Table 2. --The seasonal occurrence of flatfish larvae ( ||||l ) collected during 1965-66 

 plankton survey between Cape Cod and Cape Lookout. Solid line ( ^^ ) represents duration 

 of spawning within the survey area, based on the occurrence of small larvae. Larvae were 

 presumed to be present during months not sampled (*) if they were caught during preceding 

 and subsequent months. 



Family 



Scientific and 

 Common Name 



Months of Occurrence 

 M* A M J J* A S 



N 



Ancylopsetta quadrocel lata 



oce Hated flounder 

 Bothus spp. 



Citharichthys arctif rons 



Gulf Stream flounder 

 Cyclopsetta f imbriata 



spotfin flounder 

 Etropus microstomus 



smal 1 mouth flounder 

 Hippoglossina oblonga 



fourspot flounder 

 Monolene sessi licauda 



deepwater flounder 

 Paralichthys dentatus 



summer f lounder 

 Paralichthys spp. 



Scophthalmus aquosus 



windowpane 

 Syacium papil losum 



dusky flounder 



Pleuronectidae 



Glyptocephalus cynoglossus 



witch flounder 

 Hippo^lossus hippoglossus 



Atlantic halibut 

 Hippoglossoides platessoides 



American plaice 

 Limanda ferruginea 



yel lowtal 1 flounder 

 Pseudopleuronectes americanus 



winter flounder 



iiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiimiiiiiii 



IIIIIIIIHIII 



inmimiiinimimim 



Soleidae 



Gymnachirus me las 

 naked sole 



Cynoglossidae 



Symphurus spp. 



imiiiiimiiiii 



II iiiiii 



iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 



iiitiiiiiiiiii 



iimiiiiiiiiiMtiiii/iiiiiiiiii 



iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 

 iiiiiiiiii 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mill 



nil 



IlKlllllllllMIIII 



IIIIIIIIUII 



iiiiiiii 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII llllllllllllll 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIII 

 nil 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIII 

 llllllllllllll 



iiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 



IIIIIIIIII 



iiiiiii 



iiiiiii 

 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII iiiiiiiiiii 



llllllllllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



mill 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



IIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



imimMMy 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



Most of the pelagic fishes in the Middle Atlantic Bight are 

 seasonal migrants, and many of those that spawn there do so 

 during their spring immigpation into the bight or fall 

 emigration out. Because migrations through the bight are 

 closely tied to water temperatures, spawning is usually 

 localized and intense at its onset, but shifts seasonally and 

 increases in areal extent as the migrations advance. In the 

 spring when waters are warming, spawning generally 

 proceeds northward and often begins south of the bight. In 

 the fall when coastal waters are cooling, spawning proceeds 

 southward and for some fishes begins north or east of the 

 bight. 



Although flatfishes move seasonally within the bight, they 

 do not migrate long distances and most are considered 

 residents of the bight. Despite the limited movements of 

 adult flatfishes, their seasonal spawning patterns resemble 

 those of migratory pelagic fishes such as Atlantic mackerel. 

 Scomber scombrus, and Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia 

 tyrannus, by proceeding northward in the spring and 

 southward in the fall. Thus, it seems that the onset of 



spawning by fishes that are mig^ratory, as well as those that 

 are not, is closely tied to temperature in the bight. 



The survey area does not encompass the entire range for 

 any of the species discussed here. We assume, however, 

 that larvae represented spawning that occurred within the 

 bight if they were collected in significant numbers on several 

 cruises. Although the young of several flatfishes utilize 

 estuaries as nursery grounds, those that survive will return 

 to the offshore waters of the bight and eventually wUl be 

 recruited into the spawning stock(s). From a biological 

 standpoint, fishes so limited in their movements make 

 excellent subjects for both study and management. 



The occurrence of pelagic larval stages is usually more 

 protracted than the actual spawning season, but we used the 

 presence of larvae presumed to have been recently hatched 

 to estimate the approximate duration of spawning. Our 

 collections of larvae indicate that the pleuronectids have 

 short spawning seasons characteristic of fishes found in 

 water with seasonally variable temperatures, and the 

 bothids have extended spawning seasons characteristic of 

 warm-water fishes that are adapted to less severe seasonal 

 changes (Table 2). Some of the bothids represented in our 

 collections apparently spawned throughout the year, but, 



