506 



Fishery Bulletin 92(3). 1994 



The number of daily growth rings varied between 

 44.3 and 160.0 (1985) and between 42.7 and 133.0 

 ( 1986). Fish captured in New York grew faster. This 

 may have resulted from shorter migrations, longer 

 exposure to warm water, or better food or feeding 

 conditions. Raw data plots from which New York in- 

 formation (Fig. 5) were derived are presented in 

 Nyman and Conover ( 1988, fig. 9). 



The growth rate increased from about 0.7 mm/day 

 to about 1.25 mm/day as fish length increased from 

 50 mm to 200 mm FL ( Fig. 6 ). The mean growth rate 

 was 0.96 mm/day Nyman and Conover ( 1988 ) reported 

 a growth rate of approximately 1.3 mm/day for fish ob- 

 tained from field collections over a 61-day period. 



Acknowledgments 



Numerous scientists, scientific support personnel, 

 and recreational fishermen provided information on 

 sightings of juvenile bluefish in Maine waters. These 

 included Laurie Bean, Eileen Brewer, Lew Flagg, Rod 

 Getchell, Bruce Joule, Jeremy King, Jay Rrouse, Jay 

 McGowan, Stuart Sherburne, Malcolm Smith, Tho- 

 mas Squires, James Stahlnecker, James Thomas, 

 Clement Walton (State of Maine, Dep. of Marine 

 Resources, W. Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Steve Kress 

 (National Audubon Society, Cornell University Or- 

 nithology Lab, Ithaca, New York), Michelle Dione 



Figure 5 



A comparison of the relationship of fork length to 

 number of daily rings for juvenile bluefish, 

 Pomatomas saltatrix, from Maine and New York. The 

 regression equations are Y = 8.53468 + 12.89328X- 

 0.24416X 2 , R 2 = 0.847, for Maine 1990; Y = 79.49049 

 + 2.97353X + 0.4563X 2 , R 2 = 0.635, for Maine 1991; 

 Y = 15.19726 + 10.63463X- 0.20203X 2 , R 2 = 0.840, 

 for New York 1985; and 7= 20.22134 + 10.12947X- 

 0.26495X 2 , R 2 = 0.835, for New York 1986. 



100 150 



Fork Length, mm 



Figure 6 



The relationship of fork length to growth rate for 

 juvenile bluefish, Pomatomas saltatrix, collected in 

 Maine during 1990-1991. The regression equation 

 is Y = 0.50990 + 0.00372X, R 2 = 0.750. 



(Wells Sanctuary, Wells, Maine), James McCleve 

 (University of Maine), Donald Johnson, Bruce Burtin 

 (Portland Maine Surfcasters Association), and 

 Michael Hogan (Freeport, Maine, Police Dept.). 



Special appreciation is extended to Jeremy King 

 for his frequent assistance in the field and to Peter 

 Thayer, Bruce Joule, and Clarisse Simard for their 

 occasional help. 



We would also like to thank Gene Letourneau 

 (Waterville, Maine Morning Sentinel) and Bernie 

 Monegain (Brunswick, Maine Times Record) for pub- 

 licizing our interests on juvenile bluefish, and Rob- 

 ert Nyman (E.P.A., Wash. D.C.), Richard McBride 

 (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey) 

 and David Conover (State University of New York, 

 Stony Brook, New York) for sharing their knowledge 

 of mounting, processing, and counting daily growth 

 rings with us and for answering our inquiries. Ap- 

 preciation is extended to Lila Achor and Laura 

 Livingston for typing this manuscript. 



This study was funded through Wallop-Breaux 

 (Federal Aid Project Agreement F-36-R-1 ). 



Literature cited 



Baird, S. F. 



1873. Condition of the sea fisheries of the south 



coast of New England in 1871-1872. U.S. Comm. 



Fish Fisheries. Parts 1 and 2: The bluefish, p. 235- 



252. 

 Bigelow, H. B., and W. C. Schroeder. 



1953. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fish. Bull. 53:1- 



577. 



