Tautog and Cunner
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National Wetlands Research Cenw u. s. Fi!sh and WLfdw?isell&e 700 Cajundome ibulewd Lafayette, La. 7MO6 Biological Report 82 (11.105) TR EL-82-4 August 1989 Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (North and Mid-Atlantic) TAUTOG AND CUNNER QL 155 .S63 no. 82- 11.105 Coastal Ecology Group Fish and Wildlife Service Waterways Experiment Station U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Biological Report 82(11.105) TR EL-82-4 August 1989 Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (North Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic) TAUTOG AND CUNNER Peter J. Auster L NOAA's National Undersea Research Program The University of Connecticut at Avery Point Groton, CT 06340 Project Officer David Moran U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Research Center 1010 Gause Boulevard Slidell, LA 70458 Performed for Coastal Ecology Group U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station Vicksburg, MS 39180 and U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Research and Development National Wetlands Research Center Washington, DC 20240 This series may be referenced as follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1983-19_. Species profiles: life histories and environmental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 82(11). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, TR EL-82-4. This profile may be cited as tollows: Auster, P.J. 1989. Species profiles: life histories and environmental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates (North Atlantic and Mid- Atlantic)--tautog and cunner. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 82(11.1(X). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, TR EL-82-4. 13 pp. PREFACE This species profile is one of a series on coastal aquatic organisms, principally fish, of sport, commercial, or ecological importance. The profiles are designed to provide coastal managers, engineers, and biologists with a brief comprehensive sketch of the biological characteristics and environmental requirements of the species and to describe how populations of the species may be expected to react to environmental changes caused by coastal development. Each profile has sections on taxonomy, life history, ecological role, environmental requirements, and economic importance, if applicable. A three-ring binder is used for this series so that new profiles can be added as they are prepared. This project is jointly planned and financed by the U.S . Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Suggestions or questions regarding this report shou Id be directed to one of the following addresses. Information Transfer Specialist National Wetlands Research Center U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service NASA-Slide11 Computer Complex 1010 Gause Boulevard Slidell, LA 70458 or U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Attention: WESER-C Post Office Box 631 Vicksburg, MS 39180 iii CONVERSION TABLE Metric to U.S. Customary Multiply E!?! To Obtain millimeters (mm) 0.03937 inches centimeters (cm) 0.3937 inches meters (m) 3.281 feet meters (m) 0.5468 fathoms kilometers (km) 0.6214 statute miles kilometers (km) 0.5396 nautical miles square meters (m*) 10.76 square feet square kilometers (km*) 0.3861 square miles hectares (ha) 2.471 acres liters (1) 0.2642 gallons cubic meters (m3) 35.31 cubic feet cubic meters (m3) 0.0008110 acre-feet milligrams (mg) 0.00003527 ounces grams (9) 0.03527 ounces kilograms (kg) 2.205 pounds metric tons (t) 2205.0 pounds metric tons (t) 1.102 short tons kilocalories (kcal) 3.968 British thermal units Celsius degrees ("C) 1.8('%) + 32 Fahrenheit degrees U.S. Customary to Metric inches 25.40 millimeters inches 2.54 centimeters feet (ft) 0.3048 meters fathoms 1.829 meters statute miles (mi) 1.609 kilometers nautical miles (nmi) 1.852 kilometers square feet (ft*) 0.0929 square meters square miles (mi*) 2.590 square kilometers acres 0.4047 hectares gallons (gal) 3.785 liters cubic feet (ft3) 0.02831 cubic meters acre-feet 1233.0 cubic meters ounces (oz) 28350.0 milligrams ounces (oz) 28.35 grams pounds (lb) 0.4536 kilograms pounds (lb) 0.00045 metric tons short tons (ton) 0.9072 metric tons British thermal units (Btu) 0.2520 kilocalories Fahrenheit degrees (OF) 0.5556 ("F - 32) Celsius degrees iv CONTENTS PREFACE .................................................................. iii CONVERSION FACTORS ....................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................... vi NOMENCLATURE/TAXONOMY/RANGE .............................................. 1 MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS .......................................... 1 REASON FOR INCLUSION IN SERIES ........................................... LIFE HISTORY............................................................. 