersey by summer-spawned 



bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)* 



David L. Taylor (contact author) 



Rutgers University 



Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences 



Marine Field Station, 800 c/o 132 Great Bay Boulevard 



Tuckerton, New Jersey 08087-2004 



and 



Roger Williams University 



Department of Biology and Marine Biology 



One Old Ferry Road 



Bristol, Rhode Island 02809 



Email; dtaylon&rwu.edu 



Peter M. Rowe 



Kenneth W. Able 



Rutgers University 



Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences 



Marine Field Station, 800 c/o 132 Great Bay Boulevard 



Tuckerton, New Jersey 08087-2004 



Manuscript submitted 14 April 2005 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 6 March 2006 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull 104:59.3-604(2006). 



Bluefish [Pomatomus saltatrix) 

 is a coastal marine species that is 

 common in temperate and subtropi- 

 cal waters worldwide (Juanes et al., 

 1996), Bluefish support extensive 

 fisheries throughout their distribu- 

 tion (Juanes et al., 1996), including 

 the western north Atlantic where this 

 species has historically accounted for 

 the greatest catch by weight in the 

 recreational fishery (Pottern et al., 

 1989). Along the eastern coast of the 

 United States, for example, bluefish 

 landings in 1985 contributed to over 

 24% of the total marine recreational 

 catch (U.S. Department of Commerce, 

 1986). Since the mid-1980s, however, 

 bluefish landings in this area have 

 declined precipitously and have yet 

 to rebound in the last two decades 

 (Klein-MacPhee, 2002). As a result, 

 the Atlantic States Marine Fisher- 

 ies Commission (ASMFC) established 

 bluefish as a priority research sub- 

 ject and further recommended that 

 research provide a better under- 

 standing of the early life history and 

 recruitment patterns of this species. 

 Recruitment dynamics of bluefish 

 along the eastern coast of the United 



States are intrinsically linked to an- 

 nual spawning migrations of the adult 

 population. Bluefish spawning migra- 

 tions move northward into the Middle 

 Atlantic Bight (MAB; Cape Hatteras, 

 North Carolina, to Cape Cod, Massa- 

 chusetts) during the spring and sum- 

 mer following an overwintering peri- 

 od in the South Atlantic Bight (SAB; 

 Cape Canaveral, Florida to Cape Hat- 

 teras) (Klein-MacPhee, 2002) or at 

 the edge of the continental shelf in 

 the MAB (Miller, 1969; Wilk. 1982; 

 Shepherd et al., in press). Pelagic 

 eggs are spawned offshore during 

 the spring and summer as bluefish 

 migrate northward along the conti- 

 nental shelf. The planktonic eggs of 

 bluefish experience a brief incubation 

 period (48 hours; Deuel et al., 1966) 

 that is followed by a larval stage that 

 concludes 18-25 days after hatching 

 and once the bluefish are 10-12 mm 

 standard length (SL) (Hare and Cow- 

 en, 1994). Bluefish then undergo a 

 transitional period, ending with the 



* Contribution 2006-2 of the Institute of 

 Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers 

 University, Tuckerton, NJ 08087. 



