REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 99 



MULLID^. The Surmullets. 



80. Mullus auratus (Jordan and Gilbert). Surmullet. 



Geog. Dist.: Ranges frorn Cape Cod to Florida. Abundant on the Red 

 Snapper Banks of Florida. A few taken at Woods Hole each year in 

 September (Smith, 1898). Occasional on Long Island shore (Bean, 

 1901). 



Season in R. I.: One or two specimens taken at Wickford each summer. 

 None of these are over three inches in length. July 14, 1908, Cornelius 

 Island, seine, two specimens. July, 1907, Poplar Point, shrimp net, 

 specimen. July 10, 1909, Cornelius Island, seine, 45 mm., placed in 

 filter car, on August 3rd measured 65 mm. 



Reproduction: Moore records on the Jersey shore a specimen 2^ inches 

 long July 26th, and a specimen 2f inches on August 10th. He believed 

 these to be the only recorded captures of the young of this species on 

 our coast (Moore, 1892). (The eggs and young of the European M. 

 surmiiletus is described by Ehrenbaum, Nordisches Plankton, 4, 1905, 

 21.) 



Rate of Growth: Eight inches. 



SCOMBRID^. The Mackerels. 



81. Scomber SCOmbrus (Linnaeus). Common Mackerel. 



Geog. Dist. : North Atlantic, abundant on both coasts. North to Norway 

 and Labrador, south to Spain and Cape Hatteras. 



Migrations: Appear in the spring when the water reaches 45° F. At 

 sea, off Cape Hatteras, March 20 to April 25; Norfolk, March 2 to April 

 30; the Capes of Delaware, April 15 to May 1; Barnegat and Sandy 

 Hook, May 5 to May 25; appear at the same date along the whole coast 

 of New England and Nova Scotia; Gulf of St. Lawrence, May and 

 early June. That these are coastwise movements is not positively 

 known, though it is claimed by fishermen that the mackerel can 

 be followed by the boats from southern waters to the north. In 

 1898 they appeared at Sakonnet, Chatham, Mass., and at Yarmouth, 

 N. S., on the same day, May 3. In 1901 they reached Chatham on 

 April 29, and the next day were taken at Cuttyhunk and Menemsha 

 Bight. (The migrations of the mackerel are discussed in detail by Allen, 

 Jour. M. B. L. Ass., Plymouth, V., 1897, 91, and Garstang, ibid, 235.) 



On January 30, 1906, a single specimen was taken in a tide-water pond at 

 Saunderstown, R. I. The capture of mackerel in the winter is a rare, 



