Figure 26. — September 1966. Distribution and relative 

 abundance of fourspot flounder, Hippoglo$$ina oblonga, lar- 



are found only in estuaries, summer flounder are considered 

 estuarine dependent. Their tolerance to a wide range of 

 both temperature and salinity indicates that they are 

 physiologically adapted to withstand the extreme variations 

 in temperature and salinity characteristic of our estuaries of 

 temperate latitude. Young have been collected from waters 

 that ranged in temperature between 2° and 31.2°C and 

 salinity from 0.02 to 37Voo (Tagatz and Dudley 1961; 

 Williams and Deubler 1968). Deubler and White (1962) kept 

 young summer flounder in water with a salinity of 40''/oo. 



Paralichthyi spp.— Four species of ParaUchthys occur 

 along our eastern seaboard. We have discussed the 

 distribution of P. dentatus larvae which we caught 

 throughout the survey area. Of the other three, P. 

 lethostigma Jordan and Gilbert and P. albigutta Jordan and 

 Gilbert occur regularly, P. squamilentus Jordan and Gilbert 

 rarely, as far north as North Carolina. Their larvae have not 

 been described. Using a combination of fin ray and 

 vertebral counts, we identified advanced larval stages of P. 

 lethostigma and P. albigutta in our collections. Small larvae 

 without the fuU complement of ossified parts could not be 

 identified beyond the generic level, so we treated the entire 

 lot as Paralichthys spp. Although we did not recognize 

 larvae of P. squamilentus, it probably spawns as far north as 

 the Carolinas. Juveniles have been collected in estuaries of 

 both North and South Carolina (Rothschild and Deubler 

 1960; Bearden 1971). 



All four species spawn in fall and early winter. We caught 

 P. dentatus larvae, mostly north of Cape Hatteras, from 

 September to May. South of the cape, larvae of 

 Paralichthys spp. occurred from November into April. 

 Spawning apparently peaked in late November or early 

 December, as we made our largest catch of larvae in 

 mid-December (Table 10). Larvae were not abundant at any 

 of the stations south of Cape Hatteras, but most of those 

 that we collected were on the outer half of the shelf. Some of 

 the larvae probably represented local spawning, while 

 others were transported into the survey area from spawning 

 grounds to the south (Fig. 35). 



Scophthalmua aquonu (Mitchill), windowpane.— Win- 

 dowpane range from Maine to Florida (Gutherz 1967), but 

 their distribution north of Cape Cod is restricted to isolated 

 locations (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). The Middle 

 Atlantic Bight is the area where windowpane occur in 

 greatest numbers. Trawl records at this laboratory indicate 

 that the bulk of the population inhabits coastal waters from 

 southern New England to Chesapeake Bay. Larval stages 

 were described by Moore (1947), Bigelow and Schroeder 

 (1953), and Colton and Marak (1969). 



North of Cape Cod, spawning occurs in spring and 

 summer (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). Perlmutter (1939) 

 reported that the spawning season is similar in Long Island 

 Sound, with maximum egg production from late May to 

 mid-June. Wheatland (1956), however, reported a split 

 spawning season in Long Island Sound in 1952 and 1953. She 

 collected eggs and larvae from late April through July and 

 from mid-September through late October and early 

 November. 



Our catches indicate that, while spawning continued 

 throughout most of the year, it was not a year-round event 

 anywhere in the survey area, but shifted seasonally. 

 Spawning began in April south of Chesapeake Bay, reached 

 its peak in May, and ended by June. It advanced northward 

 to New Jersey and New York during the summer but did not 



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