the spring and remain in or directly adja- 

 cent to rocky outcrops, pilings, or debris 

 to feed throughout summer and fall. They 

 appear to have restricted territories and 

 are seldom found more than a few kilome- 

 ters from the coastline. The young of 

 both species feed on small invertebrates 

 while the adults feed mainly on mussels 

 (M ytilus edulis ). Other smaller, more 

 cryptic species also inhabit these areas 

 (Figure 12) and their abundance and occur- 

 rence may be more widespread than the 

 current literature suggests. For example, 

 gobies, rock gunnel, and juveniles of 

 tropical migrants are missed by conven- 

 tional fishing methods (R. DeGoursey; Uni- 

 versity of Connecticut, Noank; February 

 1981; personal communication; Munroe and 

 Lotspeich 1979). In late October, the 

 labrids occupy crevices in which they 

 overwinter in a torpid state, or may move 

 to slightly deeper areas. The rock gun- 

 nel, a winter spawner, remains active and 

 in certain localities moves into shallower 

 waters to spawn. 



The pelagic component of fishes in 

 southern New England is found strictly 

 during the summer and is composed of 

 schooling fishes that enter nearshore 

 waters either as southern migrants (e.g., 

 young weakfish, bluefish) or offshore spe- 

 cies moving inshore from the continental 

 shelf (e.g., mackerel, butterfish). Some 

 species are oceanic spawners (e.g., blue- 

 fish and menhaden) that enter coastal 

 waters in late spring to feed. Menhaden 

 form tremendous schools that often can be 

 seen moving in and out of bays and har- 

 bors. Since menhaden form such large 

 aggregations and often enter shallow 

 embayments in summer months, elevated 

 water temperatures and low dissolved 

 oxygen concentrations occasionally cause 

 mass mortalities (e.g., in Long Island 

 Sound). 



Pelagic predators, such as the blue- 

 fish and weakfish, enter coastal waters in 

 southern New England in late spring and 

 early summer to feed. Young bluefish, 

 known as "snappers", often form large 

 schools that move through the coastal 

 waters chasing prey such as silversides, 

 sand lance, and juveniles of many other 

 fish species. The Atlantic mackerel is 

 usually the first to appear in coastal 



waters in early spring to spawn, and also 

 one of the first species to abandon those 

 areas in mid- and late summer to over- 

 winter offshore. 



A group of warm water, tropical 

 migrants also moves into coastal waters of 

 southern New England and sometimes into 

 the Gulf of Maine in mid- and late summer. 

 These tropicals occur sporadically and in 

 small numbers often first entering the 

 shallow bays in Long Island Sound and 

 eventually appearing in Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island and further north in late 

 summer. Primarily juveniles of most spe- 

 cies have been collected although adults 

 are sometimes recorded. No comprehensive 

 study has been undertaken to determine the 

 seasonal abundance and distribution of 

 these tropical species, so existing data 

 probably underestimate their numbers in 

 southern New England. The more common 

 migrants include the mullets, jacks, 

 drums, triggerfish, filefish, and needle- 

 fishes. The behavior of these migrants 

 during declining temperatures in the fall 

 is not known. It is not known whether 

 they move offshore, return to warmer 

 southern waters during the winter, or 

 whether a significant proportion experi- 

 ences winter mortality. None of the trop- 

 ical migrants have been collected in New 

 England during the winter. 



4.5.2 Gulf of Maine 



Figure 13 shows that many of the 

 seasonally-related movement patterns of 

 fish that exist in southern New England 

 also are found in the Gulf of Maine 

 inshore waters. For example, the anadro- 

 mous and resident marsh-eelgrass species 

 are similar, although spawning activities 

 of the former group occur later in spring. 

 A major difference between the two New 

 England regions is that fewer migratory 

 species are found in the Gulf of Maine; 

 this contributes to lower summer species 

 diversity when compared to southern New 

 England. In addition, a greater number of 

 gadids (e.g., cod, hakes, pollock, tomcod, 

 haddock) are found in the inshore Gulf of 

 Maine waters. All but the hakes, which 

 are summer migrants, are year-round resi- 

 dents of these waters. The tomcod is the 

 most common inshore gadid found at the 

 mouths of streams and estuaries. 



44 



