distance of three hundred miles, nor even fifty miles, and from this it is argued that some of the species must spawn not far from the Vineyard Sound. It is not impossible that this conclusion may be true, still the premises are hardly sufficient. The young menhaden at the time of their first appearance on the southern coast of Massachusetts are strong and active, and apparently fully developed in bone and muscle. There is no apparent reason why they might not make long journeys.

22.-INFERENCES AS TO TIME AND PLACE OF SPAWNING.

The testimony of young and parent fish.

133. Certain inferences may perhaps be drawn from the facts mentioned above. The menhaden taken in summer and early autumn on the coast of New England show ovaries and spermaries in an undeveloped state, but evidently slowly approaching maturity, while others accidently delayed in Cape Cod Bay and Delaware Bay show in November spawn nearly ripe and in December ova quite mature. In October the southward migration begins, and by the 1st of December they have deserted the coasts of the Northern and Middle States. These schools winter, in part, on the coast of North Carolina, where they arrive in large numbers from the last of November to the middle of December, and are also found throughout the winter on the coast of Florida. The young fish, from one to three inches in length and upward, are common throughout the summer on the southern coasts, and those of a larger growth, from five to eight inches, occur in late summer and autumn on the coast of Southern New England south of Cape Cod. There is no satisfactory evidence that spawning takes place in the rivers of the Southern States. Will not these considerations warrant the hypothesis that the breeding grounds of the menhaden are on shoals along the coast, from North Carolina, and perhaps Florida, northward as far perhaps as Virginia or New Jersey? This idea was first advanced by Captain Atwood and has received the sanction of Messrs. Goodale and Atkins.

The opinions of fishermen.

134. The majority of intelligent fishermen in the North seem to believe that the menhaden is a winter spawner, breeding in Southern waters, though some, arguing from the presence of small fish in autumn, advance the idea that they spawn in Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay, while others still think it probable that there are two spawning seasons, one at the north in the summer and another in the winter at the south. I have been assured by several fishermen that when seining menhaden they have found a mass of their spawn, two or three feet in diameter, carried in the center of the school, and the idea was advanced that the fish transported and in this way cared for their eggs until they should be hatched.

I have had the opportunity of examining one of these supposed

masses of menhaden spawn, which proved to be a cluster of squid (Loligo Pealii) eggs, and it is probable that these singular objects have given rise to all similar stories.

A claim that menhaden spawn in Southern rivers.

135. The young menhaden which frequent the coasts north of the Carolinas are usually four or five inches in length, and there is no record of their having been seen of a less size than three inches, and these are probably the fish hatched from the eggs during the winter, which, in obedience to the migratory instinct, move northward along the coast. The movements of the schools of young resemble in every respect those of the grown fish, and they approach the shore from deep water by the same routes. At Cape Hatteras, according to Mr. Simpson, the young fish from one inch upward are seen throughout the summer, which points clearly to a proximity to the spawning-ground at that point. In the Saint John's River they are found two inches in length. It is the opinion of Mr. Kemps that many of the menhaden spawn in the river, and he is positive that he has seen spawn running from the fish taken in the early part of the year. The presence of the young fish in the waters, however, does not necessarily point to that conclusion, as he very naturally supposes it to do.

Mr. Simpson believes them to spawn in the Neuse River, but this is not proven to be a true supposition.

Criticism of a statement by Professor Hind.

136. In this connection I must call attention to a misapprehension on the part of my friend Professor Hind, who, basing his conclusions upon some uncollated returns in Professor Baird's first report, states that the spawning period of the menhaden is in the spring, at which time it ap pears to come from its winter home in the deeper waters off the coast to the shores, at dates corresponding to those of others whose movements are governed by temperatures.* And again he states, without citing any authority, that "following the law which govern fish life, its mode of spawning resembles that of the typical herring." This may or may not be true. No one knows.

23.-THE FEASIBILITY OF ARTIFICIAL CULTURE.

