tion, type of gear, number of stations and samples; and briefly 

 discuss our findings in relation to conclusions drawn by other in- 

 vestigators. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



Temporal and Geographical Collections of Eggs 



Due to limited information on eggs we did not plot egg data by 

 cruise on separate figures as we did for larvae. Distribution and 

 abundance of Atlantic menhaden eggs along the Atlantic coast are 

 shown in Table 1 for the following nine cruises from which eggs 

 were reported: MV Theodore N. Gill (1, 5, and 9), RV Dolphin 

 (D-66-12, D-66-14, and D-66-15), RV Advance II (3 and 4), and 

 RV Eastward (E^2-69). 



Atlantic menhaden eggs have been found at some location off 

 the east coast every month except March. Reintjes (1961) reported 

 that during the Gill cruises in 1953-54, eggs were collected off Cape 

 Lookout, N.C., in December and February, off Cape Fear, N.C., 

 in February, and in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral and Jupiter In- 

 let, Fla. , in January and February. (In Florida, eggs or larvae could 

 be either Atlantic menhaden or yellowfin menhaden, B. smithi.) 

 Kendall and Reintjes (1975) reported that during the Dolphin 

 cruises in 1965-66, eggs were collected at widely scattered locations 

 from Long Island, N.Y., to Delaware Bay in October, and just 

 north of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay in November. Other in- 

 vestigators (Wheatland 1956; Richards 1959; Herman 1963; Mat- 

 thiessen') have reported eggs from New York and New England 

 waters from April to October. 



'Matthiessen, G. C, Rome Point Investigations, Quarterly Progress Reports 

 for June-August 1972; September-November 1972; July 3-August 29, 1973; 

 September-November 1973. Mimeo Rep. Marine Research. Inc., East Wareham, 

 Mass. 



The incubation period of eggs is only 36 to 48 h (Kuntz and 

 Radcliffe 1918), so eggs from a particular spawning are unlikely to 

 become widely dispersed before they hatch. As a result, there are 

 likely to be a few places where eggs are heavily concentrated and 

 vast areas where there are few or no eggs. Random or systematic 

 sampling, therefore, will produce many collections with no eggs 

 and a few collections with a large number of eggs. During the 

 November-February period in the South Atlantic, when 

 menhaden eggs are most likely to be present, Reintjes (1961) found 

 eggs at 12 of 267 stations, with only three of those stations contain- 

 ing more than 100 eggs. Of 1 ,088 samples collected from Martha's 

 Vineyard, Mass., to Cape Lookout, N.C., reported by Kendall 

 and Reintjes (1975), only 6 contained eggs. From other cruise data, 

 eggs were identified in samples at 50 of 1 ,542 stations off North 

 Carolina and South Carolina in November, December, and 

 January when menhaden would be expected to spawn. The largest 

 number of eggs from a series of tows in the same area was about 

 500,000, taken in December 40 km southeast of New River Inlet, 

 N.C., from a patch of eggs estimated to have been about 9 km in 

 diameter {Dolphin cruise 66-15). Estimates of egg abundance, 

 however, are undoubtedly low because many cruises were concern- 

 ed only with larvae, and eggs were not sorted and identified from 

 the samples. 



Generally eggs were near the surface. None were found in 

 samples from oblique tows. In all instances they were taken by sur- 

 face tows or tows 10 m or less in depth, supporting the conclusion 

 by Reintjes (1969) that Atlantic menhaden eggs are buoyant in 

 ocean waters. 



Temporal and Geographical Collections of Larvae 



Larval data for each cruise are shown in Table 2. Cruise area, 

 station locations, and larval distribution and abundance for 

 selected cruises are shown in Figures 1 to 11, Appendix I. 

 Menhaden larvae were taken more frequently and over wider areas 



Table 1. — Distribution and abundance of Atlantic menhaden eggs along the Atlantic coast are shown for the 

 following nine cruises from which eggs were reported: MV Theodore N. G///U, 5, and 9); RV Dolphin (D-66-12, 

 D-66-14, and D-66-15); RV Advance II (3 and 4); and RV Eastward (E-42-69). 







No. 



stations 









Distance 





Cruise 



Bv 



With 





No. 





from shore 



Vessel 



no. 



cruise 



eggs 



Month 



eggs 



Location 



(km) 



RV Dolphin 



66-12 



92 



5 



Oct. 



2,000 + 



Northeast end of Long 

 Island, N.Y., to east of 

 Delaware Bay. 



14-82 





66-14 



92 



1 



Nov. 



<100 



Northeast Cape Char- 

 les, Va. 



24 



RV Eastward 



E-42-69 



22 



13 



Nov. 



1.627 



East-northeast Cape 

 Lookout, N.C. 



15-77 



MV Gill 



9 



67 



1 



Dec. 



47 



South Cape Lookout, 

 N.C. 



30 



RV Dolphin 



66-15 



85 



30 



Dec. 



500,000 + 



Southeast New River 

 Inlet, N.C. 



26-134 



RV Advance II 



3 



SI 



4 



Dec. 



14 



Southeast Cape Fear, 

 N.C. 



4S-72 





4 



91 



2 



Jan. 



77 



Southeast Cape Fear, 

 N.C. 



120-140 



MV Gill 



5 



66 



1 



Jan. 



4 



North of Jupiter Inlet, 

 Fla. 



14 









3 



Feb. 



33 



South of Cape Lookout 

 and east of Cape Fear, 

 N.C. 



29-62 









3 



Feb. 



2,025 



Vicinity Cape Canaver- 

 al, Fla. 



34-96 





1 



52 



3 



Feb. 



659 



Vicinity Jupiter Inlet, 

 Fla. 



5-25 



