Received: 19 August 2016 | Accepted: 26 January 2017 DOI: 10.1111/fog.12214 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Influence of oceanographic conditions on abundance and distribution of post-larval and juvenile carangid fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico John A. Mohan1 | Tracey T. Sutton2 | April B. Cook2 | Kevin M. Boswell3 | R. J. David Wells1,4 1Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, Abstract TX, USA Relationships between abundance of post-larval and juvenile carangid (jacks) fishes 2Department of Marine and Environmental and physical oceanographic conditions were examined in the northern Gulf of Mex- Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, USA ico (GoM) in 2011 with high freshwater input from the Mississippi River. General- 3Department of Biological Sciences, Florida ized additive models (GAMs) were used to explore complex relationships between International University, North Miami, FL, USA carangid abundance and physical oceanographic data of sea surface temperature 4Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (SST), sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) and salinity. The five most abundant car- Sciences, Texas A&M University, College angid species collected were: Selene setapinnis (34%); Caranx crysos (30%); Caranx Station, TX, USA hippos (10%); Chloroscombrus chrysurus (9%) and Trachurus lathami (8%). Post-larval Correspondence carangids (median standard length [SL] = 10 mm) were less abundant during the John A. Mohan Email:
[email protected] spring and early summer, but more abundant during the late summer and fall, sug- gesting summer to fall spawning for most species. Juvenile carangid (median Funding information Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative; National SL = 23 mm) abundance also increased between the mid-summer and early fall.