80 
Fishery Bulletin 96(1 ), 1998 
size-related life history information was taken, 16 
were males (35.6-64.4 mm), 45 females (29.2-70.6 
mm), and 6 (22.6-35.3 mm) were immature and of 
indeterminate sex. Based on reproductive stages of 
females, sexual maturity occurs at sizes between 29 
and 40 mm. The smallest female with elongate ova- 
ries measured 29.2 mm, whereas the smallest gravid 
female was 31.6 mm. All females larger than 40 mm 
had elongate ovaries, and most gravid females were 
41.0-70.6 mm. Several of the smallest females (33.8- 
38.1 mm) were immature with ovaries just undergo- 
ing elongation. 
Geographic distribution (Fig. 41 J On live-bottom 
inner continental shelf substrates of the western 
North Atlantic (see comments below regarding more 
northern captures) primarily from North Carolina 
southward to Florida, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, 
including the west coast of Florida, to as far west as 
the region of DeSoto Canyon. The majority of speci- 
mens were collected off southeastern Florida and the 
inner continental shelf off west Florida. Symphurus 
minor has not been reported from localities in the 
central and western regions of the Gulf of Mexico, 
where sand, silt, or mud substrates predominate, and 
is thus far unknown from live-bottom substrates off 
the Yucatan Peninsula. 
Along the U.S. Atlantic coast, S. minor occurs com- 
monly as far north as Cape Hatteras, North Caro- 
lina. Two collections, however, taken almost one hun- 
dred years apart, record this species from Nova 
Scotian waters. Ginsburg (1951) designated three 
specimens trawled off Nova Scotia (44°23'N) as 
paratypes of S. minor. More recently, Markle et al. 
Figure 41 
Geographic distribution of Symphurus minor based on material 
examined (discussion of geographic distribution appears in spe- 
cies account). 
(1980) captured a single larva during ichthyo- 
plankton collections on the Scotian Shelf (42°21'N, 
65°01'W). Isolated captures of S. minor in these far 
northern regions likely represent expatriate individu- 
als transported northward by the Gulf Stream from 
southern locations. 
Bathymetric distribution Symphurus minor has 
been collected primarily on live-bottom habitats in 
neritic waters on the inner continental shelf at depths 
of 18-170 m (Table 10). The center of abundance for 
this species, based on frequency of occurrence and 
relative abundance of specimens, occurs between 20 
and 60 m, where 65/79 (82%) specimens were cap- 
tured. Only eight fish were collected at shallower 
depths (between 18 and 20 m), whereas another six 
were taken at deeper depths, with the deepest cap- 
ture reported for the species (Ginsburg, 1951) being 
that for three specimens (USNM 92614) collected in 
the same trawl at 170 m on the Scotian Shelf. 
Ecology Available ecological information is rather 
limited for this species. Struhsaker (1969) reported S. 
minor as common (present in 10-50% of trawling sta- 
tions) along the open continental shelf of the south- 
eastern United States. Topp and Hoff (1972) collected 
14 specimens (11-70 mm) at water temperatures of 
18.5-23. 3°C and salinities of 35-36.5 %c. Although col- 
lected frequently, this species has not been taken in 
any abundance. In 52 collections examined, 31 con- 
tained only a single specimen, 17 had two specimens, 
and only 6 lots contained three or four specimens. Small 
size, combined with relative inefficiency of trawls in 
capturing small pleuronectiform fishes on live-bottom 
substrates such as those inhabited by S. minor, un- 
doubtedly contribute to the relatively small numbers 
of specimens of this species collected at one time. 
Throughout its range off the southeastern coast of 
the United States, S. minor co-occurs with the phe- 
notypically similar S. parvus. Although the species 
are sympatric in this region, they are not syntopic 
with respect to bathymetric distribution and sub- 
strate preference. Symphurus minor usually occurs 
in much shallower waters (20-60 m) than does S. 
parvus (30-110 m, see below), and the two species 
have not been captured simultaneously. Besides in- 
habiting deeper waters, S. parvus generally occurs 
on a substrate with a higher concentration of mud or 
silt, in contrast to the live-bottom substrates usu- 
ally occupied by S. minor. 
Based on gonad condition of examined females, 
spawning appears to take place during summertime 
with most gravid females collected between June and 
September. Ripening females appear primarily in 
collections made from January to March. Nonripe 
