FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL, 



A, although large numbers of fish were sighted, 

 the catch was declining (Table 1). The decline in 

 catch at Site A may be related to lowered activity 

 associated with decreasing temperature with the 

 fish overwintering in torpor at this site (011a et al. 

 1974, 1975). Although traps were not in place in 

 Sites B-E earlier than May, no fish were sighted 

 directly in these areas or at Site F (Table 2 ) prior to 

 mid- or late April. The presence offish at Site A 

 throughout the year led us to term this a perennial 

 habitat, while Sites B-F, where fish were only seen 

 seasonally, we defined as seasonal habitats. 



Recaptures 



Tagged fish showed limited movements, with 

 91.3% of the cunner and 73. 2*;^ of the tautog recap- 

 tures occurring at the same site at which they 

 were released (Table 3). For the remainder of the 

 fish, i.e., those recaptured at other sites, there 

 were seasonal differences in where they were cap- 

 tured. From May through August, recaptures 

 were at seasonal as well as perennial sites (Table 

 3). But then from September through November, 

 all recaptures were from sites which would be con- 

 sidered perennial, including ones outside the 

 study area (Table 3). 



Movements and Association with Cover 



of Young Tautog at Seasonal, 



Perennial, and Experimental Habitats 



In an earlier study, we had established that 

 young tautog remained within several meters of 

 cover (011a et al. 1974). Specifically, the cover re- 

 ferred to in that study was Site A, identified in this 

 study as a perennial habitat. To reconfirm the 

 observation of the previous study, two fish ( no. 1,2; 

 Table 4) were ultrasonically tracked for 48 h at 



Site A. Agreeing with the earlier results, both fish 

 remained within several meters of the site. 



The question we next addressed was whether 

 young tautog showed a similar association with 

 cover at seasonal habitats. To answer this ques- 

 tion, we captured and released two fish affixed 

 with ultrasonic tags at Sites B (no. 4; Table 4) and 

 F (no. 3; Table 4). The results of tracking showed 

 the two fish to have a similar affinity to these sites 

 as the fish had to the perennial one. remaining 

 within 3 to 6 m of cover. 



The area over which the fish ranged varied with 

 the size of the site. For example, when fish no. 3 

 was released at Site F, which consisted of beds of 

 algae and eelgrass measuring about 15  75 m, it 

 moved freely throughout the habitat, but never 

 more than several meters beyond its perimeter. 

 On the other hand, fish no. 4 released at Site B 

 where cover was highly limited (0.2 x 1.5 m) ex- 

 hibited less movement, while again remaining 

 within several meters of cover. It appeared that 

 the close association to cover was the same at both 

 seasonal and perennial habitats. 



Thus far, all of the fish that were tracked had 

 been released at the same site at which they were 

 captured. Our next question was whether fish that 

 were displaced from where they were captured 



T.'\BLE 4- — Size, capture and release sites i Figure 1 ». and period 

 monitored for nine young tautog ultrasonically tracked. 



Table 3. 



-Nuinber and location of recaptures of cunner and young tautog tagged and released at perennial and 



seasonal sites. 



258 



