BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 127 



course unknown. However, during recent years very few pound nets have 

 been fished in Pamlico Sound after the shad season, but there is no evidence 

 of an increase in gray trout resulting from the much-reduced pound netting. 



SPECKLED TROUT 



Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier & Valenciennes) 



Also known as spotted or speckled weakfish or squeteague, the speckled 

 trout has a wider distribution than the gray trout ; it is found from New York 

 to Texas. Since it is commercially important only in the southern part of its 

 range (Virginia, southward) it is frequently referred to as the southern weak- 

 fish, squeteague, or trout. Both species are therefore important in North Car- 

 olina, where they are usually called trout, the names weakfish and squeteague 

 being more common to the north. Like its close relative, it is a fish of 

 superior flavor, and commands a good price. It is of particular importance 

 in North Carolina because it is taken during the entire year in shallow water 

 and therefore supports some fishery in the slack season during the sojourn 

 of other fish in deeper offshore waters in the winter months. 



The spawning of this species is not well known. Hildebrand and Cable 

 (1934) found larvae (very young fish) under one-fourth inch both offshore 

 and in estuaries and conclude that spotted trout probably spawn in both the 

 inside and the outside waters. The North Carolina spawning season coincides 

 with that of the gray trout, May to August. Pearson (1929) reports that this 

 species in Texas spawns largely in the coastal bays and lagoons from March 

 to October. 



Growth and food of the spotted trout have been studied little. Hildebrand 

 and Cable (1934), on the basis of measurements of the young, found that its 

 growth rate parallels that of the gray trout, reaching 6.75 inches in seven to 

 eight months. Nichols and Breder (1926) show the growth to be as follows: 

 first winter, 4.5 inches; second winter, 9.0 inches; third winter, 12.2 inches; 

 fourth winter, 14.2 inches; fifth winter, 15.75 inches; and sixth winter, 

 nearly 17 inches. Regarding feeding habits, Smith (1907) states, "It swims 

 in schools, and preys on all kinds of small fishes, and is itself eaten by blue- 

 fish, drum and northern squeteague" (i.e., by gray trout). 



Adult and young spotted trout now are found in the sounds and mouths of 

 rivers throughout the year. However, they apparently did not occur in the 

 Beaufort region in the earlier part of this century; Coker reports (in Smith, 

 1907) that the winter fishery is a recent development and that the presence 

 of schools of trout in the winter "presents something new and unexplained." 

 Trout were known to frequent other shallow waters in winter in earlier years, 

 however. Records of finding "numb" trout (fish which become numb, rise to 

 the surface almost motionless and are easily captured) during extremely cold 



