Table 8. --Monthly distribution and length range (mm in parentheses) of 

 bay anchovy collected in samples from all gears combined in the up- 

 per and lower river. 



Month 



Total 

 number 



Jan. 

 Feb. 

 Mar. 

 Apr, 



May 



89 87 9 



(43-82) (47-81) (53-73) 



26 194 22 



(45-78) (53-69) (58-70) 



21 

 (38-73) 



14 



560 



518 



185 



263 



Adult spot containing well-developed roe were 

 taken from gill nets in Zone 6 during October. 

 They apparently left the estuary after October 

 and moved offshore to spawn. The cyclic dis- 

 tribution of spot paralleled that of Atlantic men- 

 haden, the chief differences being that spot at- 

 tained peak abundance in the catches during 

 March and did not move upstream to as great 

 an extent as menhaden. Disparity in peaks of 

 abundance of these two species probably reflects 

 the high vulnerability of juvenile menhaden to 

 the surface trawl. 



Atlantic Silverside 



This species was also widely distributed in the 



system and occurred in samples throughout the 

 year (Table 10). Although Atlantic silverside 

 has been recorded from fresh waters on many 

 occasions, the species was never taken in Zone 1 

 and was collected only in limited numbers in 

 Zone 2. Collections indicated that spawning oc- 

 curred in April and May, and the species reached 

 peak abundance in the collections in June. 



Striped Mullet 



Postlarval striped mullet first appeared in 

 samples from the estuary in November and were 

 taken in Zone 3 in December (Table 11). The 

 species apparently spawns over an extensive pe- 

 riod as larvae persisted in samples through April. 



15 



