4-71 



Labrid egg abundance in New Haven Harbor compared favorably 

 with Herman's (1963) data from Narragansett Bay and with Wheatland's 

 (1956) data from Long Island Sound (Table 4-14) . However, abundances at 

 Millstone Point during 1973 and 1974 (Battelle, 1977) were generally two 

 orders of magnitude greater than those reported from other areas (Table 

 4-14) . These comparisons suggest that New Haven Harbor is not a unique 

 spawning area for Labrids . 



Urophyois/Enche lyopus/Pepri- lus Eggs 



As noted earlier, this group probably receives its greatest 

 contribution from E. cimbrius , since this species has been the most 

 abundant of this egg type in other investigations (Wheatland, 1956; 

 Richards, 1959; Herman, 1963; Williams, 1968; Battelle, 1977) . Eggs of 

 this type were present in New Haven Harbor between February and Septem- 

 ber, corresponding to the observations of Battelle (1977) and Wheatland 

 (1956) . Eggs were most abundant during April and May both in New Haven 

 Harbor as well as other areas of Long Island Sound (Table 4-15) . 



Greater numbers of eggs were collected at Station 8 in 1975 

 and 1977, while during 1976 they were most abundant at Station 20; 

 lowest abundance in each year occurred at Station 6 (Table 4-15) . 

 Inter-year differences were evident, with 1976 a peak year. This 

 differed from the pattern at Millstone Point where 1975 was a peak year 

 and 1976 was a relatively poor year (Table 4-15) . Egg densities in New 

 Haven Harbor from 1975 through 1977 were generally similar to both 

 Millstone (1973, 1974, and 1976) and Long Island Sound (1952 and 1953) 



(Table 4-15) . Inter-year variation by station was somewhat variable and 

 may reflect differences in spawning success of the component species 



(Figure 4-27) . 



In summary, the ichthyoplankton assemblage in New Haven Harbor 

 was dominated by Anchoa spp. eggs and larvae, Labrid eggs and Urophycis/ 

 Enchelyopus/Peprilus eggs, and was similar to assemblages noted in other 