5" Spawning ............................................................... Fecundity and Eggs ..................................................... : Larvae ................................................................. 6 Juveniles and Adults ................................................... 6 GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS ................................................... 7 FISHERY .................................................................. ECOLOGICAL ROLE .......................................................... : ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS ............................................... 8 Temperature ............................................................ 8 Habitat ................................................................ Other Environmental Factors ............................................ I"0 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................... 11 V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful for the reviews by Alan Bejda of the National Marine Fisheries Service and Robert Sand of the University of Rhode Island. Their thoughtful comments greatly improved the text. Susan Stone prepared the illustrations and Jeanie Klemm expertly fed the computer the various drafts of the manuscript. vi Figure 1. Tautog (top) and cunner (bottom). TAUTOG AND CUNNER NOMENCLATURE/TAXONOMY/RANGE Geographic range: Tautog--coastal region of Nova Scotia to South Carolina; abundant from Cape Cod Scientific name.........Tautoq a onitis south to the Delaware Capes. Cunner Preferred common name...........Tauto g --coastal region and offshore banks from Conception Bay, Newfoundland, OZkKZmZn names .......... Blackfish, and southwestern Gulf of St. white chin Lawrence, south to New Jersey, and Class.....................Osteichthye s occasionally to the entrance of Order......................Perciforme s Chesapeake Bay (Bigelow and Family.......................,Labrida e Schroeder 1953; Liem and Scott 1966) (Figure 2). Scientific name..........Tau,t.oqolabrus adspersus Preferred common name...........Cunner MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS (Figure 1) Other common names..........Perch, sea The tautog and cunner are the perch, blue perch, bergall, only two representatives of labridae chogset, choggy along the northeast coast of the Class.....................Osteichthyes United States. They are easily Order......................Perciformes distinguished from other co-occurring Family........................Labridae fishes in having a single long dorsal 1 1 CANADA \ \ MAINE OSTON !‘E COD # Tautog and Cunner MILES Figure 2a. Distribution of Jautog and Cunner in North Atlantic Region. 2 --\’ <-\RI NEW YORK \ j R CONN+TICUT ‘1 0 z _,----\_ n 7 -- m m “:,AA - \ I, PE NSYLVANIA PHILADELPHIA + t ATLANTIC OCEAN ._------ MARYLAND - ,7 BALTIMORE 1 0N VIRGINIA MILES O%-+%+ KILOMETERS Cunner Tautog and Cunner ORTH CAROLINAcn a O - CAPE HATTERAS Figure 2b. Distribution of Tautog and Cunner in Mid-Atlantic Region. 3 fin, ventral fins almost directly color patterns of the cunner are beneath the pectorals, and a deep variable; different areas are mottled caudal peduncle. The anterior part of brown, red, green, and blue. Young the dorsal fin is spiny; the rest is cunner (up to 10 cm total length) soft rayed. The point of division of have a black spot at the anterior part spines and soft rays is not readily of the soft dorsal fin rays (Bigelow discernible. In both species, the and Schroeder 1953; Liem and Scott roof of the mouth and the pharynx have 1966). crushing teeth suitable for breaking and grinding hard-shelled prey. The The adult tautog is also much two species differ in dorsal profile longer than the adult cunner. The from the mouth to the base of the tautog reaches a maximum length of 92 dorsal fin; it is rounded in the cm whereas the cunner has been tautog but relatively straight in the recorded only up to 44 cm and cunner. Also, the caudal peduncle is generally does not, exceed 31 cm relatively wider and the caudal fin (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953; Liem and narrower in the tautog than in the Scott 1966). cunner (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953; Liem and Scott 1966). larvae, and postlarvae of tautoEgg%$ cunner were described by The adult tautog is blackish but Kuntz Radcliffe (1918) and has a slightly lighter ventral surface Williams (1967): These forms can be and a light to white chin. Juveniles distinguished to species by have mottled or banded sides with morphological differences (Figures 3 black, gray, or green pigment. The nd 4). Figure 3. Tautog egg, l-day-old 2.9 mm Figure 4. Cunner egg, newly hatched larva, 5 mm larva, and 10 mm fry (after 2.2 mm larva, 4.2 mm larva,and 8 mm fry Kuntz and Radcliffe 1918). (after Kuntz and Radcliffe 1918). REASON