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Fishery Bulletin 107(1 ) 
gansett Bay and Long Island Sound. Two groups were 
identified in the analysis, predominantly segregating 
on the basis of area (Fig. 4). Narragansett Bay data 
from 1993 was an outlier in the multivariate analysis 
(Fig. 4); the lowest abundance of warm-water fish in 
Narragansett Bay was present in this year. 
The SIMPER analysis indicated that the species 
contributing most to the dissimilarity between Nar- 
ragansett Bay and Long Island Sound were rough scad 
( Trachurus lathami ), crevalle jack, blue runner (Caranx 
chrysos), flying gurnard ( Dactylopterus volitans), blues- 
potted coronetfish (Fistularia tabacaria), and the or- 
ange filefish ( Aluterus schoepfi). With the exception of 
crevalle jack, the species contributing to dissimilarity 
were found in moderate numbers and were present in 
greater abundance in one of the locations or during 
different years. The species that were most similar 
among locations were the most abundant, namely At- 
lantic moonfish, northern puffer, planehead filefish, and 
bigeye (Table 2). 
Timing of occurrence of warm-water fishes 
It was expected that because of the close spatial prox- 
imity of the sampling areas, that temperatures in Nar- 
ragansett Bay and Long Island Sound would be similar. 
Temperatures were significantly correlated between 
the two estuaries. Of the several different correlations 
calculated, weekly mean temperatures in Narragansett 
Bay and Long Island Sound were significantly correlated 
(r=0.99; PcO.OOl), as were annual mean surface tem- 
peratures (r=0.83, P<0.001). 
The relationship between annual fish catch and mean 
temperatures was equivocal. Annual abundance in Nar- 
ragansett Bay was significantly correlated with mean 
summer temperatures and annual abundance on Long 
Island Sound was significantly correlated with semi-an- 
nual temperature (Table 3). However, annual abundance 
in Narragansett Bay was not correlated with semi-an- 
nual temperature and annual abundance in Long Island 
Sound was not correlated with summer temperature. 
The general pattern of timing of fish occurrence was 
similar between estuaries. Fish were first caught in 
abundance (>5% of peak) in mid-July (week 30) in both 
Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound at mean 
temperatures of 18°C in both areas (Fig. 5). Peak abun- 
dance occurred in mid-September in both estuaries. 
Last occurrence occurred in November in Narragansett 
Bay, and last occurrence, about 3 weeks later in Long 
Island Sound. Because of their nature, the species ana- 
lyzed prefer warm conditions, and as expected, over 80% 
of the warm-water fishes were caught at temperatures 
between 17 and 21°C and the cumulative temperature 
reached 100% at 23°C (Fig. 6). 
There were mixed results in the examination of the 
patterns of timing of fish appearance and disappear- 
ance. The time of first, peak, and last occurrence were 
not significantly different between Narragansett Bay 
and Long Island Sound (first: £=0.69, df=26; peak: £=1.3, 
df=26; last: t- 2.8, df=26) (Fig. 7). However, there were 
no significant correlations between the interannual pat- 
terns in timing of first, peak, or last appearance among 
years in the two locations. 
The peak week of occurrence of northern puffer was 
weakly correlated between the two areas during 1987- 
2000, but the annual means were very similar between 
estuaries, with a mean percent difference of only 0.32%. 
The final correlations of timing of occurrence were con- 
