Gudgei — Notes on Some Beaufort, X. C, Fishes. 167 



Bascanichthys scuticaris (Goode and Bean). 

 BLACK-SNAKE EEL. 



In 1906, on July 31, Dr. II. E. Enders dug up, in a sandy shoal south- 

 west from the laboratory and distant some 300 yards, a specimen of the 



black-snake eel, the firsl ever taken in the waters of North Carolina. 



On .Inly 10, 1911, one of the assistants dug np on the same shoal an- 

 other but smaller specimen. Enders' specimen was broughl in uninjured 

 and kept for nearly three weeks before it finally died. The second speci- 

 men was cut nearly in two by the spade used in digging. 



Enders' specimen was 89.2 cm. long, of which length the dorsal fin 

 covered 86.5 cm., while the anal was 39 cm. long. The 191 I specimen was 

 40.3 em. long over all. The dorsal was 38.5 em. and the anal 17.5 em. in 

 length. The head from the tip of the snout to the hinder edge of the gill 

 slits measured 2.2 em., while the distance from the snout to the eye was 

 .:'> cm. The skin over the head was plaited in numerous very small longi- 

 tudinal folds. The color above was greenish olive, helow cream white. 



Coles (1910) took a small specimen in a dip net at Cape Lookout in 

 1909. It was drifting near his boat when a small school of frigate mack- 

 erel came swimming by. Several of these snapped at the eel and muti- 

 lated its tail. The specimen is now in the museum at Beaufort. 



Brevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe). 



MENHADEN. 



This fish was very scarce from May 25-July 31, 1910. During the latter 

 part of May and the first of June a few small catches were made. On 

 July 19 the wind changed from S. W. to \V\, X. \\\, X. and X. E. The 

 latter wind brought a few schools of " fat-hacks" into the harbor, the 

 first one noticed being near the lahoratory island on the afternoon, of that 

 day. Two days later one boat got a small load inside the harbor. Toward 

 the close of September the fish reappeared in large numbers, and the 

 most enormous catches in the history of Beaufort were made. The fail- 

 ure of this fishery during the early part of the season brought great hard- 

 ship to the fishermen and to those who had invested in boats and gear 

 for this work. In 1911 the fish, though not so scarce as in 1910, was by 

 no means abundant in June and July. 



Synodus foetens (Linnaeus). 

 LIZARD-FISH. 



The lizard-fish is abundant in Beaufort Harbor, hut rarely measures 

 more than S or 10 inches. One, taken by some fishermen at the corner 

 of Bird Shoal, near the inner beacon, on June 28, 1911, measured 13^ 

 inches over all. It is reported that specimens 2 feet long have been taken, 

 hut this is the largest which the writer has seen. 



Coles i 1910) reports these fish as fairly common at Cape Lookout, 

 where they seem to he solitary in habit and are given to lying motionless 

 in eel-grass, alongside a piece of timber, or half-buried in sand. He finds 

 that they are voracious Liters at the hook. 



