REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 79 



U. S. National Museum is a specimen taken at Newport by the U. S. 

 Fish Commission. (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1879, 60.) A few have been 

 taken very rarely since. 



45. Brevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe). Menhaden; Pogy; Bony Fish. 



Geog. DiST.: Nova Scotia to Brazil. 



Migrations: The migrations of the menhaden are largely determined 

 directly by the water temperatuie; they enter the coast waters in the 

 spring when the average harbor temperature reaches about 50° F., and 

 leave in the autumn when the temperature falls below that point. The 

 approximate time of the arrival of the first schools is given as follows, 

 by G. Brown Goode: Chesapeake Bay, March and April; New Jersey, 

 April and early May; south coast of New England, late April and May; 

 Cape Ann, middle May; Gulf of Maine, last of May and June. They 

 leave the Maine coast in September and October; Massachusetts, in 

 October and November and December; Long Island Sound, November 

 and December; Chesapeake Bay, December; Cape Hatteras, January; 

 further south they remain throughout the year. It will be seen that 

 they arrive somewhat later than the shad and alewife, about the same 

 time as scup, and in advance of the squeteague and bluefish, and remain 

 longer in the autumn than any of these, except possibly the two last- 

 named species. This order of appearance is what would naturally be 

 expected in view of the fact that the squeteague and bluefish are 

 both carnivorous, and feed largely upon the schools of the menhaden. 

 (Goode, History of the Menhaden, Report of the U. S. Fish Com. 1877.) 



Season in R. I.: They appear last of April or first of May and are present 

 throughout the summer and fall. Most abundant in May when first 

 arriving, and in October when falling temperature is driving them 

 away from northern shores. They finally leave in November and 

 December. October 29, 1905, Dutch Island trap, few specimens; April 

 27, 1906, menhaden fishery opened off southern Rhode Island shore, 

 and the "Annie L. Wilcox" secured a small fare; April 16, 1906, Dutch 

 Island trap, first specimen of the season; April 30, 1906, Dutch Island 

 trap, six specimens; June 5, 1906, Hazard's Quarry trap, 100 large 

 specimens; July 9, 1906, Sand Blow trap, half barrel, medium size; 

 August 8, 1906, Goose Neck trap, few small specimens; September 11, 

 1906, Dutch Island trap, one-half barrel; September 17, 1906, West 

 Passage traps, one-half barrel, very fat ones. 



Reproduction: Spawns in December, probably, and in May and June; 

 the location of the spawning grounds is at present uncertain. 



