A UNITED STATES DEPAflTMENI OF COMMERCE PUBLICATION .wT Or (. ''itts o' "^ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE Marine Bij! j a: Lj;.ofa.o.y l_ I £3 R A R V AUG 101971 NOTE Until October 2, 1970, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Commerce, was the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, De- partment of the Interior. Throughout the body of this report, which was prepared for printing- before October 2, the older term is used. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Maurice H. Stans, Secretary NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE Philip M. Roedel, Director Number and Lengths, by Season, of Fishes Caught with an Otter Trawl near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, September 1961 to December 1962 By F. E. LUX and F. E. NICHY Special Scientific Report — Fisheries No. 622 Washington, D.C. February 1971 CONTENTS Pao-e Introduction 1 Materials and methods 2 Notes on fishes caught 3 Carcharhinidae — requiem sliarks 4 Rajidae — skates 4 Clupeidae — herrings 4 Osmeridae — smelts 4 Synodontidae — lizardfishes 4 Anguillidae — freshwater eels 4 Cyi)rinodontidae — killifishes 4 Gadidae — codfishes and hakes fi Gasterosteidae — sticklebacks (i Syngnathidae — pij.iefishes and seahorses 8 Serranidae — sea basses 8 Priacanthidae — bigeyes 8 Sciaenidae — drums 8 Mullidae — goatfishes 8 Sparidae — porgies 9 Lal)ridae — wrasses 9 Gobiidae — gobies 10 Triglidae — searobins 10 Cottidae — sculpins 11 Dactyloi)teridae — flying gurnards 1 1 Pholidae — gunnels 11 Stromateidae — butterfishes 12 Atherinidae — silversides 12 Bothidae — lefteye flounders 12 Pleuronectidae — righteye flounders 13 Balistidae — triggerfishes and filefishes 14 Tetraodontidae — pufl^'ers 14 Lo])hiidae — goosefishes 14 Literature cited 14 in Number and Lengths, by Season, of Fishes Caught with an Otter Trawl near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, September 1961 to December 1962 By F. E. LUX and F. E. NICHY, Fishery Biologists National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Laljoratoiy \^'oods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 ABSTRACT Forty-one species of fish were caught in hauls made about four times per month at water depths of 2 to 15 feet (0.6 to 4.6 m.) in Woods Hole harbor. Seasonal occurrence is discussed and compared with water temperature. Data on growth during the first year are given for a number of species. INTRODUCTION From Septeml^er 1961 to December 1962 otter trawl hauls were made about four times monthly in shallow water in Great Harbor, near Woods Hole, IMassachusetts, to obtain information on the species and sizes of fin fishes there and to collect winter flounder, Pseudojilenivnectes americanns (Walbaum) , for a food habits study. This report summar- izes the results of the work, with the e.xcep- tion of the winter flounder food study. The catch data provide information for certain species on occurrence in relation to season and water temperature, growth during the first year, and sizes and seasons when the young end their ]ielagic stage and become avail- al)le to an otter trawl. The data also hel]) to define the role of the shallow water coastal zone as a fish nui'sery area. MATERIALS AND METHODS The area sampled is shown in figure 1. The water depth where trawl hauls were made varied from 2 to 15 feet (0.() to 4.6 m.). A small bay adjoining a salt marsh (area B in fig. 1) was not included in the sampling area until November 1961. The fishes in this shal- low area included a number of euryhaline spe- cies such as sticklebacks and mummichogs that were not found in the deeper water farther from shore. Bottom sediments in the areas sampled were sand and mud. The gear used was an otter trawl with a footrope and lieadrojie each 30 feet (9.1 m.) long. The mesh size was 4 inches (102 mm.) in the wings and bellies and 1.5 inches (;;8 mm.) in the codend, stretched measure. The end 6-foot (1.8-m.) section of the codend was lined with 0.5 inch (13 mm.) mesh twine and therefore retained very small fish. The foot- rope was weighted with chain. The trawl was towed from a .skiff ])owered with a 10 horse- ]iower outboard motor and at a speed of about 1.9 miles (3.1 km.) per hour. At this speed the wingspread of the net was about 14.5 feet (4.4 m.) and the headrope height 2 feet (0.6 m.). Each tow was about 15 minutes in dur- ation, and, usually, two tows were made per sampling date. This varied somewhat de- pending upon weather and net condition. The sea surface temjieratures recorded at the fishing area on each samjiling date (table 1) closely coincided with those recorded daily on the opposite side of the harbor by C. H. Wheeler at the NMFS (National Marine Fish- eries