104 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES, 



localities (from Lynn to Nantucket). In Connecticut, from Stoning- 

 ton (Linsley, 1844) and Noank (Bean, 1880). Scarce on Long Isl- 

 and coast. 



Habitat: The open sea, approaching shores for food and spawning. 



Season IN R. I.: Seen occasionally in the autumn. It is not distinguished 

 by the fishermen from other species of this family. In the early seven- 

 ties it was exceedingly abundant in the waters about Block Island, and 

 the east end of Long Island. Since then it has been occasionally seen. 

 It fluctuates greatly in numbers from year to year. 



Rate of Growth: Maximum, 2^ feet. Some specimens two inches long 

 once taken in July at Menemsha (Smith, 1898). 



Food: Stomach contents have shown mackerel, menhaden, squids, and 

 small Crustacea. 



86. Scomberoniorus maculatus (Mitchill). Spanish Mackerel. 



Geog. Dist.: Both coasts of North America; appears in irregular schools 

 in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Carolina coast. Ranges north to 

 Maine and south to Brazil. Occasional along the whole coast of New 

 England and Long Island shore. 



Migrations: They reach the North Carolina coast in April, the Chesa- 

 peake about the twentieth of May, and from New Jersey to Cape Cod 

 in July. They begin to diminish about the middle of September, and 

 the end of October witnesses their disappearance north of the Carolinas. 



Habitat: A warm-water fish, preferring temperature of 70° to 80° F. Gre- 

 garious and migratory, travelling in immense schools scattered over 

 large ocean areas. Prefers the surface; avoids fresh and brackish 

 water. 



Season in R. I.: Not very common. A few dozen specimens taken each 

 year between the middle of August and October, in Narragansett Bay. 

 Fifty large ones taken in a trap by Mr. Easterbrooks at Price's Neck, 

 Newport, August 15, 1905. 



Reproduction: Spawning season begins in April in the Carolinas and 

 becomes later northward. Sixteen spawning specimens were taken by 

 Ryder at New Point Comfort, Va., July 13, 1880. Eggs are from 1-22 

 to 1-28 inch in diameter, pelagic, and have an oil globule. A six-pounii 

 fish yields about 1,500,000 eggs. Spawning takes place in warm antl 

 very shoal waters. Eggs hatch in 20 to 26 hours. At hatching em-' 

 bryo is about 1-10 inch in length. 



Food: It feeds on all small species frequenting the surface: alewives 

 butterfish, herrings, etc, and particularly the menhaden. 



