coast for January 1932 and 1933, February 

 1932, March 1932, April 1933, June 1932, 

 July 1932, August 1931 and 1932, September 

 1931, 1932, and 1934, October 1931 and 1932, 

 November 1931 and 1932, and December 1932; 

 and for South Carolina for June 1933 and 

 November 1934. 



Records for South Carolina sea bobs are: 

 off Cape Ronnain in November 1934, off Stono 

 Inlet in June 1933, and near Gaskins Bank in 

 January 1934. In northeast Florida I have 

 records for: off St. Johns River, off St. Augus- 

 tine, and off New Smyrna in January 1934; off 

 Cape Kennedy in February 1934; and at St. 

 Augustine Sea Buoy in March 1934. These 

 records, together with the Georgia data, show 

 distribution of the species during the early 

 1930's from Cape Romain, S.C., to Cape 

 Kennedy, Fla. 



In the early 1930's the sea bob was abundant 

 on the Georgia shrimp grounds, in rivers, 

 sounds, and the shallow coastal outside waters. 

 It was especially abundant during late fall and 

 winter when catches of several hundred pounds 

 were not unusual during trawling for white 

 shrimp. Following are examples of individual 

 catches made during our own trawling for 

 white shrimp off Georgia: December 14, 1931, 

 off Sea Island, 113.4 kilograms (250 pounds); 

 January 29, 1932, off Sea Island, 90.7 kilo- 

 grams (200 pounds); February 18, 1932, off 

 Jekyll Island, 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds); Oc- 

 tober 6, 1932, off Sea Island, 68.0 kilograms 

 (150 pounds); November 10, 1932, off Jekyll 

 Island, 11.3 kilograms (25 pounds); Novem- 

 ber 21, 1932, off Sapelo Island, 158.8 kilo- 

 grams (350 pounds); December 6, 1932, off 

 Sea Island, 45.4 kilograms (100 pounds); De- 

 cember 21, 1932, off Sapelo Island, 11.3 kilo- 

 grams (25 pounds); January 5, 1933, off Sea 

 Island, 68.0 kilograms (150 pounds); and Sep- 

 tember 13, 1934, Jekyll Creek, 22.7 kilograms 

 (50 pounds). 



There was no market in the 1930's for sea 

 bobs (known in the Georgia fishery as "hard- 

 backs"), and the catches were shoveled over- 

 side. 



Apparently the abundance of sea bobs on the 

 Georgia shrimping grounds has been drasti- 

 cally reduced since the early 1930's. Frisbie 

 (1967), reporting on a survey of the Georgia 

 shrimp fishery from July 1966 to June 1967 

 that included sampling from both inside and 

 outside fishing grounds -- essentially the 

 same as I fished in the early 1930's, said, 

 "A single specimen of Xiphopeneus kroyeri 

 was found." I have no explanation as to why 

 this once abundant species has apparently 

 almost vanished from the Georgia shrinnping 

 grounds. 



Joyce (1965), reporting on a survey of the 

 shallow coastal shrimp fishery of northeast 

 Florida covering 17 months from July 1962 

 to November 1963, said, "A total of only 42 

 Xiphopeneus kroyeri were taken offshore and 



half of these were caught during the peak 

 month of December 1962. Only one speci- 

 men was taken inshore and that was in 

 October 1962. The first specimens were 

 taken in October and catches increased un- 

 til December. After this peak, catches de- 

 clined rapidly. From February to the end 

 of sampling, only two other specimens were 

 taken." Joyce's sampling in the outside waters 

 ended in June. Neither my records from 

 the early 1930's nor Joyce's in 1962-63 

 indicated sea bobs to be abundant in the 

 shallow coastal shrimp fishery of northeast 

 Florida. 



Georgia 



The Georgia shrimp grounds are a narrow 

 belt along the coast consisting of rivers, 

 sounds, and the close inshore ocean waters. 

 In discussing the sea bob, I treat the fishery 

 as a unit. 



Size distribution . --Figure 13 shows dis- 

 tribution and sex ratios of sea bobs for all 

 months except May. In January, February, and 

 April the mode for males was 93 mm.; in 

 March it was 93 to 98 mm. For females the 

 mode was 98 mn-i. in January, 93 mm. in 

 February, 103 mm. in March, "and 98 mm. in 

 April. By June (I have no records for May) 

 the mode for males was 108 mm. with a size 

 spread of only 93 to 113 mm.; and for females 

 a mode of 128 mm. with a size spread of only 

 113 to 133 mm. The June sample was ob- 

 viously mature adults. 



In July it is apparent that a new crop of sea 

 bobs had appeared on the fishing grounds; the 

 modal lengths were 83 mm. for males and 

 103 mm. for females. The largest males and 

 females of the July samples were not as big 

 as the smallest males and females of the June 

 group. 



The August samples show evidence of con- 

 tinued recruitment of young shrimp onto the 

 fishing grounds, which results in a bimodal 

 size distribution with modes at 73 and 83 mm. 

 for males and 83 and 98 mm. for females. 

 This recruitment -- as evidenced by the pres- 

 ence of shrimp about 53 to 63 mm. long -- 

 continued to November and shifted modes of 

 78 mm. for males in September to 93 mm. 

 in October; the length distribution was bi- 

 modal in November, with modes at 83 and 

 93 mm. For females there was a mode of 

 93 mm. in September, 103 mm. in October, 

 and a bimodal distribution in November with 

 modes at 88 and 103 mm. 



Recruitment of young sea bobs to the fishing 

 grounds evidently ceased or slowed drastically 

 after November. The modes were 93 mm. for 

 males and 98 mm. for females in December -- 

 the same as in January. 



11 



