DISTRIBUTION OF FISH EGGS AND LARVAE, 



TEMPERATURE, AND SALINITY IN THE 

 GEORGES BANK-GULF OF MAINE AREA, 1955 



by 



Robert R. Marak 1 , John B. Colton, Jr. 



and Donald B. Foster 2 



Fishery Research Biologists 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Woods Hole, Massachusetts 



ABSTRACT 



Basic data on the distribution of fish eggs and larvae in the Georges Bank-Gulf 

 of Maine area were collected on surveys made by the Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries research vessel Albatross III during the spring of 1955. The data are pre- 

 sented in tabular and graphic form. Plots and tables of surface temperature and 

 salinity are also included. 



INTRODUCTION 



This is the second in a series of reports 

 presenting basic data on fish egg and larvae 

 surveys made on the research vessel Albatross III 

 in the Georges Bank-Gulf of Maine area. 



Information on the background of the sur- 

 veys, objectives, methods, and procedures fol- 

 lowed at sea and in the laboratory are given 

 in the report for 1953 (Marak and Colton, 

 1961). 



COLLECTION OF DATA 



Four cruises were made during the spring 

 of 1955: cruise no. 57, February 21 to March 

 2; cruise no. 58, March 19 to April 1; cruise 

 no. 60, April 19 to May 2; cruise no. 61, 

 May 16-28. The February cruise was added to 

 the program this year because the data col- 

 lected in 1953 showed that haddock spawning 

 had begun earlier than March. These surveys 

 were designed to cover the entire spawning 

 period of haddock. 



The procedure involved continuous towing 

 of the Hardy Plankton Recorder 3 (Hardy, 1936 

 and 1939) at the surface and 10 meters, bathy- 

 thermograph lowerings, surface temperature 

 and salinity observations, drift bottle releases, 

 and surface tows with a 1-meter net*. 



A list of the species of fish eggs and larvae 

 (with species code letters used in the tables), 

 collected during the 1955 survey cruises, is 

 given in tabled. 



Data for temperature and salinity observa- 

 tions in relation to 1-meter tows and Hardy 

 Plankton Recorder gauze sections are given 

 in tables 2-5. 



The cruise plan and methods (Hardy Plankton 

 Recorder, 1-meter net tows, and drift bottles) 

 used aboard ship for the collection of data 

 presented in this report are the same as those 

 followed in the spring of 1953 (Marak and 

 Colton, 1961). 



Although slight changes were made in the 

 track of the vessel ( to make use of knowledge 

 gained from the 1953 (cruises), the basic 

 pattern and area covered were essentially 



'Temporarily detailed to Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Bio- 

 logical Laboratory, Auke Bay, Alaska. 



* Presently employed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 

 Woods Hole, Massachusetts. 



No. 3 silk was used in making the gauzes for the Hardy Plankton 

 Recorder. 



No. silk was used in the 1 -meter net. 