Service) wharf. These daily recoi-ds are therefore summai-ized as weeklv averages in Figure 1. — Chart of Great Harbor, Woods Hole, Mass., showing the approximate trawling course (heavy line at the western side of the harbor) followed in making fish collections. Only area A was trawled in Sep- tember and October 1961; areas A and B were trawled from November 1961 to December 1962. figure 2 to provide a more complete temper- ature record. The water in the fishing area was isothermal, or nearly so, from surface to bottom because of vertical mixing l)y tidal currents and wind. All fish caught were identified and measured at the NMFS Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole. Total lengths for fish with unforked tails and fork lengths for fish with forked tails were recorded in millimeters. Information on iden- tification, distriljution, and biology of the spe- cies caught was oijtained largely from Sumner, Osborn, and Cole (1913). Nichols and Breder (1927) , Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928), and Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Scientific and common names of fishes used here are those listed by the American Fisheries Society (1960). ' The catches probably provided an accurate qualitative estimate of the species and size range of fish present near the bottom. Be- cause heavy growths of attached algae, net damage, and weather conditions frequently limited eff'ectiveness of the trawling, however, the catches provided only approximate esti- mates of a))undance. Forty-one species of fish were recorded, none of which were new to the area. Many additional species are of course Table 1. — Surface water temperatures at the sampling area for each samiiling date, September lltfll to Tiecember 1962. Surface Surface Surface Surface Date temper- Date temper- Date temper- Date temper- ature ature ature ature 'C. 'C. C. °C. 1961 1962 1962 1962 Sept. 8 20.7' Jan. 8 2.8 May 17 10.8 Sept. 5 19.4 Sept. 19 20.5' Jan. 16 2.5 May 25 13.5 Sept. 13 19.2 Sept. 27 19.7 Feb. 1 ().() June 4 16.7 Sept. 20 18.3 Oct. 5 19.4 Feb. 16 -0.8 June 14 16.3 Sept. 26 16.8 Oct. 10 17.9 Mar. 9 0.3 June 25 18.3 Oct. 3 16.7 Oct. 19 15.8 Mar. 20 2.5 July 3 19.2 Oct. 11 15.6 Oct. 26 13.0 Mar. 26 ;i.9 July 9 19.6 Oct. 18 14.7 Nov. 2 12.2 Mar. 29 4.2 July 19 19.4 Oct. 22 14.7 Nov. 13 10.3 Apr. 3 5.4 July 24 20.2 Oct. 30 11.8 Nov. 24 8.3 Apr. 9 6.7 Aug. 1 20.5 Nov. 7 10.0 Dec. 4 5.8 Apr. 19 7.2 Aug. 8 21.1 Nov. 15 8.2 Dec. 11 5.6 Apr. 26 8.0 Aug. 16 20.5 Nov. 20 7.4 Dec. 18 3.3 May 2 8.8 Aug. 22 20.8 Nov. 27 6.5 May 11 1(1.0 Aug. ;u 20.4 Dec. 17 2.7 Recorded across the harbor at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution wharf. known to occur in the Woods Hole area — ])ar- ticularly pelao-ic forms — that are unhkely to be caught in a trawl. Most of the sampling was during daylight, usually between 0900 and 1030 hours. The only nighttime sampling was during the night of October 22-23, 1962. Although these catches indicated that siiecies conijiosition and abun- dance differed between day and night, the nighttime tows were too few to define differ- ences. We therefore combined the night hauls with the daylight hauls for the last half of October. NOTES ON FISHES CAUGHT Descriptive notes for each species caught are given below. Where few individuals of a spe- cies were caught, the sizes and months caught are given in the de.scri])tive note; for larger 20 1 5 10 ^11 II 1 1 1 II II ^^^ ^^\ y "" y^ 5 / *A ^^ / 1961 \>s. 0 ^ N^_^ / 1962 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 JAN FEB- MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC- MONTH Figure 2. — Mean weekly sea surface temperature at the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries wharf at Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. catches, the average lengths and length ranges are summarized by 15-day intervals in a table. In addition, the seasonal occurrence of com- mon species in 1962 is shown graphically in figure .".. Carcharhinidae— requiem sharks Miisteln.'i cauis (Mitchill), smooth dogfish. Two smooth dogfish, 384 and 396 mm. long, were caught in August 1962. Rajidae— skates Raja erinacea Mitchill, little skate. Eleven little skates were caught in May and June 1962. The mean length was 456 mm.; the length range, 425 to 492 mm. Raja ocellata Mitchill, winter skate. Six winter skates were caught in October and November 1962. The mean length was 579 mm.; the length range, 440 to 664 mm. Clupeidae— herrings Alosa pseudohareugns (Wilson), alewife. One 0-group alewife, 78 mm. long, was caught in October 1961 and another, 68 mm. long, in November 1961. Brerooiiia tyrannus (Latrobe), Atlantic menhaden. One 0-group menhaden, 33 mm. long, was caught in August 1962. Osmeridae — smelts