Figure 24. — June 1966. Distribution and relative abundance 

 of fourspot flounder, Hippoglosnna oblonga, larvae. 



November to February. Although most spawning occurred 

 at temperatures between 12° and 19°C, both eggs and 

 larvae seemed to withstand a much wider range of 

 temperature. 



Larvae were collected first off Long Island and northern 

 New Jersey during the abbreviated cruise in September. 

 Their small size and restricted distribution indicated that 

 spawning had recently started, probably during the first 

 week in September (Table 9). 



We made our largest catch of larvae in October, although 

 spawning occurred only in the northern half of the survey 

 area. The distribution of both eggs and larvae seemed to be 

 restricted to nearshore waters by the cold cell of bottom 

 water that stretched from Long Island to Maryland. Within 

 this restricted area, the distribution of larvae was 

 continuous from southern New England to Virginia, with 

 concentrations off Martha's Vineyard, off Long Island and 

 northern New Jersey, and off Delaware Bay. Spawning was 

 most intense off New Jersey at depths of 20 to 48 m (Smith 

 1973). Larvae <4 mm were abundant off New Jersey over 

 16.8°C bottom water and off Delaware Bay over 6.8°C 

 bottom water, where they had apparently drifted from 

 spawning grounds nearer shore. Eggs were abundant at the 

 adjacent inshore station over bottom temperatures of 14° C 

 but absent from the location off Delaware Bay, where the 

 small larvae were concentrated (Smith 1973). The dis- 

 tributions of larvae in size groups of 4.1 to 6.0 mm and 6.1 

 to 8.0 mm extended from Cape Cod to northern Virginia. 

 Larvae >8 mm were caught off Long Island and southern 

 New England, which substantiates earlier spawning there 

 than in more southern parts of the bight (Fig. 29). 



From mid-November through early December, larvae 

 occurred throughout the survey area. Based on the 

 distribution of eggs, spawning was centered off Maryland 

 and northern Virginia and off the outer banks of North 

 Carolina (Smith 1973), but larvae of all four size g^roups were 

 most abundant off Long Island and New Jersey. The center 

 of abundance consisted mostly of larvae 4.1 to 6.0 mm long. 

 It was located off New Jersey over a bottom temperature of 

 10.5°C and a depth of 45 m (Fig. 30). 



Although in December (1965) we caught larvae through- 

 out the area sampled, the distribution of eggs was limited to 

 waters off North Carolina (Smith 1973). Most newly hatched 

 larvae were caught off North Carolina, but representatives 

 of the larger size categories were most abundant off New 

 Jersey (Fig. 31). 



By January, the number of larvae diminished, and, with 

 the exception of a few, their distribution was limited to the 

 area south of Cape Hatteras (Fig. 32). We caught four eggs, 

 the last of the season, at the seaward station off Cape 

 Lookout. 



In April, we caught larvae only in the extreme southern 

 part of the survey area (Fig. 33). Most were >8 mm and had 

 started to metamorphose (Table 9). In May, we caught 

 seven larvae off North Carolina, which we assume 

 represented remnants of late spawning. None were caught 

 on the following cruises in June and August. 



Larvae occurred throughout the survey area during the 

 course of the spawning season. Their distribution shifted 

 southward as the season progressed. The most important 

 spawning grounds were off New York and New Jersey in 

 early fall and, to a lesser extent, off North Carolina in late 

 fall (Fig. 34). 



Although spawning takes place at sea, young-of-the-year 

 are found in estuaries (Smith 1973). Because the juveniles 



26 



