for the Sound has increased in the past several years. Landing statistics for 

 New Jersey to Rhode Island, inclusive, show menhaden landings increased 

 from 40<,6 million pounds in 1970 to 172o6 million pounds in l973o It is 

 likely that a large portion of these landings were caught in Long Island 

 Sound « 



Over 100 species of finfish are known in Long Island Soundo This 

 includes cartilaginous fish such as sharks and skates, and many bony fishes. 

 Table 5 summarizes the 61 most common species in the Sound. Many of the species 

 are important along Cape Cod, Block Island Sound, Gardiners Bay, and the New 

 York Bight, and occur in the Sound mainly as juveniles or during spawning. 

 This is true of mackerel and herring, as well as others. The Sound, with its 

 high concentration of plankton, tremendous quantities of bottom fauna, and its 

 abundance of forage fishes, appears to be an excellent nursery area for smaller 

 fishes (5)o Plankton-feeding fishes such as menhaden and Atlantic herring 

 utilize the Sound's planktonic resources, while the various flatfish feed on 

 the dense population of worms and molluscs on the bottom. Many forage fishes 

 such as the bay anchovy, the sheepshead minnow, several species of killifish, 

 silversides, sticklebacks, grubby sculpin, goby, rock eel, and American sand- 

 launce are common residents of the Sound. Oceanic species of fish usually 

 enter the eastern and sometimes western ends of the Sound during the spring 

 and summer. Fishes that may have been present during the colder months may 

 leave in spring and summer as water temperatures increase in the Sound. 

 Other species using the Sound during the summer may leave in ihe autumn 

 when the temperature begins to decrease. 



Spawning and nursery requirements vary a great deal with different 

 species of fish. Menhaden enter the Sound in late spring and remain through 

 September. Eggs of menhaden are pelagic and are released throughout the 

 Sound. Post- larval menhaden then migrate into more estuarine waters along 

 the Connecticut and Long Island shore for further growth before migrating out 

 of the Sound and south for the winter. All estuarine areas in the Sound can 

 be considered nursery grounds for this species. Similarly, other coastal and 

 oceanic species which have pelagic eggs use most of the open Sound waters for 

 spawning. This includes, for example, Atlantic mackerel. Tautog and bay 

 anchovy are other common species that lay pelagic eggs in the Sound waters. 

 Coves, bays, and deeper bottoms also support an intense late winter (February- 

 April) spawning ground for the winter flounder. Many invertebrates also have 

 pelagic larvae which use open Sound waters for development, particularly 

 during May through September. 



Table 5 indicates the type of bottom major species prefer. Many 

 fish prefer clean sand or gravel bottom areas, and most of these areas are 

 considered good nursery areas. These locations may have mysids or shrimp 

 available for food organisms. 



Finfish migration originates chiefly at the eastern end of the 

 Sound although some migration occurs at the western end, even though polluted 



15 



