519 
Abstract — Ultrasonic transmitters were 
surgically implanted into adult tautog 
( n -27 , 400-5 14 mm TL ) to document sea- 
sonal occurrence and site utilization at 
four sites situated within known tautog 
habitat near Cape Charles, Virginia, in 
lower Chesapeake Bay. Tagged tautog 
were released at the same sites where 
originally caught within 2 h of capture. 
Sites were continuously monitored with 
automated acoustic receivers between 9 
November 1998 and 13 October 1999. 
Two sites consisted of natural bedform 
materials and two sites consisted of 
manmade materials. Ninety-four per- 
cent of tautog (n= 15) released in fall 
1998 remained inshore during winter 
at sustained water temperatures of 
5-8°C, rather than moved offshore during 
winter as documented for tautog off 
New York, Rhode Island, and Mas- 
sachusetts. Ninety-one percent ( /z = 1 0 ) 
of tautog released in spring 1999 re- 
mained inshore during summer when 
water temperature was 27°C and in the 
absence of an important food item, blue 
mussels (Mytilus edulis). These find- 
ings conflict with assertions that tautog 
move to cooler water in summer when 
water temperatures reach 20°C. Tautog 
released at natural bedform sites were 
detected only at these sites throughout 
the study. Tautog released at manmade 
structures also displayed high site-utili- 
zation patterns, but several tautog peri- 
odically moved 2-10.2 km away from 
these sites over featureless bottom, a 
known deterrent to emigration for large 
temperate labrids in other waters. Ben- 
thic communities were similar at man- 
made sites and natural bedform sites, 
and movement away from manmade 
sites may have been influenced by hab- 
itat size as well as habitat structure. 
Understanding temporal and spatial 
utilization of habitats is an important 
first step to identifying essential fish 
habitat and to evaluating and protect- 
ing fishery resources within Chesa- 
peake Bay and elsewhere. 
Manuscript accepted 11 April 2001. 
Fish. Bull. 99:519-527 (2001). 
Seasonal occurrence and site-utilization patterns 
of adult tautog, Tautoga onitis (Labridae), 
at manmade and natural structures 
in lower Chesapeake Bay* 
Michael D. Arendt 
School of Marine Science 
College of William and Mary 
Virginia Institute of Marine Science 
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 
Present address: Marine Resources Division, Department of Natural Resources 
Marine Resources Research Institute 
217 Fort Johnson Road 
Charleston, South Carolina 29422-2559 
E-mail address: arendtm@mrd.dnr.state.sc. 
Jon A. Lucy 
Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program 
Virginia Institute of Marine Science 
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 
Thomas A. Munroe 
National Marine Fisheries Service National Systematics Laboratory 
National Museum of Natural History 
Washington, D C. 20560-0153 
The labrid Tautoga onitis (tautog) is 
a highly prized game fish targeted by 
anglers fishing at natural and man- 
made structure (Briggs, 1977; Lucy 
and Barr, 1994). Tautog are distrib- 
uted between Georgia (Parker, 1990) 
and Nova Scotia (Bigelow and Schro- 
eder, 1953); peak abundance is found 
between Massachusetts and the Dela- 
ware Capes. * 1 Slow growth rate, late age 
at maturity, predictable distribution, 
and localized population structure sug- 
gest high vulnerability to overexploi- 
tation (Hostetter and Munroe, 1993). 
Extended residence at accessible fish- 
ing sites may increase the potential 
for overexploitation; thus, residence 
and site-utilization patterns of tautog 
throughout this species’ distribution 
range must be well understood for effec- 
tive management of this resource. 
Tag-recapture studies in New York, 
Rhode Island, and Massachusetts sug- 
gest that adult tautog spend spring and 
fall months inshore, may move offshore 
during the warmest summer months 
(Cooper, 1966; Briggs, 1969), and over- 
winter offshore (Cooper, 1966; Briggs, 
1977). Tautog leave inshore waters at 
varying rates between July and Oc- 
tober (Cooper, 1966) and are recap- 
tured in coastal waters in fall (Cooper, 
1966; Briggs, 1977), consistent with in- 
direct observations on seasonal abun- 
dance (Stolgitis, 1970; Olla et ah, 1974). 
In contrast, tag-recapture studies re- 
port limited evidence of a seasonal in- 
shore-offshore migration for tautog in 
the Chesapeake Bay and coastal Virgin- 
ia waters. 2 Seasonal abundance data 
also suggest that tautog remain inshore 
in Chesapeake Bay ( Hostetter and Mun- 
roe, 1993) and in Delaware Bay (Eklund 
and Targett, 1991) during winter. 
* Contribution 2391 of the Virginia Institute 
of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Vir- 
ginia 23062. 
1 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commis- 
sion (ASMFC). 1996. Fishery manage- 
ment plan for tautog, rep. 25, 56 p. [Avail- 
able from ASMFC, 1444 Eye Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20005.1 
2 Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program. 
1995-1999. Marine Resources Commis- 
sion, 968 Oriole Dr. South, Suite 102, Vir- 
ginia Beach, VA 23451. 
