RIGHT VIEW 



FISH 



FORK 



LENGTH 



(MM.) 



25 



LEFT VIEW 



32 



44 



75 



Figure 12. — Lateral views of the alimentary tract of young Atlantic menhaden. 



be maintained in captivity with substitute 

 foods. Through limited experiments, we sought 

 answers to these questions. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Atlantic menhaden larvae used in the labo- 

 ratory studies were caught in the mouth of the 

 Newport River, N.C. The experiments were 

 made at BCF Biological Laboratory, Beaufort, 

 N.C, in January and February 1961. 



Capture and Establishment of Larvae 



Our proposed experiments hinged on our ca- 



pability in collecting and establishing viable 

 Atlantic menhaden larvae in the laboratory. 

 Larvae were caught with l-m.-diameter nylon 

 plankton nets (mesh aperture 0.90 mm.) sus- 

 pended in flooding tidal currents. A wooden 

 pen (1.4 by 0.9 by 0.4 m.), lined with plastic 

 window screen (mesh aperture 1.50 mm.), was 

 attached to the cod end of the net. This ar- 

 rangement reduced the mortality sometimes as- 

 sociated with capture of fish larvae (Marr, 

 1956). The catches were dipped from the pen 

 with 9-liter plastic buckets and transported 

 therein to the laboratory (fig. 13). Menhaden 

 larvae were removed, one or two at a time. 



FOOD OF YOUNG ATLANTIC MENHADEN IN RELATION TO METAMORPHOSIS 



505 



