Fishes of tJie Western NortJi Atlantic 173 



In the northern part of its range, R. eglanteria is strictly a warm-season visitor 

 in the shore waters. It appears in April in the sector between Chesapeake and Delaware 

 bays and is present along New Jersey and near New York from mid-May (occasionally 

 late April) through the summer into October (sometimes until November), but it is 

 taken only from July until September off southern Massachusetts. It withdraws from 

 the immediate vicinity of the coast during the hottest season in the more southern 

 part of its range.'"" Thus, it has not been reported in July or August for Chesapeake 

 Bay though common there in April, May, June, as well as September and October; 

 and odd specimens only have been reported for July at Cape Lookout, North Carolina, 

 where it is plentiful in April and May.'"' 



The stock that summers to the northward appears to migrate southward and off"- 

 shore in autumn, for specimens have been trawled in winter and early spring off southern 

 Massachusetts,'"- New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina. '"^ However, it is doubtful 

 whether the stock inhabiting the warmer waters from South Carolina south to Florida 

 leave the coast at all during the winter. 



The relationship of i?. eglanteria to temperature is puzzling. Although its autumnal 

 withdrawal from the immediate vicinity of the coast in the northern part of its range 

 occurs when the upper few fathoms have chilled to about 13—16° C (about 55—61° F,)'"* 

 all winter records for it have been from water as cold as 6.3—1 1° C (43.3—51.8° F);'"^ 

 also, it reappears along the shores of Virginia, New Jersey and New York when the 

 water has warmed only a little from the winter minimum. The direction of temperature 

 change may be the governing factor in its thermal migrations. It is possible also that 

 this Skate is more sensitive to low temperatures in the southern than in the northern 

 part of its range, for it is reported as appearing in abundance on the coast at Cape 

 Lookout, North Carolina only after the water has warmed to about 12—17° C (54— 

 63° F). In the northern part of its range'"^ it has not been reported regularly anywhere 

 in water warmer than perhaps about 21-22° C (70-72° F). Its presence along the 

 New Jersey beaches throughout the summer might seem to contradict this statement, 

 for the mean surface temperature there usually rises to at least about 23° C (73—74° F), 

 and may reach 25° C (77° F). But those taken in pound nets at a depth of 20-30 feet 



100. It is also said that it leaves New York Harbor during the hottest months, but reports conflict in this respect. 

 loi. Unfortunately no information is available in this regard for any areas farther south. 



102. We examined five specimens taken in 44 hauls while aboard the dragger Eugene H., fishing 80-90 miles to the 

 southward of Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 47-65 fathoms, January 27-February 3, 1950. These included 

 females 297, 600, 640 and 785 mm long and a mature male with large claspers 760 mm long. 



103. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vessel Albatross III trawled six specimens about 35 miles southeast of Cape 

 Fear, January 31, 1950, in Lat. 33° 38' N, Lung. 77° 28' W, in 13 fathoms; also two specimens, about a mile off 

 Southport on February 7, 1950. 



104. According to Breder (Copeia, 127, 1924: 27) it is not to be found in Sandy Hook Bay after the water cools to 14.4° C 

 (58° F). 



105. Specimens reported off northern New Jersey in 6-17 fathoms in January (Fowler, Copeia, 31, 1916: 41) may have 

 been in water as cool as 5.5-6° C (42-43° F). 



106. Taken only occasionally at Cape Lookout after the water has warmed to more than 21.1° C or 70° F (mid- 

 May); absent from Chesapeake Bay during the period (July-August) when the bottom water is much warmer 

 than that. 



