Unusually strong along-shelf surface flow in the spring of 1987 transported haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) larvae westward from spawning grounds on Georges Bank into the Middle Atlantic Bight, some as far as 400 km beyond the limits of their normal distribution. 0-Group haddock survived in the Bight in record numbers. Their center of abundance occurred along the outer half of the shelf from Delaware Bay to Martha's Vineyard where more than 97% of the 0-group fish resided in the fall of 1987. Juveniles remained more abundant in the Bight than on the bank through the spring of 1988. Collective evidence suggests that survivors returned to Georges Bank during the late spring/early summer of 1988. The estimated number of 0-group fish in the 1987 year class exceeded all previous estimates from a 27-yr time series which included the 1963 year class, the largest recruited to the fishery since record keeping began in 1931.
We used a stepwise linear discriminant analysis to investigate the population structure of summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus (Linnaeus). Analysis was based on 18 morphometric and meristic variables taken from 1,214 specimens collected in coastal waters between Montauk Point, New York and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Two populations were identified: one in the Middle Atlantic Bight, or between New York and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; the other in the South Atlantic Bight, or between Cape Hatteras and Florida. Discriminant analysis coefficients, based on five morphometric variables taken from specimens collected at geographic extremes of the survey area, provide a mathematical means for classifying summer flounder into either the northern or southern population with an accuracy of 93%.
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