Osmenis mordax (Mitchill) , American smelt. Smelt were caught in November 1961 and August to November 1962 (table 2, fig. 3). All were young of the year, judging from growth data given by Big- elow and Schroeder (1953). Since they were not caught before August, the young of this anadromous species may first enter saltwater at about that time. Synodontidae— lizardfishes Trachinocephahis my ops (Forster), snake- fish. One snakefish, 44 mm. long, was caught in August 1962 and another, 65 mm. long, in October 1962 (U.S. National Museum cat- alog numbers US204317 and US204321). Anguillidae — freshwater eels Anguilla rostmta (LeSueur), American eel. Eight American eels were caught: five juveniles and three adults. The juveniles were caught in October and November 1962 (mean length, 117 mm.; range, 91 to 129 mm.). The adults were caught in August 1962 (mean length, 665 mm.; range, 580 to 735 mm.). Cyprinodontidae — killifishes Fiindulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus), mummi- chog. Three mummichogs were caught in 1962, two in January (34 and 61 mm. long) and one in September (110 mm. long). This species is common in summer in shallow pools of the adjacent salt marsh, but it was scarce in all seasons in the area trawled. Fundulns majalis (Walbaum), striped killi- fish. Five striped killifish were caught in No- vember 1961 and March, April, and No- vember 1962. The mean length was 60 Table 2. — Numbers and lengths of American smelt caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Smelt were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Fork length Date Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Nov. 15-30 2 56 56-57 1962 Aug. 1-15 1 61 __ Aug. 16-31 36 63 48-69 Sept. 1-15 96 61 51-76 Sept. 16-30 14 63 47-72 Oct. 1-15 9 68 62-79 Oct. 16-31 1 62 _» Nov. 1-15 2 105 82-128 Nov. 16-30 2 78 77-79 WATER TEMPERATURE JFMAMJJASOND GUNNER I h- Z O LlI a. X ID < O cc LlI m 13 o Figure 3. — Seasonal occurrence of common fish species in otter trawl catches at Woods Hole, Mass., in 1962, expressed as log ,3 of the number caught per month, and monthly average sea surface temperature in 1962. mm.; the length rano-e, 42 to 110 mm. This species also lives in the salt marsh in the summer, although it is less common than the mummichog. Gadidae — codfishes and hakes Merluccius b/V/Hfc/r/.s (Mitchill) , silver hake. One silver hake. 80 mm. long, was caught in late November 1962. Microf/adiis tomcod (Walbaum), Atlantic tomcod. Tomcod were most common from spring to late summer (table .3, fig. 3). Young of the year fish 27 to 47 mm. long were first caught in Ajiril; by August, fish of what we assumed to be this same age group were 80 to 122 mm. long. Pollachius virens (Linnaeus), pollock. All pollock caught were 0-group fisli, ac- cording to growth data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) (table 4, fig. 3). Their avei'age length was 30 mm. in late March (when they first api^eared in the catch) and 52 mm. in early June (when they became scarce) . These fish may have left the area because of rising water tem- peratui'e. Urophycis chnss (Walbaum), red hake. Ten red hake were caught in Seijtemljer to November 1962. The eight of these that were caught in October and November (mean length, 104 mm.; range, 68 to l-">6 mm.) probably were young of the year, since this species spawns in spring and summer; however, age was not deter- mined. Seven of these eight were caught in the night tows of October 22-23. The two fish caught in September (262 and 26;; mm. long) apparently were of an older age group. Urophycis tennis (Mitchill), white hake. Sixteen white hake, 41 to 171 mm. long, were caught in May to July 1962 (table 5) . We judged that these were O-grou]) fish which were spawned during the previous winter, for Marak, Colton, Foster, and Miller (1962) found small white hake 27 to 68 mm. long still planktonic in the Gulf of Maine in May and June. Table ?,. — Numbers and lengths of Atlantic tomcod caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Tomcod were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range 1961 Nov. 1-1.5 1962 Mm. Mr 110 100-120 Mm. Mm. Apr. 1-1.5 6 42 33-47 __ __ __ Apr. 16-30 6 34 27-39 May 1-15 10 41 32-56 __ __ __ May 16-31 13 39 29-55 2 193 192-194 June 1-15 6 45 32-50 1 150 June 16-30 3 70 64-75 1 158 July 1-15 5 66 58-73 o 164 155-173 July 16-31 3 89 66-101 9 205 160-250 Aug. 1-15 3 96 80-106 1 198 Aug. 16-31 2 110 98-122 2 181 157-216 Sept. 1-15 __ ._ __ 1 217 __ Dec. 16-31 1 155 -- -- — — ' ."Assumed to he young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Table 4. — Numbers and lengths of pollock cauglit with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Pollock were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Pork