REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 97 



From Connecticut, Stratford (Lindsley, 1844). Great schools on Long 

 Island shore in September and October (Bean). 



Season in R. I.: July to November. A few young specimens taken each 

 year at Wickford in the seine. This species, in company with the white 

 mullet, is sometimes very abundant. In the middle of October, 1904, 

 500 barrels were taken at one haul off Newport. A specimen from 

 Newport is in the U. S. National Museum. (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 1880, 120) August 8, 1908, Cornelius Island, seine, 65 mm. August 

 12, 1909, Cornelius Island, seine, 37 mm. 



Food: Stomach contents show a greenish mud containing large numbers 

 of diatoms, green algae, copepods. 



Size: One to two feet. 



75. Mugil curema (Cuvier and Valenciennes). White Mullet; Jumping 



Mullet. 



Geog. Dist.: Cape Cod to Brazil, Magdalena Bay to Chili. In New Eng- 

 land, reported only from Woods Hole (Bean, 1880, Smith, 1898) and 

 from Narragansett Bay (R. I. Fish Com. 1898). Half-grown specimens 

 abundant at Long Island in September and October (Bean). 



Habitat: Lives. in fresh water during several months of the year. Fre- 

 quents shallow mud flats and runs up small creeks. 



Season in R. I. : Same as the preceding species. 



Reproduction : Spawning season begins in summer and lasts until Novem- 

 ber. Takes place in fresh or brackish water in bayous, river mouths, 

 or heads of bays where the proper combination of grass, sand, and mud 

 can be found. 



Food: Food consists of minute organisms embedded in the bottom mud 

 and is sifted before entering the gizzard-like stomach by passing through 

 a filter in the pharynx. 



Size: The average length twelve inches, and weight one and a quarter 

 pounds. 



SPHYR^NID^. The Barracudas. 



76. Sphyraena guachancho (Cuvier and Valenciennes). Barracuda. 



Geog. Dist.: West Indies to Pensacola, straying north to Woods Hole. 



In New England, reported only from Woods Hole (Goode and Bean, 



1880), Buzzards Bay (Smith, 1898). 

 Season in R. I.: Rare. Reported in Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay, 



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