Table of Contents. Instructions to Authors / (p. iii-iv) -- An investigation of the heat energy budget of a coastal bay / Ned P. Smith (p. 1-16) -- Heavy metal content in otoliths of king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) in relation to body length and age / John R. Grady, Allyn G. Johnson and Marion Sanders (p. 17-24) -- A biological and physiological characterization of the Rio Carrizal estuary, Tamaulipas, Mexico / S.C. Rabalais, W.M. Pulich, Jr., N.N. Rabalais, D.L. Felder, R.K. Tinnin and R.D. Kalke (p. 25-38) -- Occurrence, age and growth of two morphological types of sand seatrout (Cynoscion arenarius) larvae in the winter and early spring coastal waters off west Louisiana / James H. Cowan, Jr., R.F. Shaw and J.G. Ditty (p. 39-50) -- Redescription of larvae of the pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides (Linnaeus) (Pisces, Sparidae) / Glen G. Zieske (p. 51-60) -- Exploited and unexploited hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria (L.), populations in coastal Georgia / Randal L. Walker (p. 61-76) -- Mortality and condition of the American oyster in Galveston Bay, Texas / Thomas M. Soniat, Lorene E. Smith and Michael S. Brody (p. 77-94) -- Nekton assemblages of the Calcasieu estuary / James D. Felley (p. 95-118) -- Aspects of the ecology of the calanoid copepod henus Pleuromamma in the eastern Gulf of Mexico / James L. Bennett and Thomas L. Hopkins (p. 119-136) -- Mortality of larval red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) associated with a Ptychodiscus brevis red tide / Cecilia M. Riley, Scott A. Holt, G. Joan Holt, Edward J. Buskey and C.R. Arnold (p. 137-146) -- Occurrence of a dinoflagellate bloom associated with an influx of low salinity water at Galveston, Texas, and coincident mortalities of demersal fish and benthic invertebrates / Donald E. Harper, Jr. and George Guillen (p. 147-161)