Able et al.: Distribution, movements, and habitat use of small Morone saxatilis across multiple spatial scales 
185 
Figure 5 
Composite spring and winter distributions for two size classes of small 
striped bass ( Morone saxatilis) (<20 cm total length [ TL] and 21-46 cm TL) 
at multiple depth strata (inshore 15.5-9.1 m], midshore 19.1-18.3 m] and 
offshore [18.3-27.4 m]) on the New Jersey inner continental shelf based 
on New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection trawl surveys. 
nut Neck is characterized by intermediate salini- 
ties (daily average 15.2 ppt, range: 0.2-29.7 during 
2006-08). Lower pH values (daily average: 6.1, range: 
3. 4-8. 5 during 2006-08) are also present at Lower 
Bank due to the natural influx of tannins from the 
surrounding watershed, whereas Chestnut Neck ex- 
periences more neutral pH levels (daily average: 7.4, 
range: 5.2- 8.5 during 2006-08) moderated by the 
effect of incoming ocean and bay waters. Dissolved 
oxygen (DO) levels never reached anoxia during the 
study period at either hydrophone site. However, in 
the summer of 2006, DO dropped to hypoxic levels 
during short periods of the day at hydrophone nos. 7 
and 10 (0.2 and 0.8 mg/L, respectively). Otherwise, 
daily mean DO levels remained relatively high and 
were similar throughout the study period at both sites 
(Lower Bank daily average: 9.0 mg/L; Chestnut Neck 
daily average: 8.8 mg/L). 
Discussion 
Sources of striped bass for non-natal estuaries 
The assumption has long been that the sources of small 
striped bass that occur along the New Jersey coast and 
in non-natal estuaries have been major river estuaries 
to the north (Hudson River: Dovel, 1992; Secor and Pic- 
coli, 1996; Dunning et al., 2009) and south (Chesapeake 
Bay: Mansueti, 1961; Kohlenstein, 1981; Dorazio et 
al., 1994) including the Delaware River (Waldman and 
Wirgin, 1994; Weisberg et al., 1996). This interpretation 
has become accepted because there are no accounts of 
reproduction in other systems between Cape Cod and 
Cape Hatteras (Collette and Klein-MacPhee, 2002; but 
see Little, 1995). This interpretation is further sup- 
ported by the large number of small juveniles (<20 cm) 
encountered in Delaware Bay in the last decade (Able et 
