Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 



587 



^^i 



QUEBEC 



> LABRADOR \ \ \ ^ 



CURRENT ^ . \\ "* 



\ N > 



Figure 139. Prevailing circulation, spring and summer, around Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 and along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia. After Huntsman. 



Capelin hatched along the northern part of the coast of western Nev/foundland, 

 together with the older juvenile fish, may similarly be expected to drift at first north- 

 ward and then outward along the southern side of the Strait of Belle Isle, if they travel 

 that far. Off the coast of eastern Newfoundland, however, where the main drift of 

 the Labrador Current lies well out from the coast (usually skirting the eastern edge 

 of the Grand Bank rather than flooding the latter), the Capelin might be expected 

 to either pass their juvenile years nearby or disperse over the Bank. This expecta- 

 tion is borne out by the localities where the larvae and older juveniles have been taken 



(Fig- 137)- 



Presumably the waves of Capelin that occasionally invade the Bay of Fundy are 

 carried thither by the ice-chilled Nova Scotian Current which brings water colder than 

 3°C (37°— 38°F) along the Nova Scotian coast and into the eastern side of the Gulf 

 of Maine at some time in the spring in most years (Fig. 138)." It is not likely that 

 any Capelin or their offspring ever find their way north again, if any succeed in repro- 

 ducing that far south. 



37. For additional details, see Bigelow, 7: 831, %i,z\ Taylor, et al., tog: 511, fig. 14. 