length Date Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1962 Mar. 16-31 14 30 25-37 Apr. 1-15 25 31 23-39 Apr. 16-30 19 37 29-47 May 1-15 9 42 25-57 May 16-31 28 45 25-67 June 1-15 6 52 32-63 July 16-31 1 89 — Gasterosteidae — sticklebacks Apeites (jHCubacns (]\Iitchill) , foursi)ine stickleback. The fours]iine stickleback was one of the few s])ecies caught in all months of the year (table 6, fig. ."). Most were caught in water 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 m.) deep near the adjacent salt marsh. A few of the smallest fish, 14 to 30 mm. long, taken Table 5. — Numbers and lengths of white hake caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., Sep- tember 1961 to December 1962. (White hake were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Total ength Date Mean Range Mm. Myn. 1962 May 16-31 6 76 55-128 June 1-15 5 75 41-100 June 16-30 1 75 __ July 1-15 3 102 84-134 July 16-31 1 171 — Table 6. — Numbers and lengths of fourspine stickle- backs caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Four- spine sticklebacks were caught only in the semi- monthly periods shown.) 1961 Nov. 1-15 Nov. 16-30 Dec. 1-15 1962 Jan. 1-15 Jan. 16-31 Feb. 1-14 Mar. 1-15 Mar. 16-31 Apr. 1-15 Apr. 16-30 May 1-15 May 16-31 June 1-15 June 16-30 July 1-15 July 16-31 Aug. 1-15 Aug. 16-31 Sept. 1-15 Sept. 16-30 Oct. 1-15 Oct. 16-31 Nov. 1-15 Nov. 16-30 2 3 3 1 23 6 5 14 82 38 26 49 27 12 41 22 12 2 3 1 1 Mm. 39 41 44 40 41 40 29 37 42 39 41 40 41 42 40 36 42 39 39 39 32 40 41 46 Mm. 33-44 34-49 37-47 38-43 34-46 36-43 32-48 34-46 32-50 30-49 31-51 33-49 34-52 10-50 14-48 35-54 25-57 30-48 31-50 30-35 38-42 in the late summer probably were spawned in early summer. The larg-er fish probably were adults, for the maximum length of this species is about 60 mm. (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953). Gasterosteus aculeatiiH Linnaeus, threespine .stickleback. The threespine sticklel^ack (table 7, fig. 3) also was caught in shallow water near the salt marsh. This species apjiarently spawns in eai'ly summer in l)rackish to fresh water (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953); therefore, we assumed that the small individuals 19 to 38 mm. long taken in late June through Sej^tember were 0- group fish. Pungitius puugitius (Linnaeus), ninespine stickleback. One ninespine stickleback, 35 mm. long, was caught in August 1962. Table 7. — Numbers and lengths of threespine stickle- backs caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Three- spine sticklebacks were caught only in the semi- monthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Fork length Fork length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range 1961 Nov. 1-15 1962 Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. 43 Jan. 1-15 1 47 .. Mar. 16-31 __ __ ._ 3 48 42-62 Apr. 1-15 1 43 __ Apr. 16-30 4 54 47-59 May 1-15 __ __ __ 10 55 50-61 May 16-31 __ __ __ 5 53 50-59 June 1-15 __ __ 5 53 48-56 June 16-30 1 28 __ 2 58 55-61 July 1-15 1 22 __ 3 54 50-57 July 16-31 1 19 __ 2 58 56-59 Aug. 1-15 3 31 29-34 __ __ __ Aug. 10-31 8 29 24-35 __ __ __ Sept. 1-15 6 31 27-35 _. __ __ Sept. 16-30 4 32 29-38 — — — ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Syngnathidae — pipefishes and seahorses Synyiuithim fusciis Storer, northern pii_)efish. Pipefish were c;iuglit from late April through November, but none were taken during the winter or early spring (table 8, fig. 3). Growth information from Big- elow and Schroeder (1953) indicates that the small individuals 61 to 141 mm. long caught in late July and August, and most of the s]:)ecimens after August, were 0- grouii fish. Table 8. — Numbers and lengths of northern pipefish caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Pipefish were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. 1962 Apr. 16-30 2 171 165-177 May 1-15 __ __ 4 154 145-165 May 16-31 __ 5 178 167-192 June 1-15 __ 11 161 118-204 June 16-30 3 148 120-167 July 1-15 ._ __ 4 164 L40-193 July 16-31 5 79 72-84 6 179 L58-214 Aug. 1-15 3 81 61-95 1 170 Aug. 16-31 24 120 86-141 4 183 170-207 Sept. 1-15 6 148 1 38-154 Sept. 16-3( ) 16 141 1 09-168 Oct. 1-15 15 144 1 21-176 Oct. 16-31 17 156 1 35-192 __ _. __ Nov. 1-15 2 186 1 71-201 .. __ __ Nov. 16-3r 2 160 1 55-165 — -- — ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and by the seasonal progression of length frequency distribu- tions in the 1961-62 fish. Serranidae — sea basses CentrojDi.stes striatus (Linnaeus), black sea bass. The only sea bass caught were 0-group fish (take 9, fig. 3). They were first caught in August and were present until November. These .small fish left the area abrujitly in the autumn after the water temperature had fallen below 14° C. (tables 