Seasonal distribution and abundance of 26 species of fish and megainvertebrates collected in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, January 1992-December 1997

Seasonal distribution and abundance maps, based on 1805 8.5-m otter trawl tows made in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary between January 1992 and December 1997, are presented for 26 species of fish and megainvertebrates. The 26 species illustrated are: clearnose skate, Raja eglanteria; little skate, Raja erinacea; winter skate, Raja ocellata; blueback herring, Alosa aestivalis; alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus; Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus; bay anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli; silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis; red hake, Urophycis chuss; spotted hake, Urophycis regia; northern searobin, Prionotus carolinus; striped searobin, Prionotus evolans; striped bass, Morone saxatilis; black sea bass, Centropristis striata; bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix; scup, Stenotomus chrysops; weakfish, Cynoscion regalis; spot, Leiostomus xanthurus; butterfish, Peprilus triacanthus; summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus; windowpane, Scophthalmus aquosus; winter flounder, Pleuronectes americanus; blue crab, Callinectes sapidus; Atlantic rock crab, Cancer irroratus; lady crab, Ovalipes ocellatus; and longfin squid, Loligo pealeii. These species dominated catches throughout the survey, accounting for greater than 90 percent of both total number and weight of all species collected. by Stuart J. Wilk, Robert A. Pikanowski, Donald G. McMillan, and Eileen M. MacHaffie. "October 1998." Includes bibliographical references (pages 5-6).