NATURAL HISTORY OF REDFISH, ETC., OF TEXAS 



189 



ovalis, that generally caused the fish to be undersized, compared with modal lengths 



for the particular year class) and that older fish were singularly free from them. A 



greater number of such dwarfed or undersized trout may be expected during the 



early years, which lowers the averaged calculated lengths for the youngest fish. 



While it is impossible at present to attribute any definite cause to this observed 



difference in calculated lengths according to the age of the fish, aside from the possible 



error in omitting the first winter's check of more of the older fish than of the younger, 



the differences among the various calculated lengths at the same age are hardly 



large enough to vitiate the general conclusions on the age and rate of growth of the 



species. 



Table 23. — Calculated and actual lengths of spotted trout compared 



ICalculated lengths, derived from scale-growth checks generally evident by March, given tor fish collected from April, 1926, to 

 February, 1927; actual lengths include only flsh taken during March, 1927. The calculated lengths should approximate the 

 actual lengths, but the latter should be slightly larger, since flsh taken in March have a newly termed winter scale check plu.s 

 some additional growth. The calculated lengths for March flsh are also presented] 



The average calculated length of the Texas spotted trout for the first six years 

 approximates that of Florida fish, as indicated by the examination of the scales of 

 20 spotted trout by Welsh and Breder (1923, p. 165) from Punta Gorda, Fla. Com- 

 parison is made between the annual growth of the Texas and Florida fish in Table 24. 



Table 24 



SIZE AND AGE AT MATURITY 



From approximately 1,500 adult trout taken during 1926 and 1927, 567 fish were 

 sexed during the spawning season. The sexed fish were unselected and were either 

 in a ripening, ripe, or spending condition when caught. While it is hardly possible 

 to assume that the relation between sexual maturity and the length of the fish is 

 constant in individuals of the same sex, nevertheless some reliable data concerning 

 size and age at maturity were obtained from the sexing of these fish. 



In the case of the spotted trout, as in many marine fishes, the matured male 

 averages smaller than the female, the maximum size being attained by the latter. 

 Of the sexed fish, only 4 males were taken with a length exceeding 45 centimeters 



