Table 16 The seasonal distribution of Symphurus spp. larvae by size. 



Numbers are adjusted to standardize sampling effort. 



consisted largely of the same species that we caught earlier 

 (Fig. 67). 



The distribution of larvae changed in August. Most 

 specimens occurred at inshore stations, and the areal extent 

 of their distribution reached northward to Maryland (Fig. 

 68). These shifts in distribution and the increased catch over 

 June (Table 16) led us to conclude that the catch consisted 

 largely of a different species, probably S. plagiusa, the most 

 commonly occurring tong^efish off North Carolina. 



By October, the catch began to decline again (Table 16). 

 Larvae were scattered, and their distribution had receded to 

 waters south of Chesapeake Bay (Fig. 69). The catch 

 declined further in November, and the distribution of 

 larvae continued to recede southward. Catches were light, 

 and most larvae occurred along the outer half of the sheU 

 south of Cape Hatteras, an area traversed by the Gulf 

 Stream (Fig. 70). In December (1965), we caught Sym- 

 phurus specimens only south of Cape Hatteras (Fig. 71). 

 Catches on the three fall cruises presumably represented a 

 late spawning of S. plagiusa, and an influx of one or more of 

 the other four species from south of Cape Lookout. 



Hildebrand and Cable (1930) concluded from their larval 

 collections that S. plagiusa spawned from May to October 

 near Cape Lookout, with a peak in June. They apparently 

 discounted the possibility of their specimens being anything 

 butS. plagiusa, and may have been justified in doing so since 

 they sampled to a maximum depth of about 21 m. Throughout 

 the year, we caught Symphurus larvae from Maryland to 



North Carolina. Their center of abundance occurred at 

 seaward stations over depths of 50 to 185 m between the 

 North Carolina capes, and, with the exception of catches from 

 August to early October, their overall distribution in the 

 survey area appeared strongly influenced by the Gulf Stream 

 (Fig. 72). 



LITERATURE CITED 



ARNOLD. E. L.. JR. 



1959. The Gulf V plankton sampler. In Galveston Biological Lab- 

 oratory fishery research for the year ending June 30, 1959, p. 

 111-113. U.S. Fish WUdl. Serv.. Circ. 62. 

 BEARDEN, CM. 



1971 . Occurrence of juvenile broad flounder, ParaUchthys sgua- 

 miientxis, in South Carolina coasttd waters. Copeia 1971: 729- 

 730. 

 BIGELOW. H. B. 



1933. Studies of the waters of the Continental Shelf, Cape Cod to 

 Chesapeake Bay. 1. The cycle of temperature. Pap. Phys. 

 Oceanogr. Meteorol. 4, 135 p. 

 BIGELOW, H. B., and W. C. SCHROEDER. 



1953. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. U.S. Fish WUd. Serv., Fish. 

 BuU. 53. 577 p. 

 BULLIS, H. R., JR., and J. R. THOMPSON. 



1965. Collections by the exploratory fishing vessels Oregon, Silver 

 Bay, Combat, and Pelican made during 1956 to 1960 in the south- 

 western North Atlantic. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. 

 Fish. 510, 130 p. 



64 



