NATURAL HISTORY OF REDFISH, ETC., OF TEXAS 



181 



Table 19. 



-Collections of larval and young spotted sea trout (Cynoscion nebulosiis) taken in 19S6 



and 1927 



Date 



Locality 



May 13, 1926, 

 May 17, 1926. 

 May 25, 1926. 

 June 9, 1926- 

 June 18, 1926. 



June 23, 1926. 

 June 29, 1926. 

 Ju]v3, 1926.. 



Do 



July 22, 1926. 



Aug. 5, 1926.. 

 Sept. 23, 1926 

 Oct. I, 1926.. 

 Oct. 18, 1926. 

 Oct. 20. 1926. 



Oct. 22, 1926. 

 Oct. 28, 1926. 

 Oct. 29, 1926. 

 Apr. 20, 1927. 

 Mays, 1927.. 



May 4. 1927.. 

 May 11, 1927. 

 May 17, 1927. 

 May 26. 1927. 



Corpus Christi Bay-Oso Bridge. 

 Harbor Island Light. 

 Corpus Christi Bay-Oso Bridge. 

 Corpus Christi Bay-Shamrock Cove. 

 Do. 



Do. 



Copano Bay. 



Harbor Island Light. 



Corpus Christi Bay-Ingleside Cove. 



Grass Island-Espiritu Santo Bay. 



Corpus Christi Bay-Shamrock Cove. 



Do. 

 Corpus Christi Bay-Oso Bridge. 

 Harbor Island. 

 Harbor Island Light. 



Corpus Christi Bay-Ingleside Cove. 

 Laguna Madre. 



Do. 



Do. 

 Harbor Island Light. 



Aransas Bay-Mud Island. 

 Corpus Christi Bay-Shamrock Cove. 

 Copano Bay. 

 Nueces Bay. 



Continued observations during 1926, however, soon led to the conclusion that, 

 while considerable spawning of trout occurred along the shore lines of various islands 

 Ijdng inside the passes, no spawning actually occurred in the open Gulf of Mexico. 

 Several definite facts supporting this conclusion were ascertained during the investi- 

 gation. 



As late as October 28, 1926, young spotted trout under 20 millimeters in length 

 were taken within the bays and lagoons, and, together with the presence throughout 

 the bays of ripe and spending adults until late fall, it seemed evident that spawning 

 extended from March or April through September. The spawning season of 1927 

 contributed more conclusive evidence in support of the bay and lagoon spawning 

 habit of the trout. The first fish, the smallest on record (7.8 milhmeters long), was 

 secured in northern Laguna Madre near Corpus Christi Bay on April 27, 1927, on 

 the edge of a deep channel running from the lagoon into the bay by Demid Island- 

 Flour Bluff. For some weeks previous to the capture of this small fish collections 

 had shown the presence of large numbers of ripening trout within most of the bays, 

 following a general movement into the intercoastal waters from the Gulf of Mexico 

 during March and April. 



During May, 1927, it was discovered that heavy spawning was occurring in 

 various parts of Copano Bay. Along the grassy shore lines of this remote body of 

 water hundreds of young trout, ranging from 20 to 30 millimeters long (0.8 to 1.1 

 inches), were procurable, as were also many ripe and spending adults. Small, re- 

 stricted bayous or creeks that enter the bay proper yielded such abundant collections 

 of very young fish as to preclude any possibility of the young coming into the bay 

 from any considerable distance, certainly not from the Gulf of Mexico, some 50 to 60 

 miles away. The presence of the young trout with the spawning adults within such 



