11-11 



sons, precision and accuracy of population estimates generated from this 

 data base would be inadequate. We do not, in any case, believe that 

 population estimates are appropriate for the highly variable assemblages 

 of finfish characteristic of New Haven Harbor; our investigation led to 

 a characterization of New Haven Harbor as supporting only part of the 

 life histories that lead to the classical dynamic equilibrium of Ricker 

 (1975) and others. It would be unreasonable to make the assumptions 

 necessary to generate such estimates for New Haven Harbor alone. Thus, 

 the harbor's finfish assemblages and selected species are presented in 

 terms of relative rather than absolute abundance. 



Seventy-four species of finfish were identified from New Haven 

 Harbor samples taken from May 1971 to October 1977 (Table 11-2). Of 

 these, none was exceptionally rare, except the sturgeon, which we 

 believe was of Connecticut River or Hudson River origin; others which 

 were uncommon in the collections were either species at the geographic 

 limit of their distribution (e.g., blue runner, smallmouth floionder) , 

 non-estuarine species (e.g., haddock, pollock), or species not readily 

 caught by the methods used (lamprey, gobies) . The New Haven Harbor 

 ichthyofauna was divided into several categories according to their 

 occurrence in the collections. Three interrelated groups of fishes were 

 distinguished on the basis of habitat usage as indicated by frequency of 

 capture by each of the three methods utilized in this study and by 

 species descriptions available in the literature. These groups are: 



1. shore-zone fishes: associated with intertidal and shal- 

 low subtidal waters; captured predominantly by shore-zone 

 seining; 



2. demersal fishes: associated with the sea floor, gen- 

 erally bottom feeders; captured predominantly by trawls, 

 also present in gill nets; and 



3. pelagic fishes: associated with the water column, gen- 

 erally planktivorous or piscivorous; captured predomi- 

 nantly in gill nets, also present in seines and trawls. 



