Hernandez et al.: Variability in ichthyoplankton abundance and composition in the northern Gulf of Mexico 
203 
10 
Microdesmus 
spp. 
0 1 I I I I I " H - H 
1 111 
.7(7.. I 
1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — i I 1 r 
ON n .1 F M AM .1 .1 A 
Month 2004-2006 
Figure 4 (continued) 
proximately 50%) and in the aforementioned regional 
surveys (Table 3). Engraulid larvae appear to be more 
abundant in protected coastal waters, as indicated by 
their higher dominance in the surveys of Mobile Bay 
(82%) and Mississippi Sound (69%), both of which are 
shallow estuarine regions. On the basis of identification 
of larger specimens, most of the engraulids collected 
in Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound were Anchoa 
mitchilli and A. hepsetus (Williams, 1983; Rakocinski 
et al., 1996), whereas our collections contained these 
species as well as the coastal species A. nasuta and 
Engrciulis eurystole. The inner shelf taxa Brevoortia 
patronus, Cynoscion arenarius, Micropogonias undula- 
tus, Chloroscombrus chrysurus, and unidentified gobies 
were among the most dominant ichthyoplankton in all 
surveys, including ours. As adults, these fishes are ex- 
