Abundance And Size 



145 



once-monthly sampling (Hettler and Barker 1993). Since that study, analysis of 

 a daily sampling experiment at Beaufort Inlet concluded that sampling weekly or 

 more often significantly increases confidence in larval abundance estimates 

 (Hettler et al. 1997) . The objective of my study was to sample weekly at two of 

 the three inlets connecting Pamlico Sound directly to the Atlantic Ocean (Ore- 

 gon Inlet and Ocracoke Inlet) to compare their relative contribution as larval fish 

 pathways to the marine species nursery grounds in the sound and adjacent tribu- 

 taries as identified by Epperly and Ross (1986). 



METHODS 

 Oregon Inlet is the only inlet into Pamlico Sound north of Cape Hatteras 

 and lies in the temperate Virginian Province near the southern end of the 

 Labrador Current (Fig. 1). Ocracoke Inlet, the largest inlet in North Carolina and 

 one of two inlets connecting Raleigh Bay (located between Cape Hatteras and 

 Cape Lookout) with Pamlico Sound, lies in the subtropical Carolinian Province. 

 These inlets were sampled for 27 consecutive weeks between October 1994 and 

 April 1995 during the ingress of larvae of six targeted species of fall-winter 

 spawning fishes, five of which contribute 85% of the total commercial fish catch 

 in North Carolina (Miller et al. 1984). 



Fig. 1. Study location. 



Cape 

 Hatteras 



10 20 30 



