Table 3. 



-Number of stations, number of samples, number of samples with Atlantic menhaden larvae (by density category), number of larvae 

 each month for all years combined 1953-75, and number of larvae per sample, north and south of Cape Hatteras, N.C. 





Total 



Total 









Density category 

















1-10 larvae 



11-100 larvae 



101-1,000 larvae 



^ 1,000 larvae 



















No. larvae 



Area and 



no. 



no. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No samples 



No. 



per total 



month 



stations 



samples 



samples 



larvae 



samples 



larvae 



samples 



larvae 



samples 



larvae 



with larvae 



larvae 



no. samples 



North Cape Hatteras 



























Jan. 



9 



14 











































0.00 



Feb. 



136 



237 



18 



43 



2 



26 



1 



628 











21 



697 



2.94 



Mar. 



168 



338 



2 



2 



























2 



2 



0.01 



Apr. 



82 



125 



3 



4 



1 



12 



















4 



16 



0.13 



May 



82 



129 



3 



3 



























3 



3 



0.02 



June 



83 



129 



2 



3 



1 



11 



















3 



14 



0.11 



July 



82 



164 



2 



2 



























2- 



2 



0.01 



Aug. 



82 



146 



5 



7 



























5 



7 



0.05 



Sept. 



12 



25 











































0.00 



Oct. 



307 



582 



88 



290 



28 



772 



6 



2,123 



1 



2,553 



123 



5,738 



9.86 



Nov. 



72 



114 



30 



80 



5 



263 



















35 



343 



3.01 



Dec. 



99 



154 



29 



72 



3 



154 



1 



181 











33 



407 



2.64 



Total 



1,214 



2,157 



182 



506 



40 



1,238 



8 



2,932 



1 



2,553 



231 



7,229 



3.35 



South Cape Hatteras 



























Jan. 



301 



617 



185 



824 



80 



2,118 



13 



4,007 











278 



6,949 



11.26 



Feb. 



253 



476 



116 



373 



44 



1,629 



10 



3,601 



2 



2,859 



172 



8,462 



17.78 



Mar. 



178 



382 



66 



227 



30 



887 



2 



206 



2 



6,553 



100 



7,873 



20.61 



Apr. 



142 



243 



21 



55 



























21 



55 



0.23 



May 



205 



308 











































0.00 



June 



51 



76 











































0.00 



July 



297 



401 











































0.00 



Aug. 



235 



420 











































0.00 



Sept. 



23 



49 











































0.00 



Oct. 



162 



239 











































0.00 



Nov. 



182 



306 



32 



81 



5 



124 



















37 



205 



0.67 



Dec. 



287 



512 



62 



160 



6 



187 



2 



378 



1 



22,000 



71 



22,725 



44.38 



Total 



2,316 



4,029 



482 



1,720 



165 



4,945 



27 



8,192 



5 



31,412 



679 



46,269 



11.48 



Grand total 3,530 



6,186 



664 



2,226 



205 



6,183 



35 



11,124 



6 



33,965 



910 



53,498 



8.65 



about Cape Hatteras to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and by 

 June only off New Jersey and Delaware. Although only a few lar- 

 vae were taken north of Long Island, where only limited sampling 

 was done, other investigators (Perlmutter 1939; Wheatland 1956; 

 Richards 1959) have reported larvae in Long Island Sound from 

 April through September, with a peak usually occurring in June. 



From July to September there is no evidence of spawning south 

 of Cape Hatteras, and north of Cape Hatteras spawning appears 

 to be limited and confined to coastal waters from northern New 

 Jersey northward. The few larvae reported were all from this area 

 (Fig. 15, Appendix I). From cruise data that we examined no 

 samples were taken from Long Island Sound or Narragansett Bay, 

 and no larvae were reported north of Cape Cod where only eight 

 samples were taken. Other investigators (Marak and Colton 1961; 

 Herman 1963) however, have reported larvae from these areas dur- 

 ing summer. During this season few menhaden of spawning age 

 are found south of Long Island. 



A large sample of larvae taken 400 km east of Chesapeake Bay 

 in February indicates either that some menhaden spawn in warm 

 waters near the Gulf Stream or that larvae spawned farther south 

 have become entrained in Gulf Stream waters. In either case these 

 larvae do not appear to have much chance of reaching the 

 estuaries, which they must do in order to metamorphose and sur- 

 vive. 



CONCLUSIONS 



From about December to March most spawning age fish con- 

 centrate in offshore waters south of Cape Hatteras, N.C. Max- 

 imum numbers probably spawn during this period. As fish begin 

 moving north in late March, spawning continues, but at a decreas- 

 ing rate. By May most of the spawning is restricted to coastal areas 

 north of Cape Hatteras. By about June, when fish are stratified by 

 age and size along the coast, spawning has reached a minimum. 

 From about June to September, when nearly all menhaden of 

 spawning age are north of Long Island, N.Y., spawning continues 

 at a low level. As large numbers again begin to mature sexually in 

 October, spawning increases in ocean waters from about Long 

 Island to Virginia as the population migrates south along the coast. 

 By December most of the fish are south of Cape Hatteras. Spawn- 

 ing north of there decreases while increasing to a maximum off the 

 Carolinas. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The authors express their appreciation to the following in- 

 dividuals and organizations for providing cruise data, and, in some 

 cases, special cruises, to aid in this study: Thomas W. McKinney, 

 Arthur Posgay, Kenneth Sherman, Arthur W. Kendall, and W.G. 



