REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 73 



About the first of August, 1906, a medium sized tarpon was taken in 

 a trap in Mackerel Cove. (Costello). 



Reproduction: Does not breed north of Cuba. Its larva will probably 

 be found like that of its relatives, elongated ribbon-shaped animal, 

 transparent and with small head and fins. (Gill, The Tarpon and 

 Ladyfish and their Relatives, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 48, 1907, 31.) 



Food: Schools of small fishes, especially mullets. 



Rate of Growth: On the coast of Florida only mature fish are taken; 

 these average about six feet long, but sometimes weigh as much as 180 

 pounds. Everman and Marsh collected young 2\ to 3+ inches long in a 

 mangrove swamp at Fajardo, Porto Rico, in February, 1899; also in a 

 brackish pool they found specimens 4.7 to 11.5 inches long. 



36. Elops saurus (Linnseus). Ten Pounder; Big-eyed Herring. 



Geog. Dist.: Tropical seas to Carolina, straying north to Cape Cod. In 

 Massachusetts rejaorted from Woods Hole (Baird, 1873), New Bedford, 

 Woods Hole (Bean, 1880), Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay (Smith, 

 1898), Nantucket (Sharp and Fowler, 1904). Appears occasionally at 

 Long Island in October. At W^oods Hole, according to Dr. Smith, it is 

 "Common in fall, none appearing before October." 



Season in R. I.: So rare that it is not usually recognized by fishermen. 

 Specimen 14 inches long, taken in trap at Dutch Island Harbor, Nar- 

 ragansett Bay, October 29, 1905. 



Reproduction: Does not breed on our coast. The young are ribbon- 

 shaped, long, thin and transparent, and pass through a metamorphosis 

 like the fishes of the eel family. (Jordan and Evermann, American 

 Food and Game Fishes, 1902, p. 86.) 



Habitat: Open seas. 



Food: Shrimp and small fishes. 



Size: Three feet. At Woods Hole, average length 18 to 20 inches. 



ALBULID.^. The Lady-Fishes. 



37. Albula vulpes (Linnseus). Lady-fish. 



Geog. Dist. Tropical seas on sandy coasts, north to Woods Hole. Speci- 

 men taken at Great South Bay, L. I., late in the fall (Bean, 1903). 

 Reported at Woods Hole in 1871, by Baird, and rarely since then. 



Habitat: Shore fishes, feeding on muddy or sandy flats. (Gill, Smith- 

 sonian Misc. Coll. 48, 1907, 40.) 



Season in R. L: Specimens are reported by fishermen. A specimen from 



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