T^ble ik. — Humbers of fish eggs per 100 m.-^ of water. Continental Shelf off 

 Cape Canaveral Area, frcm plankton samples (oblique or surface 

 tow, half -meter net) T. N. Gill cruises 1953-5Ji, by depth of 

 water and by season 



[Individual values are counts for separate samples] 



0-20 fathoms 



Spring 



2,500 



0-100 fathoms 

 0-20 fathoms 

 20-100 fothoms 



Winter 



Spring 



Summer 



1,000 



500 



Spring 



Summer Foil 



Figure 9. — Numbers of fish eggs and fish larvae per 

 100 m.^ of water. Continental Shelf off Cape Canaveral 

 Area, from plankton samples, T.N. Gill cruises 1953-54, 

 average values by depth of water and by season. 



FISH LARVAE 



Numbers of fish larvae per 100 m.3 of 

 water strained ranged from 2 to 2,728 {table 1 5). 

 Average values, in numbers per 100 m. of 

 water strained, in surface to 20 fathoms for 

 the spring and summer (529.0 and 564.8) were 

 13 to 33 times those for the winter and fall 

 (16.5 and 41.0). In 20 to 100 fathoms, average 

 winter and summer values (469.0 and 372.5) 

 were about three to four tinnes those in the 

 spring and fall (170,0 and 131.0). Spring and 

 summer values in surface to 20 fathoms 

 (529.0 and 564.8) were one and one-half to 

 three times those in 20 to 100 fathoms. Av- 

 erage values for the area as a whole in the 

 spring and summer (385.4 and 487.9) were 

 approximately three to five tinnes those for 

 the fall and winter (77,0 and 167.3) (table 15 

 and fig. 9). 



Menhaden larvae were identified from sam- 

 ples obtained in February on one winter Gill 

 cruise in the Cape Canaveral Area from 

 surface to 20 fathoms and 20 to 100 fathoms 

 (Reintjes, 1961). 



COPE PODS 



Numbers of copepods per 100 m.3 of water 

 strained ranged from 960 to 89,720 (table 16). 

 Average values in waters of surface to 20 

 fathoms were low in the spring (22,222) and 

 increased through the summer (39,308) and 

 fall (43,398) to a high in the winter (48,587). 

 In 20 to 100 fathonns the low also occurred 

 in the spring (18,227), but the high occurred 

 in the summer (38,822). Average values for 

 inshore and offshore were similar in the spring 

 (22,222 and 18,227) and summer (39,308 and 

 38,822). Average inshore values for the winter 

 and fall (48,587 and 43,398) approximately 

 doubled those for offshore (24,960 and 22,355). 

 For the area as a whole, similar high values 

 (40,712 and 39,113) occurred in the winter and 

 summer, a somewhat lower value (34,981) 

 occurred in the fall, and the low (20,624) oc- 

 curred in the spring (table 16 and fig. 10). 



Species composition identifications by 

 Thonnas E. Bowman for one season (with but 

 one sample for inshore during the winter) 

 show 23 species inshore and 22 species off- 

 shore during the spring, 17 species inshore 

 and 32 species offshore during the summer, 

 and 11 species inshore and 14 species off- 

 shore during the fall. Offshore samples av- 

 eraged 22 species for the three seasons and 

 inshore samples averaged 17 species. Gen- 

 erally the greatest numbers of species oc- 

 curred in areas of least numbers of specimens 

 (tables 16 and 17). 



Ten species were found in spring samples 

 only, 11 in summer samples only, 1 in the 

 fall only, and 3 in all four seasons. Fourteen 



29 



