144 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



As shown by Tables 4 and 5, the newly hatched redfish in the younger stages 

 were secured in the greatest abundance only in the immediate vicinity of the passes 

 or along the sides of the channels directly supplied with the tidal waters from the 

 Gulf. The distribution of the young apparently resulted from the action of the tidal 

 currents, which, sweeping in from the Gulf, carried the young, nearly helpless fish to 

 shallow areas covered with characteristic heavy aquatic vegetation. 



A complicating factor in the ready identification of the redfish larvae was the 

 presence during late October and throughout November of great numbers of larval 

 croakers {Micropogon undulatus), which were spawned in the Gulf and were coming 

 into the bays in such abundance as to clog the nets and to render the separation of 

 the fish from the closely related redfish most difficult. This confusion probably 

 resulted in many larval and young redfish being missed in the tow-net collections 

 conducted in the passes themselves as well as in the open Gulf. With gallons of the 

 larval croakers being secured, little hope was entertained of finding the less abundant 

 redfish. It was only when the young redfish had reached the more shallow waters 

 that a ready separation of the species generally could be made. 



There would appear to be no doubt that the redfish spawn in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 near or at the mouths of the passes, and that the young come into the inland waters 

 after hatching, to be distributed over many square miles of bays and lagoons. No 

 other spawning place, save in the Gulf, would be possible to account for the con- 

 centrated numbers of young within and about the passes, together with the schools 

 of spawning adults at the mouths of these passes. 



Outside of the knowledge gained during the investigation along the Texas coast, 

 very little definite information is available as to the time and place of spawning in 

 other sections of the range of the species. Welsh and Breder stated (1923, p. 184) 

 that "Spawning occurs chiefly in the late fall or early winter, although from the 

 size of some young fish taken in Florida waters in January it is probable that some 

 spawning may take place as early as September." 



A series of young-fish collections made by Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928, p. 

 278) indicates that in Chesapeake Bay spawning occurs slightly earlier in the fall 

 than it does along the Texas coast. The following catches are recorded by Hildebrand 

 and Schroeder from Chesapeake Bay and are presented for comparison with the 

 Texas collections. 



Table 6. — Colleclioms of young redfish in Chesapeake Bay in 1931, hi/ Hildebrand and Schroeder 



[Compare with Table 4] 



