210 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



FOOD HABITS 



No examination was made on the food of the Texas spots. Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder (1928, p. 272) recorded the stomach contents of 157 spots from Chesapeake 

 Bay as consisting mainly of small minute crustaceans and annelids, together with 

 smaller amounts of small mollusks, fish, and vegetable debris. Welsh and Breder 

 (1923, p. 179) mentioned that Florida spots had principally small crustaceans, such 

 as amphipods and ostracods, in their stomachs. 



COMMERCIAL CONSIDERATIONS 



The spot is not marketed along the coast of Texas to any great extent for the 

 chief reason that few fish of suitable market size are taken in the nets of the fishermen. 

 Occasionally a few fish about 25 centimeters long (9.8 inches) are marketed with 

 mixed catches of fish, but from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande the species is 



56 



5Z 



48 



44 

 3 40 

 §36 

 °- iZ 

 o Z6 



24 

 20 

 /6 

 12 

 6 K 



JAN. FEB MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULt AUa. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. 

 (926 1927 



Fig. 44.— Monthly receipts of market redflsh (solid line), spotted trout (dotted line), and blacli drum 

 (dot and dash line) landed at Corpus Christi, Te.x., from January, 1926, to April, 1927. Includes only 

 the receipts of the three leading fish dealers 



virtually unknown in the market. With the spot, as with the croaker, it would seem 

 that the species does not attain sufficient size to be considered of much value, although 

 it is somewhat of value as a food for other fishes, such as the spotted trout. 



SUMMARY 



1. The spot spawns in the Gulf of Mexico at the mouths of the passes, and the 

 young come into the bays in great numbers. 



2. A length of about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) is attained by the end of the 

 first year and about 21 centimeters (8.2 inches) by the end of the second year. 



3. Spawnmg occurs at the end of their second year, and after the first spawning 

 most of the 2-year-old fish apparently perish. 



4. The species does not attain sufficient size along the coast of Texas for it to 

 be considered a market fish. 



