332 
Fishery Bulletin 11 6(3-4) 
Table t 
Evidence from literature of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) spawning seasons by locations, ordered from north to south: 
Gulf of Maine (GOM, >42°N), southern New England (SNE, ~42-41°N), Long Island Sound (LIS, 41.5-41°N), New York 
Bight (NYB, 41-39°N), Chesapeake Bight (CB, 39-35°N), and South Carolina and Georgia (SC/GA, 33.5-31.5°N). Sampling 
habitats are identified as estuarine (E) or offshore (O). Months indicate the period during which eggs or larvae were present 
or when ripe or ripe and running gonads were observed by ichthyoplankton sampling (I) or by macroscopic or histological 
examination of gonads (G). Years of sampling are indicated, as are the citations for the sources of evidence. 
Location 
Habitat 
Months present 
Method 
Year 
Citation 
GOM 
O 
_ 
I (larvae) 
1977-87 
Able et al., 1995 
GOM 
O 
- 
I (eggs) 
1977-87 
Berrien and Sibunka, 1999 
GOM 
O 
- 
I (larvae) 
1969-70 
Chenoweth, 1973 
SNE 
— 
Jun a 
— 
1898 
Bumpus, 1898 
SNE 
- 
May-Jun 
- 
- 
Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953 
SNE 
E 
Jul 
I (larvae) b 
1957-8 
Herman, 1963 
SNE 
E 
- 
I (eggs and larvae) 
1972-3 
Bourne and Govoni, 1988 
SNE 
O c 
- 
I (larvae) 
1966 
Kendall, 1972 
SNE 
O c 
- 
I (eggs) 
1977-87 
Berrien and Sibunka, 1999 
SNE 
O c 
- 
I (larvae) 
1977-87 
Able et al., 1995 
SNE 
O 
May-July 
G (macro) 
1993 
Caruso, 1995 
SNE 
O 
May-Jun d 
G (macro) 
2010 
Wuenschel et al. (fn - 2 in main text) 
LIS 
E 
- 
I (eggs and larvae) 
1950s 
Richards, 1959 
NYB 
— 
May-Jun 
_ 
_ 
Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953 
NYB 
O 
Aug-Oct 
I (larvae) 
1966 
Kendall, 1972 
NYB 
0 
Jun-Oct 
I (eggs) 
1977-87 
Berrien and Sibunka, 1999 
NYB 
0 
Jul-Nov 
I (larvae) 
1977-87 
Able et al., 1995 
NYB 
o 
May-Jul 
G (macro) 
1974-5 
Wilk et al., 1990 
CB 
E e 
Jun-Jul 
I (larvae) 
1929-30 
Pearson, 1941 
CB 
- 
May 
- 
- 
Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953 
CB 
0 
Jun, Aug, Oct-Nov 
I (larvae) 
1966 
Kendall, 1972 
CB 
0 
Apr-Oct, Jan 
I (eggs) 
1977-87 
Berrien and Sibunka 1999 
CB 
o 
Apr-Nov 
I (larvae) 
1977-87 
Able et al., 1995 
CB 
0 
Jul-Aug 
G (macro) 
1987 
Eklund and Targett,1990 
SC/GA 
0 
Jan-Apr (Sep) 
G (histology) 
1978-81 
Wenner et al., 1986 
a Spawns in June (sampling locations and method not explicit). 
b n =2 at mouth of Narragansett Bay, probably a product of offshore spawning. 
c No sampling in Nantucket Sound. 
••Sampling May-Oct but not July. 
e Most taken in July at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. 
federal) fishing season begins in mid-May and ex¬ 
tends until at least August, completely overlapping the 
spawning season. Migrants that may arrive or start 
spawning after fishing starts are more vulnerable than 
earlier migrants to mortality and the potential disrup¬ 
tion of spawning behavior, and their vulnerabilities 
may vary on a yearly basis or could be reduced over 
time if the spawning season is pushed earlier. 
First year growth 
Farther south, off New Jersey (39.5°N; Able and Hales, 
1997) and Maryland (38.0-38.4°N; Peters and Chigbu, 
2017), autumn age-0 fish size distributions overlap 
(range: 50-110 mm TL, mode: 70 mm TL) with what 
we observed off southern New England. If anything, 
age-0 growth was slower to the south (mean: 0.43 
mm/d, Able and Hales, 1997; 0.58 mm/d, Peters and 
Chigbu, 2017), but a counter gradient pattern of ju¬ 
venile growth has not been described for this species 
(Conover, 1992) and more data across its range appear 
necessary before speculating further on growth pat¬ 
terns. Growth is likely affected by temperature and by 
salinity as well: Berlinsky et al. (2000) reported higher 
growth at a salinity of 20 in relation to salinities of 
10 and 32. Able and Hales (1997) observed high site 
