Abstract
Abstract The hypothesis was tested that black sea bass Centropristis striata north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, were morphologically homogeneous and therefore constituted a single stock. Meristic and morphometric data were analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance and principal components analysis. Significant differences were found throughout the geographic region, most notably between samples from Virginia and Massachusetts. The meristic comparisons provided greater separation between geographic areas than did morphometrics. Results of the analysis can be attributed to environmentally induced phenotypic differences, but further research on spatial and temporal segregation will be necessary to determine if these local groups constitute separate genotypic entities.
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