cheek tonguefish {Symphurus plagiusa) , and 

 planehead filefish {Monocanthiis hispidiis). 



Continued sampling through July 1971 added 

 only seven species not collected during 1970. 

 These were chain pickerel (Esox niger) , mos- 

 quitofish (Gambusia af finis), and redear sun- 

 fish (Lepomis microlophus) from the upper 

 river; smooth butterfly ray (Gymniira micriira) , 

 banded rudderfish (Seriola zonata) , red drum 

 {Sciaenops ocellata) , and feather blenny {Hyp- 

 soblennius kentzi) from the lower river. 



NOTABLE OCCURRENCES 



Carcharhinus milberti, 

 sandbar shark 



Two specimens were taken in Zone 6 during 

 September; they were 1,205 and 1,315 mm long. 

 The water temperature was 28.7°C and the sa- 

 linity 32.6'/, at the collection site. According 

 to Radcliff"e (1916), the sandbar shark is rare 

 in the Beaufort region. Occasional specimens 

 have been taken in the bight of Cape Lookout, 

 and two specimens (622 and 654 mm in length) 

 were recorded from Newport River in May 

 1914. 



Sphyrna lewini, 

 scalloped hammerhead 



One specimen, 470 mm long, was taken in 

 Zone 4 during June; water temperature was 

 28.7°C and salinity 24.7%r at the collection lo- 

 cality. This species ranges northward to New 

 Jersey (Casey, 1964), but to our knowledge has 

 not been recorded from inshore waters in North 

 Carolina. 



during April. Water temperature and salinity 

 was 11.2°C and O.O'/r, respectively, at the time 

 of collection. Tagatz and Dudley (1961) found 

 the species abundant in the interconnected but 

 larger Neuse River. 



Harengula pensacolae, 

 scaled sardine 



Scaled sardine are not abundant along the 

 North Carolina coast, and the northern range 

 extremity recorded is Pasquotank River at Eliz- 

 abeth City, N.C. (Fowler, 1945). One male 

 (146 mm) and one female (148 mm) approach- 

 ing spawning condition were collected in Zone 6 

 during late May when water temperature was 

 21.1°C and salinity 31.5'^w at the sampling site. 

 The most advanced eggs ranged from 1.20 to 

 1.47 mm and the average diameter was 1.30 mm. 

 Yolk diameters ranged from 0.93 to 1.20 mm, 

 and the perivitteline space was 0.16 to 0.36 mm 

 in width. A single oil globule was present and 

 ranged from 0.07 to 0.13 mm in diameter. 



Cypselurus heterurus, 

 Atlantic flyingfish 



The type of this species was collected at Beau- 

 fort (Smith, 1907), and other specimens have 

 since been collected offshore (Fowler, 1945). 

 One specimen, a 231-mm female, was taken in 

 Zone 6 during June. Water temperature was 

 24.3°C and salinity 32.3'/^ at the time of collec- 

 tion. 



Ablennes hians, 

 flat needlefish 



A/oso sapid'issima, 

 American shad 



Although apparently once abundant in the 

 Beaufort region (Yarrow, 1874), the American 

 shad has not been since recorded from the up- 

 per reaches of Newport River. That the species 

 remains scarce was attested by the collection of 

 a single adult female (461 mm long) in Zone 1 



Although only one flat needlefish was taken 

 during our survey, several other specimens were 

 collected during subsidiary studies. This spe- 

 cies is apparently not uncommon in the lower 

 reaches of Newport River estuary, however, its 

 occurrence in the Beaufort region has not been 

 recently documented. The specimen was col- 

 lected in Zone 6 during July when the water 

 temperature was 21.1°C and the salinity 

 31.5%f. 



19 



