Munroe and Ross: Distribution and life history of Citharichthys gymnorhinus and C. cornutus 
335 
ment of C. gymnorhinus, Tucker (1982) described the 
northern limit for adult C. gymnorhinus as off Georgia 
(however, his Table 1 noted the geographic range as 
Florida to Guyana). More recently, Walsh et al. (2006) 
have collected five small specimens of this species be- 
tween 35 and 48 m on the inner continental shelf off 
Georgia. Gutherz and Blackman (1970) documented oc- 
currence, based on 34 specimens, of C. gymnorhinus off 
the Florida Keys, the Antilles, off northern and western 
Bahamas, northern Hispaniola, northern Puerto Rico, 
Tobago, and the Caribbean Sea off Colombia, Panama, 
and Nicaragua. An additional record of C. gymnorhinus 
(as an undescribed Citharichthys species) was included 
by Starck (1968) from off Alligator Reef, Florida. Topp 
and Hoff (1972) recorded the species from several addi- 
tional locations, including the continental shelf off west 
Florida, and also at sites off northern Cuba, the Virgin 
Islands, Venezuela, and Guyana. Boschung (1992) listed 
the geographic range as the northern Gulf of Mexico, 
and Bahamas to the western Caribbean and northern 
South America. 
Recent literature and an on-line database synthe- 
sizing information on C. gymnorhinus have perpetu- 
ated misinformation concerning the northern limits of 
distribution for this species. Robins and Ray (1986), 
Cervigon (1996), Saavedra-Diaz et al. (2000), Munroe 
(2003), McEachran and Fechhelm (2005), Lyczkowski- 
Shultz and Bond (2006), Fahay (2007), and Froese 
and Pauly (2010) indicate a northernmost geographical 
limit for adult C. gymnorhinus as the Bahamas or the 
Florida Keys, which is essentially the same distribution 
reported in Gutherz and Blackman (1970) and Topp 
and Hoff (1972). Earlier records of adult C. gymnorhi- 
nus north of the Florida Keys and the Bahamas pub- 
lished after studies by Gutherz and Blackman (1970) 
and Topp and Hoff (1972) were overlooked owing to a 
lack of thorough investigation. Perhaps these oversights 
resulted because citations of C. gymnorhinus from this 
area are infrequent and scattered among species lists 
that are included only in tables or appendices of re- 
gional studies (e.g., Wenner et al., 1979a; 1979b; 1979c; 
1980) or because some records are not vouchered by 
specimens and are difficult to verify. For other studies 
(i.e., Tucker, 1982), conflicting information reported 
within the same work regarding the distribution of this 
species is confusing. 
Bathymetric distribution 
Citharichthys gymnorhinus examined in the present 
study were collected over a depth range from 35 to 201 
m (Appendix 2; Fig. 4B). Approximately 90% (193 of 214) 
of these fish were taken at depths averaging 61-120 m. 
Only 16 individuals were captured shallower than 60 
m, with the shallowest depths recorded (Walsh et al., 
2006) for five individuals taken between 35 and 48 m 
off Georgia (specimens not examined by us). 
Capture locations for 48 C. gymnorhinus collected at 
depths averaging 100 m or more occurred in a variety 
of areas including those off North Carolina and South 
Carolina, in the Straits of Florida, and at the Bahamas. 
Only five individuals (2.3% of the total) examined in the 
present study were collected at depths averaging deeper 
than 120 m, and except for single specimens of C. gym- 
norhinus taken at 130 m and 123-127 m off North 
Carolina and South Carolina, respectively, the other 
three specimens were taken at insular locations off the 
Bahamas (two between 166-193 and one at 201 m). In 
fact, of examined specimens taken at insular locations 
in this region (n=26), all but five were collected at or 
beyond 70 m, and usually much deeper (Appendix 2). 
The depth range summarized in the present study is 
similar to that reported previously for this species. For 
example, Gutherz and Blackman (1970) noted captures 
of C. gymnorhinus in depths of 37-92 m, and one speci- 
men (USNM 203602), their deepest, was collected from 
about 201 m off the Bahamas (27°23'N, 78°35'W) (this 
specimen also represents our deepest record). Topp and 
Hoff (1972) reported that off west Florida this species 
is found at moderate depths on the continental shelf; 
23 of 35 of their specimens were found at their deepest 
station (73 m), and all of their specimens were found 
deeper than 55 m. Tucker (1982: Table 1) listed a depth 
range of 37-201 m for adult C. gymnorhinus based on 
data from Gutherz and Blackman (1970). Saavedra-Diaz 
et al. (2000) reported that this species is found between 
20 and 40 m in Colombian waters and between 37 and 
139 m elsewhere. In nearly all other recent studies 
where information has been compiled for this species 
(Robins and Ray, 1986; Cervigon, 1996; Munroe, 2003; 
McEachran and Fechhelm, 2005; Lyczkowski-Shultz and 
Bond, 2006; Fahay, 2007), C. gymnorhinus are reported 
to be found on the continental shelf to depths of 200 m 
but more commonly taken in the shallower portion of 
this depth range (usually between 30 and 90 m). 
Size 
The largest C. gymnorhinus measured in this study are 
males of 52.4 and 52.1 mm (Fig. 7A), which is close to 
the reported maximum size (about 55 mm SL) observed 
for the species. A total of 131 males ranged from 20.3 
to 52.4 mm (Fig. 7A), whereas females (n = 58) were 
26.2-48.0 mm (Fig. 7B). Most males (122 of 131, 93%) 
were 30-50 mm, and only four were larger than 50 mm. 
For females, most (42 of 58, 74%) were 35-45 mm, and 
only one (48.0 mm) exceeded 45 mm. 
The size ranges for C. gymnorhinus taken along the 
eastern United States and nearby regions are compara- 
ble to those reported for this species from other parts of 
its geographic range. For example, Gutherz and Black- 
man (1970), who reported that C. gymnorhinus is the 
smallest species of Citharichthys, stated that maximum 
size for specimens they examined did not exceed 60 mm 
SL, when actually the largest of 34 specimens measured 
in their study (male, 52.5 mm SL) was smaller than 
this stated maximum size. Ten males examined in their 
study ranged in size from 41.9 to 52.5 mm SL, whereas 
four females were 32.9-41.8 mm SL. The largest of 47 
individuals examined by Topp and Hoff (1972) was a 
