than eggs. Overall, larvae occurred in 15% of all samples taken, 

 although frequency of capture was considerably greater during 

 periods and in areas of menhaden spawning activity. Reintjes 

 (1961) found larvae at 20% of the 252 stations sampled between 

 November and April south of Cape Hatteras. Kendall and Reintjes 

 (1975) reported them at 20% of 638 stations sampled between 

 December 1965 and December 1966 north of Cape Hatteras. Of 

 the additional cruise data that we examined, larvae were present at 

 27% of the 1,567 stations sampled during a time when spawning 

 would be expected. Because of the patchy distribution of 

 menhaden larvae, most positive samples contained few larvae, 

 while a few accounted for the majority. For example, six samples 

 (Table 3, Density Category < 1000 larvae) (0.6% of positive 

 samples or 0.1% of total samples) accounted for 33,965 (63%) of 

 the larvae, while 664 samples (Table 3, Density Category 1-10 lar- 

 vae) (73%) accounted for only 2,226 (4%) of the larvae. 



Of 60 cruises on which we report, 2 were in the Antilles Current 

 southeast of Florida, 41 were between Florida and Cape Hatteras, 

 9 were between Florida and Chesapeake Bay, 1 was between 

 Florida and Massachusetts, and 7 were between Cape Hatteras and 

 Massachusetts (Table 2). Although larvae have been reported 

 north of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., (Marak and Colton 1961; 

 Herman 1963; Matthiessen footnote 3) we will discuss the seasonal 

 distribution of larvae only in the area between Martha's Vineyard 

 and Florida, since we found no larvae north of Martha's Vineyard 

 or from the Antilles Current. We arbitrarily divided the area into 

 two parts, one extending from Cape Hatteras to Martha's 

 Vineyard and the other from Florida to Cape Hatteras. 



North of Cape Hatteras, where sampling was irregular, larvae 

 were taken throughout most of the year but not necessarily in every 

 month (Table 3). Larval catch per sample was much less than for 

 south of Cape Hatteras, ranging from 0.006 in March to 9.8 in Oc- 

 tober with a mean of 3.4. The Dolphin (Kendall and Reintjes 

 1975), which took samples each month except March and July, 

 caught larvae in each of the other months, except January and 

 September, when only 14 and 25 samples, respectively, were taken. 

 Other investigators (Perlmutter 1939; Wheatland 1956; Richards 

 1959; Herman 1963) have reported larvae north of Long Island 

 from May to October. 



South of Cape Hatteras, approximately 63% of the samples 

 were collected from November to April, the period when all larvae 

 were caught. Larval catch per sample ranged from 0.2 in April to 

 44.4 in December with a mean of 1 1.5. The four most productive 

 months were from December to March (Table 3). From May to 

 October, 1,493 samples were taken, but they contained no larvae 

 (Table 3). Larvae collected off Cape Canaveral in November, a 

 time when no other larvae were caught south of about Cape Re- 

 main, S.C., probably were yellowfin menhaden, which are known 

 to spawn in the area at that time (Hildebrand 1948; June 1958; 

 Reintjes 1960). The Gill (Reintjes 1961) took samples each month 

 except September but caught larvae only during November, 

 December, February, and March, the most productive month be- 

 ing December, when approximately 22,000 larvae were caught in 

 one Gulf V sample. The Dolphin (Kendall and Reintjes 1975) took 

 samples each month except January, March, and July but caught 

 larvae only during November, December, February, and April, 

 December again being the most productive month. Larvae caught 

 in December were predominately very small (4-6 mm) and were 

 taken in the Cape Hatteras-Cape Lookout area, indicating that 

 spawning was just beginning in the northern portion of the South 

 Atlantic Bight. 



Most larvae were taken between 20 and 75 km from shore. In 

 this zone 2,660 samples (43%) accounted for 40,832 larvae (76%). 

 Less than 20 km from shore 1,052 samples (17%) accounted for 

 2,811 larvae (5%). Between 76 and 130 km, 1,546 samples (25%) 

 contained 3,997 larvae (7%); between 131 and 185 km, 619 

 samples (10%) contained 5,085 larvae (10%); and between 186 and 

 402 km, 309 samples (5%) contained 661 larvae (0.01%). Because 

 larvae in samples from the Newport River were not included in this 

 breakout the total numbers do not agree with those in Table 3. 



There were considerable differences in the numbers of larvae 

 caught by the bongo and neuston nets, the bongo nets averaging 

 2.5 larvae/sample and the neuston nets 25.4. Each oblique bongo 

 sample required about 20 min at 1.5 kn (approximately 250 m 5 

 strained) and each surface neuston sample required about 10 min 

 at 5 kn (approximately 1,500 m J strained). We compared catches, 

 without standardizing gear, only for cruises where both samplers 

 were used and when one or both caught larvae. Each bongo net 

 was considered one sample. Each gear exhibits some bias in that 

 large larvae may avoid the slowly towed bongo nets and small lar- 

 vae are extruded through the larger mesh of the faster towed 

 neuston net. However, the overall results support observations of 

 earlier authors that menhaden larvae appear to be most concen- 

 trated in the upper portions of the water column (Kendall and 

 Reintjes 1975; Nelson et al. 1977). 



TEMPORAL AND GEOGRAPHIC NORMS OF 

 SPAWNING 



The cruise data that we examined show a seasonal and 

 geographic distribution of menhaden larvae (Figs. 12 to 15 Appen- 

 dix I) similar to that inferred from other cruise data by previous in- 

 vestigators, and therefore support the conclusions drawn by Ken- 

 dall and Reintjes (1975) and Higham and Nicholson (1964) that the 

 seasonal distribution and abundance of eggs and larvae coincides 

 with the seasonal distribution of adults. South of Cape Hatteras, 

 menhaden of spawning age generally have moved north by late 

 April and do not return again until late October or November. Lar- 

 vae also are absent during this period, except for a few found in 

 April (Table 3). North of Cape Hatteras, where menhaden of 

 spawning age are found at some place in nearly every month of the 

 year, larvae also have been reported in nearly every month, 

 although spawning in late fall and winter is mainly restricted to the 

 area south of Delaware Bay. The broad seasonal and geographic 

 occurrences of eggs and larvae indicate that spawning probably 

 takes place over a wide range of temperature. 



In October, November, and December, significant numbers of 

 larvae were taken along much of the east coast, when menhaden 

 were moving southward (Fig. 12, Appendix I). Larvae were first 

 taken offshore of Long Island in October and were not found 

 north of New Jersey after that month. As spawners moved pro- 

 gressively down the coast, larvae appeared over the entire shelf 

 area from New Jersey to Cape Hatteras. They were not found 

 south of Cape Hatteras before November but extended as far 

 south as Cape Romain by December. 



During January, February, and March, larvae were concen- 

 trated in the South Atlantic Bight although a few occurred as far 

 north as New Jersey in February (Fig. 13, Appendix I). Distribu- 

 tion appeared continuous from North Carolina to Florida and off- 

 shore to the inner edge of the Gulf Stream. 



In April, May, and June during the spring northward migration, 

 larvae appeared progressively later up the coast as older fish moved 

 north (Fig. 14, Appendix I). By May larvae were found only from 



