248 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



range is probably near 18-19° C (about 64-66° F), for it tends to withdraw from very 

 shallow water along southern New England in early summer when the temperature has 

 risen to about that value and to reappear there and near New York in early autumn'" 

 when the water has cooled to about that same temperature. At the opposite extreme it 

 is taken frequently on the Nova Scotian Banks in water colder than 5° C (41° F)." The 

 majority of the population inhabits salinities ranging from about 34.4 to 32 "/oo- Some 

 individuals may even be exposed to salinities as low as 29 «/oo in the southern side of the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, if any remain through the critical season (April-June) and in 

 shoal enough water, around the shores of the Gulf of Maine, and possibly in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of New York and at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. One has even been 

 reported from the Delaware River opposite Philadelphia. 



The stock inhabiting depths of 10 fathoms or more appears to be resident the 

 year-round there. But it has been known for a long time that the coastwise fringe of 

 population tends to work shoreward with the autumnal decrease in temperature in the 

 southern part of its range and to withdraw again into deeper (i. e., somewhat cooler) 

 water as bottom temperatures again approach the summer maximum. Thus all the dated 

 records of its presence inshore between Chesapeake Bay and New Jersey have been be- 

 tween December and early June.'^ Similarly, it appears in shallow water from Cape 

 Cod to New York in the first part of October, and larger numbers are said to be taken 

 in Massachusetts Bay in winter than in summer. But It is present inshore regularly 

 during summer in Passamaquoddy Bay at the entrance to the Bay of Fundy, in Nova 

 Scotian waters, and around Prince Edward Island in the south side of the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence (p. 249). 



It is now known that some of the population inhabiting the shore waters along 

 southern New England carry out extensive coastwise journeys. Thus three tagged a 

 few miles off Block Island, Rhode Island, in June if^^d^"^ were recaptured 80-120 

 miles to the westward.** 



This Skate breeds throughout its geographic range.^^ In Nova Scotian waters it 

 deposits its eggs from summer into autumn,'^ apparently at the same season in the Gulf 

 of Maine; off southern New England it appears that eggs are deposited throughout 



90. Occasional specimens have been reported as summering in shoal water off the eastern end of Long Island, where 

 the bottom temperature may rise to 18-19° C (about 64-66° F) at its seasonal maximum. And we have caught 

 them in partially enclosed waters along outer Cape Cod in August. 



91. K. ocellata has been reported from the Newfoundland Banks in temperatures as low as -0.4 to -1.1° C (31-30° F). 

 But the identity of the specimens has been questioned. 



92. Only a few of the published records for it along this sector have been dated. 



93. Four were recaptured out of a total of 400 fish tagged. We are indebted to Daniel Merriman for these records. 



94. One off Fire Island, New York, October 1946, one in New York Bay (Staten Island) in November 194S, and 

 one in Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, in December 1946. The fourth recapture was in June 1947, near Watch 

 Hill, Rhode Island, about 15 miles distant from the locality where tagged. 



95- Egg^ have been taken either from the mother or by dredge or have been found on the shore near Sable Island off 



Nova Scotia, in Hahfax Harbor, off the coast of Maine, at the tip of Cape Cod, in Vineyard Sound, southern coast 



of Massachusetts, off New York Harbor, and on the Delaware Coast. 

 96. Eggs have been found in September in females trawled near Sable Island and caught off the coast of Maine; empty 



cases have been found in Halifax Harbor as early as the end of October. An egg case with advanced embryo, taken 



in Vineyard Sound late in August, 1936, is included in our Study Material. 



