Table 5. --Vertebral counts and fork lengths of juvenile Atlantic menhaden in samples from 

 Long Island, N.Y. , estuarine nurseries, 1956-57''- 



Locality and date 



Fish 



in 



sample 



Vertebrae 



-45 



-ie 



47 



48 



49 



Average 



Length 



Range 



Mean 



1956: 

 Reeves Bay 



Aug. 2 



Oct. 10 



Quantuck Creek 



Aiig. 3 



Oct. 9 



Carmans River 



Aug. 3 



Oct. 8 



1957: 



Skiljnans Creek 

 Aug. 10 



Reeves Bay 



July 13 



Sept. 4 



Sept. 4 



Quantuck Creek 



July 14 



Aug. 10 



Sept. 4 



Carmans River 



Aug. 9 



Sept. 4 



Number 



100 

 97 



98 

 95 



100 

 98 



100 



100 



100 



59 



100 



94 



100 



94 

 96 



Number 



Niimber 



2 



30 



7 

 19 



2 



39 



10 



20 

 25 



20 



15 

 42 

 53 



39 

 41 



Number 



80 

 63 



63 

 73 



76 

 57 



74 



77 

 68 

 34 



69 

 48 

 46 



52 

 52 



Niimber 



18 

 3 



28 

 3 



22 



1 



16 



16 

 3 



1 



Number 



Number 



2 47.16 

 ^ 46.70 



2 47.21 

 2 46.83 



2 47.20 

 ^ 46.56 



47.06 



46.83 

 46.70 

 46.71 



47.01 

 46.56 

 46.48 



46.59 

 46.57 



Mm . 



70- 97 

 45- 67 



61- 85 

 26- 61 



65-104 

 45- 56 



111-127 



38- 63 

 37- 77 



86-105 

 25- 50 

 74- 93 



34- 68 

 48- 77 



Mm . 



78.0 

 53.9 



72.4 

 41.0 



84.0 

 50.0 



118.6 



48.3 

 51.7 



94.1 

 33.2 

 82.3 



50.4 

 59.5 



"'■ Vertebral counts from Sutherland (1963) appendix tables 1 and 2. 

 ^ Southern group. 

 ^ Northern group. 



northern estuaries from spring to early sunn- 

 mer 1955-59 were unsuccessful, although 

 larvae and recently metamorphosed juveniles 

 were found in abundance beginning in midsum- 

 mer. The foregoing findings suggest that the 

 larger juveniles in Long Island estuaries were 

 the progeny of an autumn or winter spawning, 

 while the smaller juveniles resulted from a 

 spring or early summer spawning. 



While information on the spatial and tem- 

 poral distribution of spawning is inconnplete, 

 there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate 

 that, south of Long Island, spawning is con- 

 fined to autumn and winter. Massmann, 

 Norcross, and Joseph (1962) reported larvae 

 in plankton tows in ocean waters off Virginia 

 from Novennber to May. McHugh, Oglesby, 

 and Pacheco (1959) found larvae abundant in 



Chesapeake Bay in late April and early May. 

 Reintjes (1961) reported the occurrence of eggs 

 and larvae along the North Carolina coast 

 from Novennber to March, but none during 

 other months of the year . Higham and Nicholson 

 (1964) reported fish in spawning condition in 

 catches off the North Carolina coast during 

 autumn and winter only. 



Although spawning apparently takes place 

 throughout the period that the fish occur in 

 inshore waters north of Long Island, there 

 are two peaks--one in spring and the other in 

 autumn. Little spawning is indicated between 

 June and August. Perlmutter (1939) found 

 maximum numbers of eggs and larvae in Long 

 Island waters in May and only scattered 

 numbers during summer. Wheatland (1956) 

 and Richards (1959) collected eggs and larvae 



