82 David S. Lee 



1952, NCSM records) are winter records seems contradictory to the 

 known habits of this tropical species. Such occurrences should not be 

 interpreted to mean that they are a regular part of the offshore fauna in 

 winter. The same point could be argued for five of the eight Mola 

 reported from South Carolina beaches in December, January, and Feb- 

 ruary (Anderson and Cupka 1973). In both cases individuals may have 

 been numbed by cool sea conditions and transported northward from, 

 to date, undetermined "wintering areas." 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.— Steven P. Platania and Mary Kay 

 Clark, both of the North Carolina State Museum, assisted with many of 

 the offshore surveys. Charles S. Manooch III, National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service, Beaufort Laboratory, and E. Wayne Irvin, NCSM, supplied 

 supplemental data from their trips off Beaufort. George Burgess, Flor- 

 ida State Museum, and Steve Ross, NCSM, both assisted in locating 

 several pertinent literature sources including local records, and reviewed 

 the contents of this note. John E. Cooper provided useful comments on 

 the manuscript. The study was financed in part by contract # 92375- 

 1130-621-16, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Laboratory, Slidell, 

 Louisiana. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Anderson, William D. Jr., and D. M. Cupka. 1973. Records of the ocean 

 sunfish, Mola mola, from the beaches of South Carolina and adjacent 

 waters. Chesapeake Sci. 14(4):295-298. 



Breder, Charles M., Jr. 1932. Fish notes for 1931 and 1932 from Sandy Hook 

 Bay. Copeia 1932(4): 180. 



Briggs, J. C. 1958. A list of Florida fishes and their distribution. Bull. Fla. 

 State Mus. 2:223-318. 



Brimley, H. H. 1939. The ocean sun-fishes on the North Carolina coast. The 

 pointed-tailed Masturus lanceolatus and the round-tailed Mola mola. J. 

 Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 15(2):295-303. 



Dawson, C. E. 1965. Records of two headfishes (Family Molidae) from the 

 north-central Gulf of Mexico. Proc. La. Acad. Sci. 28:86-89. 



Funderburg, J. B., Jr., and T. H. Eaton. 1952. A new record of the pointed- 

 tailed ocean sunfish, Masturus lanceolatus, from North Carolina. Copeia 

 1952(3):200. 



Lee, D. S., and J. Booth. 1979. Seasonal distribution of offshore and pelagic 

 birds in North Carolina waters. Am. Birds 33(5):7 15-721. 



, and W. M. Palmer. 1981. Records of leatherback turtles, Der- 



mochelys coriacea (Linnaeus) and other marine turtles in North Carolina 

 waters. Brimleyana 5:95-106. 



Martin, F. D., and G. E. Drewry. 1978. Development of fishes of the mid- 

 Atlantic bight: an atlas of eggs, larval and juvenile stages. Volume VI. U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service FWS/OBS-78/ 12. 



