were <4 mm, and probably had been spawned nearby. 

 Intermediate-sized larvae (4.1 to 8.0 mm) were most 

 abundant in the same area, with lesser concentrations found 

 off the Delmarva Peninsula and off northern New Jersey 

 and Long Island. The presence of larvae >4.0 mm both 

 north and south of the center of abundance suggests that 

 spawning was not restricted to waters off the coast of 

 southern New Jersey, but had occurred before the April 

 cruise from North Carolina to New York. Specimens of 8 to 

 12 mm were taken at just three stations, two off Virginia 

 and one off North Carolina (Fig. 56). 



We caught larvae from Cape Hatteras to southern New 

 England in May, finding two concentrations both larger than 

 that found in April. The smaller of the two was located 110 

 km off Maryland and Delaware. The other covered the small 

 center of abundance found off southern New Jersey in April, 

 and extended north and east to a point 125 km southwest of 

 Montauk Point. Based on the distribution of larvae <4 mm, 

 recent spawning had occurred at depths of 30 to 80 m along a 

 narrow band extending from Virginia to New Jersey, and 

 from eastern Long Island to southern New England at 

 depths of 55 to 75 m. Bottom temperatures off New Jersey 



and Virginia ranged from 6.8° to 8.7°C and off southern New 

 England from 4.1° to 4.9°C. Intermediate-sized larvae, 

 which made up the bulk of the catch, were abundant from 

 Maryland to southern New England, chiefly off Delaware 

 Bay and off the New Jersey coast. Large larvae, more 

 numerous in May than in April, were caught in two separate 

 areas: one off North Carolina and Virginia and the other 

 from Delaware Bay to Long Island. Specimens >12 mm 

 were caught only off North Carolina and Virginia (Fig. 57). 

 In June, the areal extent of larval distribution resembled 

 that of May, but the major concentration had shifted to the 

 north and east of the center of abundance of the previous 

 cruise, and was now positioned off southern New England. 

 The distribution of small larvae indicated that recent 

 spawning occurred only off southern New England at depths 

 of 45 to 75 m and bottom temperatures between 4.5° and 

 8.1°C. As in May, intermediate-sized larvae predominated, 

 but their center of abundance, like that of the smaller group, 

 had moved to the northeastern end of the bight. We caught 

 large larvae from Long Island to North CaroUna. They were 

 most abundant midway out on the shelf south of Long Island 

 and east of New Jersey. Unlike the two groups of 



Table ll+. — The aeaeonal distribution of yellowtail flounder, l^mar^Aa 

 ferruKJnea , larvae by size. Numbers are adjusted to standardize sampling 



53 



