Distribution and Abundance of Larval Fishes at Two North Carolina Inlets

Abstract

Two major barrier island inlets that connect Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean were quantitatively sampled for larvae at new moon monthly intervals during 1988-89. Simultaneous tows of bottom and surface 1 m, 500 micron mesh nets were made day and night at single stations inside of Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke Inlet. Oregon Inlet, located in a more temperate marine province, was expected to have a different taxonomic community than Ocracoke Inlet, but, of 77 taxa collected from both inlets, 54 occurred at both inlets. Clupeoids and sciaenids were the dominant taxa in both inlets. At Oregon Inlet the lowest abundance of larvae occurred in February and the highest occurred in late August, whereas at Ocracoke Inlet, November and June were the lowest and highest months of larval abundance. At Oregon Inlet, 63% of the total number of larvae were caught near the bottom, but at Ocracoke Inlet, only 38% were caught near the bottom. Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, were 40 times more abundant at the surface than at the bottom at Ocracoke Inlet. Most larvae were caught at night at both inlets. The times of occurrence and peak abundance for most species did not appear linked between inlets. Twenty-one species were significantly different in mean length between the two inlets.