A claim that menhaden may be acclimated in Northern waters. 137. In a report to the minister of marine and fisheries, Mr. J. G. Whiteaves remarks: "It would perhaps be desirable to try and acclima tize meunadeu in British waters. All that would be necessary would be to send a vessel or two, each provided with well-room, to the United States, and liberate the menhaden thence procured at the mouth of any of the New Brunswick or Nova Scotia rivers, such as Saint Andrew's The effect of the fishery clauses of the Treaty of Washington, &c., 1877, p. 73.

Bay, L'Etang, Lepreaux, or Musquash, in New Brunswick, or Saint Mary's Bay and its tributaries, or Tusket River, in Nova Scotia."*

In his report for 1873, Mr. Peter Mitchell, minister of marine and fisheries, announces that he intends to suggest the artificial production of bait for the deep-sea fisheries on some part of the coast of Nova Scotia, and to devote attention especially to the growth of the menhaden and other bait-fishes of that class.†

In the "Case of Her Majesty's Government," before the Halifax Commission (see below in paragraph 219), the claim is made that "the menhaden bait itself can be bred and restored to places in the Bay of Fundy on the coast of Nova Scotia, where it existed up to the time of its extermination.”

With regard to these claims it can only be said that they are untrue and unsound. No one having the slightest acquaintance with the principles of fish culture would entertain the idea of the feasibility of such schemes.

H.-ENEMIES AND FATALITIES.

24.-DISEASES.

Mortality in the Merrimac River.

138. Capt. Moses Pettingell tells me that great mortality often prevails among the menhaden at the mouth of the Merrimac River. In 1876 the dead fish were heaped upon the shore to a depth of two feet, and the municipal authorities of Newburyport expended a large sum of money in carting them away. The fish seem to die in great pain; they come first to the surface, then, after a severe flurry, die. They sink immediately to the bottom, but float at the surface after a day or two.

It is stated that the same mortality prevailed forty years ago as now among the mendaden in the Merrimac. They covered the shores, tainted the air, and were taken away by the farmers as dressing for land. It was noticed that the fish would come to the surface, spin around and around, and then turn over on the back and die. These strange deaths are very probably caused by the presence of some internal parasite.

25.-PARASITES OF THE MENHADEN.

The crustacean, Cymothoa prægustator.

139. Some of the parasites which infest the menhaden are particularly curious and interesting.

The name "bug-fish," commonly applied to the menhaden in the Southern States, has reference to a large parasitic crustacean frequently

Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, 1874, appendices of the fisheries branch, p. 196.

Fifth Annual Report, &c., p. 66.

Springfield Republican, August 21, 1871.

found in the mouth of this fish. This parasite appears to have been first described by Latrobe, who proposed for it the name Oniscus prægustator. Say subsequently referred it to the genus, Cymothoa. It is known to the fishermen as the "bug," "fish-louse," or "crab-louse," and belongs to the order of Isopoda or equal-footed crustaceans, familiar examples of which are the whale lice (Cyamus ceti, &c.) and the boring shrimps (Limnoria lignorum) which riddle so completely the planks of ships and other submerged timbers, or, better still, the "wood-lice," "saw-bugs," or "pill-bugs" to be found in any old cellar or wall and under stones and logs which have lain for a time on damp ground. Verrill and Smith give twenty-three marine species for the coast of Southern New England. Most of these inhabit the rocky shores, clinging to the roots and branches of rock-weed or crawling among the rocks near high-water mark. Three are parasitic, one upon the bluetish, one upon the orange filefish; a third was found by Professor Leidy in the gill cavity of a hermit crab (Gelasimus pugilator). Cymothoa prægustator§ resembles in its shape a large "pill-bug,” the females reaching the length of two inches, the males somewhat smaller; they are provided with seven pairs of legs, with claws sharply pointed and adapted for clinging to their protector; their color is dirty white. The females carry their eggs in a large pouch on the under side of the body, formed by a series of large scaly plates, where they are retained until the young are hatched aud large enough to care for themselves. The Cymothoa is not in any true sense of the word a parasite, drawing nourishment from the fish to which it attaches itself; it is commensal, stealing shelter and transportation, but not subsistence, and Latrobe was very happy in his selection of a specific name, for a Roman prægustator was a foretaster, a cup-bearer, one who tasted the meats and drinks before they were served on the table of a prince. Clinging with its hook-like claws to the roof of the menhaden's mouth, its back downward, its mouth in close proximity to the front of the fish's upper jaw, it is in a very favorable location to take toll from every mouthful of food which passes into the brevoortian throat. It may change its quarters at will, and when the fish is dead frequently relaxes its grasp and crawls out of the mouth. Latrobe writes: "I have sometimes succeeded in taking out the insect in a brisk and lively state, but as soon as he was set free he immediately scrambled back into the mouth of the fish and resumed his position." The presence of so bulky a guest must greatly inconvenience the menhaden. I have taken from the mouth of a fish nine inches long two of these crustaceans, a male three-fourths of an inch long, and a female measuring an inch and three

