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OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND BREEDING OF SAGITTA ELEGANS (CHAETOGNATHA) IN COASTAL WATERS OF THE GULF OF MAINE
Author(s) -
Sherman Kenneth,
Schaner Everett G.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1968.13.4.0618
Subject(s) - cape , spring (device) , abundance (ecology) , sagitta , oceanography , population , annual cycle , geography , ecology , environmental science , biology , fishery , geology , demography , archaeology , fish <actinopterygii> , mechanical engineering , otolith , sociology , engineering
The chaetognath Sagitta elegans Verrill in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine undergoes seasonal fluctuations in abundance, progressing from a spring low to a summer high and declining in fall and winter. These fluctuations are related to the breeding cycle; one generation of S. elegans is produced annually. Breeding extends from spring through fall; maturing specimens dominate in winter and immature specimens in summer. Death of mature individuals after breeding appears to cause the spring population decline. Areal differences in abundance are influenced by the dominant nontidal drift, which moves southwesterly along the Maine coast. In winter, when the drift is poorly developed, S. elegans is evenly distributed along the coast. Numbers increase progressively westward in summer and fall with the development of nontidal drift; they reach an annual peak in the western area (Cape Elizabeth, Maine, to Cape Ann, Massachusetts) during fall. Concentrations of S. elegans along the coast are apparently the result of local breeding. There is no evidence of large‐scale transport of S. elegans to local areas from other breeding centers in the Gulf of Maine.