4-63 



above, but may also be due to the preference for inshore areas by ancho- 

 vies {Wheatland, 1956; Herman, 1963) . 



May through December larvae: egg ratios for 1975 through 1977 



(1:1.56, 1:3.87 and 1:5.31, respectively) are comparable with the 1:5.5 

 ratio calculated by Wheatland (1956) for 1953; the 1952 ratio (1:14.4) 

 may have reflected sampling errors as well as increased mortality 



(Wheatland, 1956) . Thus, it appears that egg mortality estimates from 



New Haven Harbor are fairly consistent with data from two decades earlier. 



Pseudopteuponeates ameTvoanus 



Winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus , spawn in upper 

 reaches of estuaries at salinities from 3.2 to 29.5 ppt. Eggs and early 

 larval stages are nondispersive, remaining near the areas in which they 

 were spawned. In the Long Island Sound area, spawning commences in 

 December, peaks in March and then declines (Wheatland, 1956; Pearcy, 

 1962; Herman, 1963) . In New Haven Harbor, P. americanus larvae were 

 present from March through June in 1975 and 1976 and from April through 

 July in 1977 (Figure 4-26) . Peak densities occurred during May (1975) 

 and April (1976 and 1977) ; the 1974 program did not cover the appropri- 

 ate time period to contribute information about P. americanus larval 

 distribution (Table 4-12) . April and/or May maxima have also been 

 observed in Long Island Sound by Battelle (1977) and Wheatland (1956) 

 (Table 4-12) , while Pearcy (1962) found maximum larval densities during 

 March and April 1959 in the Mystic River. Such differences in timing of 

 maximum densities reflect tidal action removing larvae from the estu- 

 aries (Wheatland, 1956) . Warfel and Merriman (1944) believed that the 

 Morris Cove area of New Haven Harbor (sampled with 30-foot seine) was an 

 important nursery area. 



Monthly concentrations of winter flounder larvae in New Haven 

 Harbor from 1974 through 1977 were generally lower than those found by 

 Pearcy (1962) in the Mystic River, as well as by Battelle (1977) near 

 Millstone Point in 1976 and in Long Island Sound in 1954 and 1955 were 



