18 
Joseph W. Smith 
concentrations occurred on 23 June (67 eggs/100 m 3 ), with minor peaks 
occurring on 11 July (44 eggs/100 m 3 ), and 4 August (28 eggs/100 
m 3 ). Moreover, results of a concurrent ichthyoplankton survey (1989) 
near Ocracoke Inlet indicated that cobia eggs were one of the most 
common taxa encountered during May and June (W. Hettler, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, Beaufort, North Carolina, personal 
communications). 
DISCUSSION 
Cobia occurred in the sounds and ocean inlets of North Carolina 
from May to July, and as Richards (1967) observed in Chesapeake 
Bay, initial spring catches by sport fishermen were coincident with 
nearshore and estuarine water temperatures rising above 20 C. Cold 
fronts during May and June accompanied by strong northeast winds 
chilled inshore water temperatures and adversely affected spring catches 
of cobia in North Carolina. During August and into fall, cobia were 
found primarily in coastal oceanic waters. Cobia reside in other major 
estuaries along the United States Atlantic coast during spring and 
summer, e.g., Port Royal and St. Helena sounds in South Carolina 
(Moore et al. 1980) and Chesapeake Bay (Richards 1967). This contrasts 
with the northern Gulf of Mexico where most cobia occur along shallow 
coastal waters of the Gulf and offshore in association with oil and 
gas platforms and rafts of Sargassum (Ditty and Shaw 1992). 
It is unclear where cobia from the south Atlantic coast of the 
United States overwinter. Winter trawl surveys by South Carolina’s 
Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction Program (South 
Carolina Marine Resources Research Institute, Charleston, South Carolina, 
unpublished data) captured cobia ( n = 22, range = 40-127 cm, x = 
84 cm) during January and February between Cape Fear, North Carolina, 
and Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 31-75 m depths where water temperatures 
ranged from 15.9 to 20.8 C (also see Wenner et al. 1979). Cobia 
taken by various commercial gears (hand, troll, and long lines) have 
been processed by port agents in North Carolina during all quarters 
of the year, 1983-91 (L. Mercer, North Carolina Division of Marine 
Fisheries, Morehead City, North Carolina, personal communications). 
These findings suggested that off the south Atlantic coast of the United 
States cobia may overwinter on the outer half of the continental shelf. 
Although Richards (1967) used scales to age cobia from Chesapeake 
Bay, I found that acetate impressions of cobia scales were difficult 
to interpret for annuli. Alternating translucent and opaque zones of 
cross-sectioned sagittae were distinct, although I was unable to validate 
their annual nature. Nevertheless, indirect evidence supported the validity 
