Table 8. —The seasonal distribution of fourspot flounder, Hippogloaeina 



The seasonal distribution of fourspot flounder larvae 

 characterized that of most spring spawners by advancing 

 from south to north as water temperatures increased. 

 Additional evidence of the influence of temperature was 

 apparent in the seaward shift in spawning as the season 

 progressed and offshore waters warmed. Although 

 spawning began nearshore off Virginia and North Carolina, 

 the distribution of all fourspot flounder larvae indicated that 

 most spawning took place along the northern half of the 

 bight at temperatures between 6.2° and 9.0°C and in depths 

 between 35 and 80 m (Fig. 28). The area and depths of major 

 larval concentrations correspond with the reported depth 

 distribution and center of abundance for adults (Bigelow and 

 Schroeder 1953). We seldom caught larvae >8 mm, 

 probably because they were unavailable to our gear. 

 Because we caught metamorphosing specimens of other 

 flatfish larvae that occurred regularly in our collections, we 

 attribute the scarcity of fourspot flounder >8 mm to a 

 change from a pelagic to a largely demersal life at about 8 

 mm, although metamorphosis is not complete at 12 mm 

 (Leonard 1971). 



Monolene lesstUcauda Goode, deepwater flounder.— 

 Deepwater flounder range from New England to Florida and 

 into the Gulf of Mexico (Gutherz 1967). Our identification of 

 the larvae is based on the description of larvae from the 

 eastern Gulf of Mexico (Futch 1971), the reported 

 distribution of adults by Gutherz (1967), and on fin ray 

 counts from our largest specimen. 



We caught only six larvae: one (7.0 mm) in April off 

 Hatteras Inlet, three (7.1, 8.6, 10.1 mm) in June off Cape 

 Hatteras, and one each (11.8 and 19.3 mm) in August and 

 September off New Jersey. All six were caught near the 

 edge of the shelf. Because of their size and infrequent 

 occurrence, we concluded that the larvae had originated 

 outside the survey area. 



Paraiicktfiys dentattu (Linnaeus), summer flounder. — 

 Summer flounder range from Maine to Florida (Gutherz 

 1967), but they are not common north of Cape Cod or south 

 of South Carolina. Their geographic distribution resembles 

 that of windowpane, Scophthalmus aquosus, and fourspot 

 flounder, mentioned previously, in that the center of 

 abundance lies within the bight, and they must be 

 considered more of a temperate latitude species than most 

 bothids. Because of the importance of summer flounder to 

 both commercial and sport fishermen in the bight, data on 

 eggs and larvae collected during the survey were previously 

 published (Smith 1973). The distribution of summer 

 flounder larvae is presented in this paper to provide a 

 comprehensive report, which includes all identified flatfish 

 larvae collected during the survey. Summer flounder larvae 

 were described by Smith and Fahay (1970). 



Spawning began in late summer and continued to 

 midwinter. There was a pronounced southerly shift in 

 spawning and distribution of larvae as the season 

 progressed. North of Chesapeake Bay, spawning occurred 

 from September to December; south of the bay, from 



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