FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 81. NO. 1 



Table 6.— Chemical composition of Atlantic menhaden col- 

 lected from Narragansett Bay, R.I., between 3 June and 8 

 September 197R. Determinations were made on groups of five 

 fish. 



5000 



6000 



7000 



5000 5400 5800 6200 



CALORIES (g dry wt )" 



6600 

 I 



7000 



Figure 4.— Carbon, nitrogen, and ash contents (percent of dry 

 weight) as a function of caloric content in Atlantic menhaden 

 collected from Narragansett Bay. 



haden in the present study are similar to those re- 

 ported for Atlantic menhaden from Beaufort, 

 N.C., (Thayer et al. 1972) and Chesapeake Bay 

 (Dubrow et al. 1976). Menhaden are compara- 

 tively higher in percentage of dry weight and in 

 caloric content than most other fish species 

 (Dahlberg 1969; Perkins and Dahlberg 1971; 

 Mayer et al. 1973; Sidwell et al. 1974; Small 1975; 

 Kitchell et al. 1977; Foltz and Norden 1977). 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We wish to thank Harold A. Loftes, Captain of 

 Ocean State, and Charles Follett, Captain of 



Cindy Bet, for their assistance in collection of 

 samples and observation of the abundance and 

 movements of the Atlantic menhaden in 

 Narragansett Bay. This research was supported 

 by National Science Foundation Grants OCE 76 

 02572 and OCE 79 19551. 



LITERATURE CITED 



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140 



