NATURAL HISTORY OF REPFISH, ETC., OF TEXAS 153 



classes (fish from 40 to 60 centimeters), provides hook-and-line fishing about the 

 various passes, especially Corpus Christi. 



After a certain maximum length is attained (about- 70 centimeters or 27.5 inches) 

 the redfish tend to travel in schools and remain for the most time along the sandy 

 shores of the Gulf of Mexico. According to old fishermen, many of these schools of 

 "bull" redfish frequented the bays and lagoons during the summer months, departing 

 to the Gulf in early fall. At the present time, however, few such schools are noticeable 

 within the bays (two schools taken by the writer in July and September, 1926, in 

 Corpus Christi Bay). This fact has given rise to the opinion that the species is 

 becoming depleted. It is the decided belief of the writer that this absence of larger 

 redfish from the bays is not due to the actual scarcity of the fish (all redfish above 32 

 inches have been protected by law for some years) but to the marked changes that 

 have resulted from the use of power boats and' water traffic, as well as from the 

 activities of sportsmen who congregate about the passes in large numbers. The 

 schools of redfish are known to become easily frightened or "stampeded" at any slight 

 disturbance, and any activities in the vicinity of the passes may be regarded as 

 unfavorable to the entrance of the fish into the bays. 



When spawning time approaches (September), the schools of redfish, composed 

 largely of adults above 75 centimeters, travel along the shore lines of the Gulf beaches 

 imtil they strike the mouths of the passes. This movement or spawning migration 

 is most evident along Mustang and Padre Islands, Tex., during the early fall. Those 

 few schools of ripening adults that have been living within the bays during the sum- 

 mer apparently seek the pass exits to the Gulf. A concentration of spawning schools 

 of redfish at the mouths of the passes undoubtedly results in a condition favorable to 

 natural propagation and distribution of young. 



SIZE AND AGE AT MATURITY 



One large, unselected collection of sexually matured redfish was captured in late 

 September, 1926, several weeks before the first young of the 1926 year class were taken. 

 The sample consisted of SO fish, ranging in length from 74 to 96 centimeters (29 to 38 

 inches), and was part of a large school of fish that apparently was endeavoring to find 

 an exit from the narrow cove into which it had wandered. Several of these fish when 

 examined showed that spawning time was near at hand. A nearly ripe roe taken from 

 a female 90 centimeters long (3 feet) weighed approximately 13 ounces and contained 

 about 3,500,000 eggs. Two methods were used to calculate the total number of eggs, 

 with the results presented below : 



Von Bayer melhod: 



D = diameter of known whitefish eggs, in inches 0. 127 



iV = number of whitefish eggs to the quart, by actual count 33, 036 



d= average diameter of redfish eggs, in inches (0..5 millimeter) . 02 



Total volume of redfish eggs, in quarts (400 cubic centimeters) _ ,4 



By use of Von Bayer's formula D^:fP::n: N, where /( is the unknown. 



n, or the number of redfish eggs to tlie quart, equals 8, 457, 216 



Number of redfish eggs in 0.4 quart 3, 382, 886 



Total number of eggs in 90-centiineter redfish (3 feet) 3 382, 886 