1, 9). Priacanthidae— bigeyes Pri.stigei'ijs aitu (Gill), short bigeye. The only c-hort bigeyes caught were two taken during the night of October 22-23, 1962, the only time night tows were made. One was 85 mm. long; the other, slightly smaller but not measured. Sciaenidae — drums Mentieirrhiis saxn^///.s' (Bloch and Schneid- er), northern kingfish. Twelve northern kingfish (mean length, 14;; mm.; range, 78 to 178 mm.) were caught in Septem'jer 1961 and in Septem- ber and October 1962. Eight of the 12 were caught during the night tows of October 22-23, 1962, suggesting that catch- ability or availability was greater at night than during the day. Growth information from Schaefer (1965) indicates that all 12 specimens were 0-group fish. Mullidae — goatfishes Mullus (inratus Jordan and Gilbert, red goatfish. One red goatfish, 62 mm. long, was caught in late August; another, 80 mm. long, in early September, 1962. Table 9. — Numbers and lengths of black sea bass caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., Sep- tember 1961 to December 1962. (Sea bass were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Date Number Total length Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Sept. 1-15 66 41 33-51 Sept. 16-30 87 44 32-56 Oct. 1-15 57 46 37-67 Oct. 16-31 28 44 35-53 Nov. 1-15 2 50 45-56 1962 Aug. 1-15 1 33 Aug. 16-31 5 42 35-52 Sept. 1-15 20 45 31-63 Sept. 16-30 58 48 32-67 Oct. 1-15 55 46 33-66 Oct. 16-31 130 41 27-60 Sparidae — porgies Stenotoiniis rhrij.^oj.'s (Linnaeus), scup. Small scup were caugiit in September and October 1961 and in July to October 1962 (table 10. fig. 3). We judged that all were 0-group fish on the basis of growth data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and Finkelstein (1969). The ap- pearance of fish 15 to 30 mm. long in early July 1982 indicated that some of the young ended pelagic life at about that size. The fish caught in 1962 were progressively longer from early July to early October. There was no apparent length increase after early Octobei'. Table 10. — Numbprs ami lengths of .scup caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Scup were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Date Nuinber Fork length Mean Range 1961 Mm. Mm. Sept. 1-15 860 48 32-77 Sept. 16-30 1,011 56 36-91 Oct. 1-15 777 64 41-95 Oct. 16-31 47 66 44-87 1962 July 1-15 121 24 17-30 July 16-31 737 30 21-44 Aug. 1-15 210 41 27-61 Aug. 16-31 1,067 54 30-81 Sept. 1-15 734 61 38-86 Sept. 16-30 350 70 51-93 Oct. 1-15 47 82 53-95 Oct. 16-31 39 75 45-97 The scup left the Woods Hole area abrupt- ly in the autumn, and their dejiarture coincided with sharp drops in water tem- perature. For example, for approximate- ly equal amounts of trawling the following- numbers of scup were caught on successive trawling dates in October 1961: October 4, 354 fish; October 12, 423; October 19, 47; October 26, 0. In this period the water temperature dropped from 19.4 to 13.0° C. (table 1, fig. 2). Scup were less numerous in 1962, but the pattern of autumn departure in relation to temper- ature was similar to that in 1961 (fig. 3). Labridae — wrasses Tuntogolabrus udtipcrsus (Walbaum), cunner. Gunners were caught from September to early December in 1961 and from late March through November in 1962 (table 11, fig. 3). They were rare or absent during the coldest months. This species spawns in spring and early summer (Big- elow and Schroeder, 1953), and the fish 30 to 59 mm. long in 1961 were judged Table 11. — Numbers and lengths of cunners caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., Sep- tember 1961 to December 1962. (Cunners were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range Mm.. Mm. Mm. 1961 Sept. 1-15 3 31 30-32 Sept. 16-30 5 35 31-43 1 72 Oct. 1-15 5 39 35-42 .. __ Oct. 16-31 8 42 3,3-54 _. __ Nov. 1-15 10 42 33-52 1 78 Nov. 16-30 6 49 41-59 Dec. 1-15 1 76 1962 Mar. 16-31 ,_ __ ._ 2 36 35-38 Apr. 1-15 __ .- -_ 5 39 33-49 Apr. 16-30 __ _. .. 6 46 37-59 May 1-15 .. .. __ 4 44 39-50 May 16-31 __ .. __ 6 47 36-59 June 1-15 _- __ -_ 7 65 50-75 June 16-30 .. __ __ 7 61 55-71 July 1-15 7 21 17-27 11 91 52-151 July 16-31 24 24 15-37 32 94 57-176 Aug. 1-15 34 33 21-46 22 87 60-155 Aug. 16-31 20 39 26-54 31 101 66-201 Sept. 1-15 39 42 28-59 25 92 63-150 Sept. 16-30 18 50 36-62 6 75 67-85 Oct. 1-15 7 43 34-56 2 83 77-90 Oct. 16-31 17 48 39-62 3 87 82-95 Nov. 1-15 1 59 Nov. 16-30 2 54 53-55 ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and by the seasonal progression of length frequency distribu- tions in the 1961-62 fish. to be young- of the year. In 1962, the 0- group fish appeared in catclies in early July at lengths of 17 to 27 mm. and were present through November. Gunners caught from late March thi-ough June in 1962 probably