SEASONAL OCCURRENCE OF MARINE FISHES 

 IN FOUR SHORE HABITATS 

 NEAR BEAUFORT, N. C, 1957-60 



by 

 Marlin E. Tagatz and Donnie L. Dudley 



U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory 



Beaufort, North Carolina 



ABSTRACT 



Monthly frequency of occurrence and size range of marine 

 fishes in four shore habitats in the vicinity of Beaufort, N. C, were 

 determined by a 3-year seining program. The largest number of 

 fish was collected during spring, and the least number was obtained 

 during winter. Most species occurred during summer and fall. Col- 

 lections contained 65 species representing 34 families. 



INTRODUCTION 



Marine fishes of North Carolina 

 and specifically those of Beaufort have 

 been reviewed by various investigators 

 over the past 80 years. Fishes of North 

 Carolina were treated in a descriptive 

 catalog compiled by Smith (1907). Salt 

 and brackish water species recorded 

 from the State since the publication of 

 Smith's work were listed by Hildebrand 

 (1941). Fowler (1945) reported on the 

 occurrence of fishes in North Carolina 

 in a study of fishes of the southern 

 Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Buller 

 (1951) listed fishes obtained by trawl 

 in a fishery survey off the coasts of 

 Virginia, North Carolina, and South 

 Carolina. Fishes of Beaufort, N. C, 

 were dealt with in early catalogs com- 

 piled by Yarrow (1877) and by Jordan 

 and Gilbert (1879). Subsequent con- 

 tributions were made by Jordan (1886), 

 Jenkins (1887), Linton (1905), Coles 

 (1910), Gudger (1910, 1912a, 1912b, 



Note.--Marlin E. Tagatz, Fishery Research Biologist, and 

 Donnie L. Dudley, Fishery Technician. 



1913a, and 1913b), and Radcliffe (1916). 

 Hildebrand and Cable (1930 and 1938) 

 studied the development and life his- 

 tory of some teleostean fishes at Beau- 

 fort. Fishes of the Neuse River (near 

 Beaufort) were treated in an annotated 

 list of 55 recorded species compiled 

 by Evermann and Cox (1896). The 

 present study is a report on a 3-year 

 seining program (March 1957-February 

 1960) which was conducted to determine 

 monthly frequency of occurrence and 

 size range of salt and brackish water 

 fishes in the inshore waters of the 

 Beaufort area. 



The authors wish to thank Dr. 

 Earl E. Deubler, Jr., University of 

 North Carolina Institute of Fisheries 

 Research, Morehead City, N. C, for 

 his aid in identification of certainfishes 

 and review of manuscript. 



DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTING 

 STATIONS 



Four stations which represented 

 different ecological situations were 



