Observations on spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias) captured in late spring in a North Carolina estuary

Five spiny dogfish were captured in early-mid May during gillnet and longline sampling targeting juvenile coastal sharks in inshore North Carolina waters. Dogfish captures were made within Back Sound and Core Sound, North Carolina. All dogfish were females measuring 849-905 mm total length, well ove...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:F1000Research
Main Authors: Bangley, Charles, Rulifson, Roger
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: F1000Research 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4240240
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25469229
https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.4890.2
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Summary:Five spiny dogfish were captured in early-mid May during gillnet and longline sampling targeting juvenile coastal sharks in inshore North Carolina waters. Dogfish captures were made within Back Sound and Core Sound, North Carolina. All dogfish were females measuring 849-905 mm total length, well over the size at 50% maturity. Dogfish were caught at stations 1.8-2.7 m in depth, with temperatures 22.9-24.2 °C, 32.8-33.4 ppt salinity, and 6.9-8.0 mg/L dissolved oxygen. These observations are among the latest in the spring for spiny dogfish in the southeastern U.S. and occurred at higher temperatures than previously recorded for this species. It is unclear whether late-occurring spiny dogfish in this area represent a cryptic late-migrating or resident segment of the Northwest Atlantic population.