THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 303 



streams to their headwaters for the purpose of spawning. The fish is found abun- 

 dant in Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, N. Y., where it has probably made its way natu- 

 rally. In Lake Ontario, since the introduction there of the shad, the Alewife has 

 become so plentiful as to cause great difficulty to fishermen, and its periodical mor- 

 tality is a serious menace to the health of the people living in the vicinity. The 

 belief is that the fish were unintentionally introduced with the shad. In Pennsyl- 

 vania the Branch Alewife occurs in the Delaware and the Susquehanna in great 

 numbers in early spring. 



The U. S. Fish Commission, in 1894, obtained specimens at the following locali- 

 ties of the Lake Ontario region: Cape Vincent, June 21 ; Grenadier Island, June 

 27 ; mouth Salem River, Selkirk, July 25 ; Long Pond, Charlotte, N. Y., August 17 ; 

 Lake Shore, mouth Long Pond, August 17 ; Sandy Creek, North Hamlin, August 20. 

 Not a native of Cayuga Lake, but often found there in large numbers. Known 

 to the fishermen as Sawbelly. It is thought to have been introduced into the lakes 

 of Central New York by the State Fish Commission. Large numbers are often 

 found dead on the shores of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. (After Meek.) DeKay 

 says it appears in New York waters with the shad about the first of April, but never 

 in sufficient numbers to form a separate fishery. 



The Branch Herring, or Alewife, is the first of the alewives to appear in Graves- 

 end Bay; it comes with the shad. It endures captivity well. November 30, 1897, 

 individuals above 7 inches in length were caught in Gravesend Bay, which were prob- 

 ably the young of the year. 



The Alewife seldom exceeds I foot in length, the average market examples 

 being about 10 inches. The weight of the largest is about y 2 pound, and the 

 average weight is about 5 or 6 ounces. 



The fish enter the rivers earlier than the shad and return to the sea, or to estu- 

 aries adjacent to the river mouths at some undetermined date in the fall. During 

 the summer months enormous schools of full-grown, but sexually immature ale- 

 wives migrate along the coast, feeding on small crustaceans and themselves furnish- 

 ing food for bluefish, sharks, porpoises and other predaceous animals ; but none of 

 them are known to enter fresh water. In the rivers the alewives appear to eat noth- 

 ing, but they can be captured with small artificial flies of various colors. Their eggs 

 are somewhat adhesive and number from 60,000 to 100,000 to the individual. They 

 are deposited in shoal water; spawning begins when the river water is at 55 to 60 

 F. The period of hatching is not definitely known, but is believed to exceed four 

 days. 



During the spring and summer the young grow to a length of 2 and 3 inches ; 