were 1-group fish; how- ever, from July to early September fish older than 1-group also appeared to be present (table 11). Tautoga onitis (Linnaeus), tautog. Tautog, 26 to 375 mm. long, were caught in September to early December 1961 and in late March to early November 1962 (table 12, fig. 3). This species spawns chiefly in June in the Woods Hole area (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953), and the fish 41 to 74 mm. long in 1961 were judged to be young of the year on the basis of growth data for age-grouii 1 and older given by Cooper (1967). In 1962, speci- mens 26 to 43 nmi. long began appearing in catches in August and were present until early November. These small fish apparently also were of age-group (i. Godiidae — gobies Gobiosonw ginsbiii-fii Ilildebrand and Schroe- der, seaboard goby. Four seaboard gobies were caught: one each in November and December 1961 and two in October 1962. The lengths were 39, 41, 44, and 45 mm. (U.S. National Museum catalog numbers for the last three: US204319, US204320. US204322) . This species has not been previously re- ported for the Woods Hole area. It was not described as a species separate from the naked goby {G. bosci) until 1928 (Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928), how- ever, and since the naked goby has been mentioned as common in the summer near Woods Hole (Sumner, et al., 1913) it seems likely that seaboard gobies were caught there also in the past and identi- fied as naked gobies. Triglidae — searobins PriotuAus curoliHHs (Linnaeus), northern searobin. Table 12. — Numbers and lengths of tautog caught with ail otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Tautog were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. 1961 Sept. 1-15 2 57 52-62 Sept. 16-30 7 56 50-66 -_ __ Oct. 1-15 4 60 56-74 1 90 __ Oct. 16-31 2 42 41-42 Nov. 1-15 2 46 41-50 -- __ Nov. 16-30 1 44 .. Dec. 1-15 9 50 42-57 -_ __ 1962 Mar. 16-31 __ .. .. 2 48 42-53 May 16-31 ._ __ __ 2 167 61-273 June 1-15 __ __ -_ 4 147 64-365 June 16-30 __ _. _. 2 85 75-95 July 1-15 ._ ._ -_ 8 108 65-190 July 16-31 __ ._ — 9 139 88-265 -Aug. 1-15 2 34 26-43 7 132 86-163 Aug. 16-31 4 46 35-58 10 112 93-153 Sept. 1-15 2 46 41-51 18 160 88-353 Sept. 16-30 2 56 46-65 6 134 98-211 Oct. 1-15 .- __ -_ 4 178 100-375 Oct. 16-31 2 69 68-70 1 178 Nov. 1-15 1 33 Nov. 16-30 __ -- .- 1 96 -. ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953), Cooper (1967), and by the seasonal progression of length frequency distributions in the 1961-62 fish. Searobins were caught from September through November in 1961 and from late July through October in 1962 (table 13, fig. 3). All were 0-group fish except for a few larger individuals in catches dur- ing the summer of 1962. The young fish first appeared in July and early August at lengths of 33 to 42 mm. This may approximate the size when the pelagic phase ends. These young fish had reached an average length of 68 mm. by the end of October. The searobins disappeared from catches in October and November. They a]ipar- ently left tiie area in response to the rapid 10 Table 13. — Numbers and lengths of northern sea robins caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Sea robins were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Fork length Fork length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Sept. 1-15 2 48 38-58 Sept. 16-30 6 59 43-75 Oct. 1-15 9 65 56-77 Oct. 16-31 12 67 55-79 Nov. 1-15 5 64 59-72 Nov. 16-30 2 73 71-75 Mm. Mm. 1962 June 16-30 __ __ __ 2 256 253-260 July 1-15 __ 9 230 196-275 July 16-31 1 35 1 212 Aug. 1-15 4 37 3.3-42 3 231 220-253 Aug. 16-31 10 51 44-61 __ __ .. Sept. 1-15 16 55 44-67 2 256 255-256 Sept. 16-30 27 60 52-75 __ __ ._ Oct. 1-15 27 68 52-80 _. __ Oct. 16-31 166 68 34-94 -- -- -- 1 Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and by the seasonal progression of length frequency distribu- tions in the 1961-G2 fish. December 1961 and in late March to De- cember 1962 (table 15, fig. 3). Small specimens about 35 to 50 mm. long, which appeared in late March and were present through the rest of the year as progres- sively larger fish, probably were of a single age-group of this species which spawns in autumn and winter. These may have been 0-group fish, because no smaller specimens were caught; Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) reported that the young of this species are planktonic in the Woods Hole ai-ea during late winter and spring. Dactylopteridae — flying gurnards Dactyloptenis volituns (Linnaeus), flying gurnard. A single flying gurnard, 69 mm. long, was caught in August 19(52 (U.S. National Museum catalog number US204318). Pholidae — gunnels Phulis gunvellus (Linnaeus), rock gunnel. Seventeen rock gunnels were caught (table 