* A drawing and description of the Clupea Tyrannus and Oniscus Prægustator. By Benjamin Henry Latrobe, F. A. P. S. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphla, for promoting useful knowledge. Vol. V., 1802, p. 77, pl. 1. † Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 1., part II, 1818, p. 395.

Report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1871–72, p. 567.

§ See plate X.

quarters, the vertical diameter of whose body, with distended egg-pouch, was a half-inch; this pair of lodgers completely filled the mouth of the fish, and must have incommoded him in the act of feeding. Aside from inconveniences of this nature, the presence of the parasite does not appear to affect the well-being of the fish, those whose mouths are tenanted seeming as plump and healthy as those having apartments to let.

About seventy per cent. of the menhaden from the Potomac examined by me in November, 1874, had the Cymothoa in their mouths, and even a larger proportion of those in the Saint John's, in April, 1875. Say states that a large number of those in the Delaware were thus infested, aud Mr. F. C. Goode writes that this is the case in the Saint John's River, Florida. The thirty-first question of the "Menhaden Circular" issued by the Commissioner of Fisheries was intended to draw out information on this point, and, from the statements of correspondents, in reply to this query, we may quite definitely conclude that this parasite of the menhaden is unknown in northern waters. Mr. A. G. Wolf, keeper of Absecum light, New Jersey, writes that a "bug" is sometimes found in the roof of the mossbunker's mouth, and almost every correspondent from localities south of that point notices its occurrence. On the other hand, it has never been observed in the waters of New England and New York. I have examined many specimens from Long Island and Block Island Sounds without finding it, and Prof. S. I. Smith tells me that his search for it in the vicinity of Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, was equally unsuccessful. In Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac, in the Delaware River and Bay, in the inlets of North Carolina, and the Saint John's River, Florida, it is well known as the companion of the alewife or fat-back.

Capt. Robert H. Hulbert, in the latter part of May or early in June, while seining mackerel from the Ellen M. Adams, of Gloucester, near Block Island, took, with the mackerel, about a barrel of large menhaden, most of which had the parasite in their mouths. At this time most of the menhaden had gone farther north. The later a school comes in, the faster it runs to the northward, says Captain Hulbert.

Inferences to be drawn from the presence of this parasite.

140. It is not known whether Cymothoa prægustator is a constant companion of the menhaden, accompanying it in its migrations and dependent upon it for existence, or whether it simply seeks shelter in the mouth of the fish at a particular season of the year. Is it not possible that it may be free during a part of its life, seeking shelter perhaps during the breeding season? Latrobe found it parasitic in March; my observations were made in November. It is very important that the chasm between these dates should be bridged, for whatever the truth may be, it will throw much light upon the migrations of the menhaden. If it be a constant parasite, the presumption will be that the schools of fish which frequent the shores of the Southern States, during the summer, do not in their