1 1 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Iris (assorted) - each.. $0 10 



Cyperus alternifoliua do.. . 25 



Ceratophyllnm demersum per bunch.. 10 



Myriophyllum spicatum do . . . 15 



Ludwigia florida : . . do . . . 25 



Anacharis canadensis do... • 10 



Cabomba viridifolia and rossefolia do... 25 



Potamogeton crispus do . . . 15 



Vallisneria spiralis each.. 10 



Utricularia vulgaris do. .. 10 



Leinua minor „ per mass.. 10 



Appearance of various kinds of fish. — Writing under date of 

 May 18, 1885, Mr. Frederic Stanly, keeper of the Fourth Cliff life-sav- 

 ing station, at Scituate, Mass., states that the first mackerel made their 

 appearance off Scituate May 17, 1885. 



The keeper of the Cape Fear life-saving station, Mr. Dunbar Davis, 

 writes that a small school of menhaden made its appearance in the vi- 

 cinity of that station May 10, 1885. There were no other fish visible 

 except porpoise, which remain on the coast the year round. 



Mr. David A. Vail, keeper of the Tiauna life-saving station, at At- 

 lanticville, N. Y., writes that alewives first appeared on that coast Feb- 

 ruary 2(5 ; -porgies, April 20 ; sea-robins, April 22 ; mackerel, April 30 ; 

 butterfish, April 30. 



Mr. N. B. Rich, keeper of Parramore's Beach life-saving station, writes 

 from Wachapreague, Va., that the steamer Daisy caught 50,000 men- 

 haden on that coast May 19, being the first taken in the season of 1885. 



Mr. G. A. Veeder, keeper of the Surfside life-saving station, ]STan- 

 tuckct, Mass., states that the first codfish of the season was caught off 

 Surfside station April 7, 1885, about 1£ miles from the shore, in about 

 8 fathoms of water. The fish would average about 8 pounds each. The 

 people here generally catch codfish from March to the fore part of June, 

 after which the cod start off for deeper water, 15 or 20 miles from shore. 

 Very little spawn is found in them in the spring. Fish caught in the 

 spring are much larger than those caught in the fall. Fish strike in 

 about the last part of October and stay around until the middle of De- 

 cember. In mild winters they are around all winter, but we have to go 

 farther offshore for them; we find much more spawn in them in fall than 

 in spring. 



The first menhaden. — A small school of menhaden was seen going 

 north April 23, 1885, by the employes of the Great Egg life-saving sta- 

 tion, located (5 miles below Absecom light, on the New Jersey coast. The 

 keeper, Mr. L. P. Casto, whose post-office address is Atlantic City, N. J., 

 kindly forwards the information. 



MOVEMENTS of shad. — On the morning of April 17, 1885, Mr. E. G. 

 Blackford, of Fulton Market, received from New Bedford, Mass., twenty- 

 two shad that had been caught in that vicinity. They were large, 

 weighing from 5£ to G pounds each, and had every characteristic of the 