16). A few of these — in particular one 72 mm. long taken in late November 1961 and one 55 mm. long in early August 1962 dro]i in water temperature that was oc- curring at this time (table 1, fig. 2). Cottidae — sculpins Mijo.voccjihalus octndpcemspinosus (Mitch- ill), longhorn sculpin. Longhorn sculpins were caught in October to Decemlier 1961 and in May and Octobe}- to December 1962 (table 14, fig. 3) . While no measurements were oljtained for the 1961 fi.sh, they were similar in size to tho.se from 1962. All of the fish were assumed to be adults. The increase in numbers in November apparently was related to spawning, which occurs in inshore areas at about this time (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953). Myoxocejihahis aenens (Mitchill), grubby. Grubbies were caught in November and Table 14. — Numbers and lengths of longhorn sculpins caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Longhorn sculpins were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Total length Date Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Oct. 16-31 1 Nov. 1-15 35 Nov. 16-30 29 Dec. 1-15 23 Dec. 16-31 1 — — 1962 May 1-15 2 324 322-327 May 16-31 1 305 Oct. 16-31 1 290 Nov. 1-15 55 289 232-335 Nov. 16-30 87 288 248-350 Dec. 16-31 6 291 280-305 11 Table 15. — Numbers and lengths of grabbles caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., Sep- tember 1961 to December 1962. (Grubbies were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Total length Date Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Nov. 1-15 12 82 53-100 Nov. 16-30 13 81 59-95 Dec. 1-15 30 83 57-122 Dec. 16-31 2 80 85-95 1962 Mar. 16-31 6 62 38-107 Apr. 1-15 16 49 35-68 Apr. 16-30 2 76 62-90 May 1-15 6 51 48-55 May 16-31 6 55 50-60 June 1-15 3 69 61-84 June 16-30 15 81 60-135 July 1-15 5 72 62-80 July 16-31 5 83 69-119 Aug. 1-15 3 76 71-79 Aug. 16-31 9 81 69-95 Sept. 1-15 7 80 75-104 Sept. 16-30 4 89 82-94 Oct. 1-15 2 92 91-92 Oct. 16-31 11 93 62-122 Nov. 1-15 14 100 92-110 Nov. 16-30 6 102 94-116 Dec. 16-31 2 100 91-108 Table 16. — Numbers and lengths of rock gunnels caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Rock g^unnels were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Number Total length Date Mean Range Mm. Mm. 1961 Oct. 16-31 1 91 ._ Nov. 16-30 1 72 — 1962 Apr. 1-15 1 94 __ Apr. 16-30 2 108 78-139 May 1-15 2 100 91-108 May 16-31 6 97 80-112 June 1-15 1 115 __ Aug. 1-15 1 55 __ Oct. 16-31 1 103 Nov. 16-30 1 88 — — may have been young from spawning of the previous winters, on the basis of growth information for the European form summarized by Bigelow and Schroe- der (1953). Stromateidae — butterfishes Poronotus triacanthus (Peck), butterfish. Butterfish were caught only in 1962 dur- ing three summer months: 12 fish in early July (mean length, 39 mm.; range, 35 to 43 mm.); 2 in August (mean length, 42 mm.; range, 41 to 44 mm.); and 13 in early September (mean length, 51 mm.; range, 42 to 64 mm.). We judged all to be 0-group fish on the basis of growth data reported by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Atherinidae — silversides Menidia menidia (Linnaeus), Atlantic sil- verside. Silversides were caught in some numbers in October to December 1961 and July to December 1962; also, a single specimen was taken in February 1962 (table 17, fig. 3) . The small individuals 13 to 26 mm. long that began to appear in July clearly were 0-group fish (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953) . This age-group apparently was the only one sampled from summer on in 1962. A measure of average growth for this group may be obtained by following the progression of mean lengths from 18 mm. in July to 80 mm. in December. Bothidae — lefteye flounders Paralichthys dentattis (Linnaeus), summer flounder. Sixty summer flounders were caught in October 1961 and in May to October 1962. The mean length of 16 that were measured was 420 mm. and the length range 340 to 520 mm. The others were not measured, but their length distribution was about the same as that of the measured ones. No young fish, less than 300 mm. long, were caught. 