242 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



begins in May and continues into July, or later. In August, 1947, large 

 quantities developed in North River where salinities were favorable as 

 rainfall had not been excessive. All plants grow attached at first but may 

 drift free when large. The period of abundance is usually short, typically 

 from six to eight weeks. Mature plants bear spores and then apparently 

 degenerate, although occasional plants may be found in North Carolina 

 waters throughout the year. The species occurs from Massachusetts to 

 Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. 



Gracilaria conjervoides is a fall species in the Beaufort area that rarely 

 develops in quantity before August, although the earliest plants appear in 

 April or May. The peak of abundance occurs in October and November 

 with a rapid decline in December. 



G. conjervoides appears to be present in North Carolina waters as two 

 separate phases. One phase is always attached at first to shells and stones, 

 the plants developing in the spring from spores shed the previous fall. 

 Mature plants that have shed their spores degenerate and disappear. In 

 most parts of the world, the species is present only in this attached, spore- 

 bearing phase. At Beaufort, plants of this phase have little economic value 

 as they never reach great abundance, probably because the substratum to 

 which they can attach is limited. Mature plants often break loose and drift 

 about in late summer and fall, but should not be confused with the phase 

 in which the plants are never attached. 



The other phase is composed of loose, drifting, sterile plants that appar- 

 ently never form spores of any kind. These plants survive the winter in 

 the vegetative state, although in a semi-dormant condition in which frag- 

 ments undergo partial decay. Plants of the attached, fruiting phase dis- 

 appear completely in November or December. In the spring when water 

 temperatures reach 16 to 18° C, portions of loose, drifting plants that have 

 survived the winter begin to sprout and within two weeks are of fair size. 

 As they become larger they offer more resistance to water currents and begin 

 to drift. By July of a favorable year, large bushy plants are adrift through- 

 out the sounds and they begin to accumulate in masses in areas where tidal 

 currents and winds concentrate them. Growth continues at an increasing 

 rate until the water temperature is about 27° C, and continues to be rapid 

 through September at least. 



North winds of fall often cause a general movement of summer accumu- 

 lations so that large quantities wash ashore or drift out to sea. At times, 

 shrimp trawlers obtain considerable quantities of Gracilaria in 20 to 50 feet 

 of water in the ocean. Although growth continues in the ocean as long as 

 light and temperature are favorable, the parent material of all the drifting 

 phase found in the ocean comes from the sounds. 



