11-40 



No scup have been observed to be impinged on New Haven Harbor 

 Station traveling screens; this correlates well with their observed 

 scarcity in the inner harbor. Other Long Island Sound electric gener- 

 ating facilities (notably Millstone, NUSCO, 1977) have occasionally 

 reported impingement of 1 to 4 individuals per day. 



In southern New England, scup are reported to spawn from May 

 to August with the maximum reproductive effort usually occurring in June 

 (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953). In New Haven Harbor collections, scup 

 eggs (buoyant) have not been differentiated from those of the weakfish 

 (Cynoscion regalis) and silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis) , Peak 

 densities of larvae identified as S. chrysops have been recorded for May 



1975 (0.14 per m ). June 1977 was the only other occasion when these 



3 

 larvae were collected in New Haven Harbor (less than 0.01 per m ). 



Ichthyoplankton records from other Long Island Sound power plants indi- 

 cated that the highest 1976 scup larval densities occurred at Millstone 



3 

 (approximately 0.04 per m ) in June. According to Wheatland (1956), New 



Haven is near the western boundary for spawning of scup in Long Island 



Sound; this supports the observation of low densities of eggs and 



larvae that were collected and the infrequency of adults. 



Summer Flounder (Paral'iahthys dentatus) 



The summer flounder, also called "fluke", is a deepwater, 

 bottom-dwelling flatfish of siibstantial commercial and recreational 

 interest (Poole, 1962; Jensen, 1971) . Portions of the offshore popu- 

 lation come close inshore during the warm half of the year, hence the 

 origin of the common name. It is primarily the younger, smaller indi- 

 viduals that move well up into the harbors and estuaries of Long Island 

 Sound. Slimmer flounder are predators of epibenthic and tychoplanktonic 

 crustaceans, probably feeding on Crangon, Neomysis , and winter flounder 

 juveniles in New Haven Harbor (Poole, 1964) . 



As with any groundfish, the otter trawl was the most efficient 

 sampling device employed in the New Haven Harbor studies (Figure 11-12) . 



