114 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



long are caught in the traps; they remain the rest of the season, con- 

 stantly increasing in size, and are about 8 or 9 inches in length when 

 they disappear. August 7 to October 15, young taken at Red Bridge, 

 Seekonk River. 



Reproduction: Young less than one inch in length are never taken in 

 coast waters; specimens about the same length appear along the whole 

 coast at about the same time. This fact makes it appear probable that 

 the bluefish spawns in the open ocean in the winter or early spring, 

 before they arrive on our shores. Well-developed spawn is found in a 

 small proportion of the bluefish when they first arrive. (See Ehren- 

 baum, Nordisches Plankton, 4, 1905, 27.) 



Food: A very voracious, carnivorous fish, feeding particularly on men- 

 haden and squeteague. Stomachs also sometimes contain herring, 

 cunners, squid, butterfish, marine worms, and Crustacea. The young 

 of the second year feed largely on schools of Menidia around the shores. 



Rate of Grow^th: The Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," and the 

 schooner "Grampus," have taken specimens under an inch long off 

 shore. There seems to be little room for doubt regarding the usual rate 

 of growth of the bluefish in northern waters, during its first two years. 

 June 5, 1908, a specimen one inch long was taken in the Dutch Island 

 Harbor trap. A specimen 26 mm. (one inch) long was taken in a seine 

 at Cornelius Island on July 1, 1908. Specimens 1 to 2 inches are fre- 

 quently seen in Wickford Cove in June and early July. Bean seined 

 individuals 1^ to H inches long at Ocean City, N. J., the last of August 

 (Bean, 1903). 



These small specimens probably grow to be from four to eight inches in 

 August and September. On July 1, 1907, ten specimens were taken 

 at Quonset Point which were 4 1-5 inches long. Five specimens were 

 taken in a seine at Cornelius Point on August 7, 1908, which aver- 

 aged 5 1-5 inches in length. The next day, August 8th, the average 

 size of five specimens taken at Cornelius Point was 5^ inches. On 

 August 10, 1908, four specimens were seined at Cornelius Island that 

 averaged 5 1-12 inches. On August 27, 1905, many specimens four 

 to six inches long were found gilled in the meshes of the traps. A 

 dozen five-inch specimens were taken in a West Passage trap on Sep- 

 tember 24, 1906. In the trap. Sand Blow, on Conanicut Island, two 

 specimens 6 inches long were taken October 2, 1905. September 15, 

 1908, the average of several specimens was 7^ inches. 



At Woods Hole " young first appear early in July, being about three inches 

 long" (Smith, 1898). Baird (1871), says that about the middle of 



