72 
Fishery Bulletin 109(1 ) 
trends in spawning stock biomass, with the highest 
values in the series occurring in 2003 and 2004 (Fig. 
6C). Larval abundance at ingress into Little Egg Inlet 
and spawning stock biomass were significantly corre- 
lated (Fig. 7A, Table 1). This pattern was not evident at 
Beaufort Inlet where ingress values varied and had no 
long-term pattern (Fig. 6D), resulting in no significant 
correlation with spawning stock biomass (Fig. 7B, Table 
1). Recruitment and larval abundance at ingress were 
not correlated (Fig. 7, A and B, Table 1). Abundance at 
ingress at the two sites did show a tendency to move in 
the same direction from year to year but were not cor- 
related with overall abundance (Table 1). 
Discussion 
Stock identification 
Annual patterns of summer flounder larval ingress 
(timing, abundance) between Little Egg Inlet, New 
Jersey, and Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, were not 
synchronous. The strong differences in timing of ingress 
between the two inlets could be the result of different 
spawning times north and south of Cape Hatteras, 
North Carolina (Burke et ah, 2000; Rogers and Van 
Table t 
Pearson correlations r (right) and Kendall’s tau (T, 
top) values for summer spawning stock biomass (SSB), 
recruitment (REC), larval abundance at Little Egg Inlet, 
NJ, and larval abundance of summer flounder at Beaufort 
Inlet, NC. 
Magnitude 
of change ( r ) 
Direction of change (T) 
SSB 
REC 
NJ 
NC 
SSB 
— 
-0.20 ns 
-0.18 ns 
0.18 ns 
REC 
0.01 ns 
— 
0.06 ns 
0.06 ns 
NJ 
0.49* 
0.12 ns 
— 
0.47* 
NC 
0.33 ns 
0.19 ns 
0.29 ns 
- 
*P <0.05; ns=not significant. 
Den Avyle 2 ). North of Cape Hatteras, spawning peaks in 
October-November based on gonad maturation (Morse, 
1981; Wilk et al., 1990). A large peak in egg produc- 
tion is evident in October and November and a second, 
smaller peak occurs in April and May in the southern 
portion of the Bight. South of Cape Hatteras, a peak in 
summer flounder gonad development occurs during 
December and January (Powell, 1974). Other data 
on summer flounder eggs and larvae south of Cape 
Hatteras are relatively scarce, partly because 
identification has been complicated by the presence 
of other species of Paralichthys (Deubler, 1958; 
Williams and Deubler, 1968; Powles and Stender, 
1976; Weinstein, 1979). Two separate spawning 
periods are also indicated by the occurrence of 
larvae just north of Cape Hatteras during the 
fall and again in the spring (Able and Kaiser, 
1994; Burke et al., 2000), presumably represent- 
ing contributions from spawning both from the 
north and south. 
The two-stock hypothesis is supported by dif- 
ferences in timing of ingress at Little Egg Inlet 
and at Beaufort Inlet. Multiple studies indicate 
that summer flounder spawning (and subsequent 
ingress) throughout the area north of Cape Hat- 
teras is most common in the fall (Able et al., 1990; 
Berrien and Sibunka, 1999; Burke et al., 2000). 
Similar trends in the timing of ingress are evi- 
dent at other sites north of Cape Hatteras, includ- 
ing Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (Hare et al., 2005), 
and at Oregon Inlet, North Carolina (Hettler and 
Barker, 1993; Burke et al., 2000). For the area 
south of Cape Hatteras, winter spawning results 
in larval ingress in the late winter and early 
2 Rogers, S. G., and M. J. Van Den Avyle. 1983. Species 
profiles: life histories and environmental requirements 
of coastal fishes and invertebrates (South Atlantic): 
summer flounder, 14 p. U.S. Fish Wild. Serv. Biol. 
Serv. Prog. FWS/OBS 82(11.15). 
100 
co 80 
o 
60 
□ Little Egg Inlet, NJ 
□ Beaufort Inlet. NC 
20 
16 
12 
8 
4 
0 
I I I 
(pre) (F-. F) (G) (H-, H, H+) (I) 
Stage 
11 12 13 14 15 
Standard length (mm) 
Figure 3 
Frequency of standard lengths for summer flounder (Paralich- 
thys dentatus) documented at ingress from Little Egg Inlet, New 
Jersey and Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. Inset: relationship 
between standard length (SL) and developmental stages of 
summer flounder (after Keefe and Able, 1993). The right and 
left eyes are bilateral and symmetrical in premetamorphs. At 
the first stage of metamorphosis, F-, the eyes are bilateral but 
asymmetrical and the right eye is just dorsal to the left eye. 
By stage F, the asymmetry due to the movement of the right 
eye is most evident. At stage G, the right eye has reached 
the dorsal midline and is visible from the left side of the fish. 
Stage H- differs from stage G in that the cornea of the eye is 
visible from the left side of the fish. At stage H, the right eye 
has migrated halfway and is midline at the dorsal edge of the 
head. By stage H+, the right eye has reach the left surface 
but has not yet reached its final resting place. At stage I, 
the eye is set in the socket and the dorsal canal has closed. 