12 Table 17. — Numbers and lengths of Atlantic silver- sides caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Silver- sides were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Date Number Fork length Mean Range 1961 Oct. 1-15 1 Oct. 16-31 8 Nov. 1-15 29 Nov. 16-30 115 Dec. 1-15 206 Dec. 16-31 11 1962 Feb. 1-14 1 July 1-15 18 July 16-31 44 Aug. 1-15 4 Aug. 16-31 152 Sept. 1-15 270 Sept. 16-30 4 Oct. 1-15 19 Oct. 16-31 9 Nov. 1-15 4 Nov. 16-30 14 Dec. 16-31 6 Mm. 68 72 78 75 70 76 66 18 29 39 56 56 62 67 71 71 74 80 Mm. 60-85 63-112 55-106 54-97 61-86 13-26 18-39 36-46 44-79 44-75 55-71 57-81 63-79 65-80 63-98 72-88 Scophthalmtis aquosus (Mitchill), window- pane. A single windowpane (sand flounder), 53 mm. long, was caught in mid-May 1962. The size indicated that it was a 0-group fish from spring spawning (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953). Pleuronectidae — righteye flounders Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum) , winter flounder. Winter flounders were caught in all months from September 1961 to December 1962, although they were scarce during the winter (table 18, fig. 3). Young of the year fish did not appear in catches until November 1961, when trawling in the shallow water near the salt marsh (fig. 1) was first begun. In 1962 the 0- group fish were 17 to 32 mm. long when they first were caught in early June. They probably descend to the bottom at about this length, for we have caught planktonic stages as long as 17 mm. in May in this area. The growth of 0-group fish may be traced by following the progression of mean lengths in 1962 (table 18). They grew to a length of about 73 mm. by late fall. In 1961 the 0-group winter flounders were about 87 mm. long in late fall, suggesting Table 18. — Numbers and lengths of winter flounder caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (Winter flounder were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. 1961 Sept. 1-15 __ 38 286 157-354 Sept. 16-30 _. 91 287 144-383 Oct. 1-15 _. __ 50 296 117-371 Oct. 16-31 ._ __ 99 301 170-404 Nov. 1-15 31 87 61-125 93 276 101-367 Nov. 16-30 33 89 64-125 39 273 142-397 Dec. 1-15 92 87 60-134 36 238 136-360 Dec. 16-31 1 96 — -- — — 1962 Jan. 1-15 2 322 298-347 Feb. 15-28 _. _. __ 1 307 Mar. 16-31 __ __ .. 28 215 64-409 Apr. 1-15 __ __ __ 76 186 55-381 Apr. 16-30 __ __ __ 71 196 58-417 May 1-15 ._ __ _. 66 138 78-360 May 16-31 .. __ _. 119 198 72-394 June 1-15 39 23 17-32 92 260 82-390 June 16-30 17 32 21-43 44 228 100-370 July 1-15 5 39 31-44 56 282 118-377 July 16-31 2 42 34-51 56 296 116-410 Aug. 1-15 5 40 22-58 61 268 137-374 Aug. 16-31 9 53 26-64 93 272 97-361 Sept. 1-15 2 60 56-64 43 275 140-386 Sept. 16-30 11 61 39-87 54 278 122-411 Oct. 1-15 12 71 52-85 58 272 135-422 Oct. 16-31 36 72 55-102 180 278 127-390 Nov. 1-15 19 73 50-95 28 291 123-381 Nov. 16-30 19 73 46-105 26 262 132-311 Dec. 16-31 3 67 47-90 1 363 — ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) and from examination of length frequency distributions and oto- liths in the 1961-62 fish. 13 that there may have been differences in rate of growth or develoiiment in tiie 2 years. Large winter flounders (ahout 2ri0 mm. and over) Ijegan maturing in early fall, and they gradually di.sap])eared from catches in late fall as maturation pro- gressed. Presumably they moved to estu- aries, where mucli of the sjiawning takes l)lace (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953). Xo sjiawning fish were obserx'ed in the Woods Hole harbor catches. Balistidae — triggerfishes and filefishes Monucanthus hhpidus (Linnaeus), plane- head filefishes. Planehead filefish were recorded in Novem- ber 1961 and in August through October 19(52 (table 19, fig. :i). We judged that most of tliese fish were young of tlie year. Table 19. — Numbers and lengths of planehead filefish caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., September 1961 to December 1962. (File- fish were caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) Young of the year' Age group 1 and older Total length Total length Date Num- ber Mean Range Num- ber Mean Range 1961 Nov. 1-15 1962 Mm. Mm. 30 Mr, Mm. Aug. 1-15 o 33 26-41 Aug. 16-31 6 58 29-86 Sept. 1-15 13 65 36-88 Sept. 16-30 9 68 34-94 Oct. 1-15 5 63 24-84 Oct. 16-31 10 63 46-81 12 131 109-212 ' Assumed to be young of the year on the basis of data given by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Tetraodontidae — puffers Sphaeroides nmculatus (Bloch and Schneid- er) , northern puffer. Eleven puffers were caught from mid- July to early October 19(i2. These were divided into two size groups: four were large fish (mean length, 192 mm.; range, 167 to 21;; mm.) and seven were small (mean length, 42 mm.; range, 15 to 64 mm.) . ^^'e judged the latter to be 0-grouii fish on the basis of growth data from Bigelow and Schroeder (1953). Lophiidae — goosefishes L(il>hiii.s (iDicricaiiits \'alenciennes, goosefish. One goosefish, 83:'> mm. long, was caught in October 1962; another, 902 mm. long, was taken in Novemlier 1962. LITERATURE CITED American Fisheries Society. 196t). A list of common and .scientific names of fishes from the L'nited States and Canada. 2d ed. Spec. Publ. 2. 102 pp. Bigelow, Henry B., and V>'illiam C. Schroeder. 1953. Fishes of the Oulf of Maine. U.S. Dejj. Int., Fish Wild!. Serv., Fish. Bull. 53: 1-577. Cooper, Richard A. 1967. Age and growth of the tautog, T