132 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES, 



from the last of May, through June, and the early j^art of July (Tracy, 

 Report, R. I. Fish Com., 38, 1907, 85.) In New York waters they 

 spawn in May, and at Cape Cod about the first of June (Bean, 1903) . 



Food: Fishes, especially menhaden and butter-fish, are its staple articles 

 of diet; also herring, scup, squids, shrimp. The young live exclusively 

 on shrimp and young fishes (J. H. Peck, The Sources of Marine Food, 

 Bull., U. S. Fish Com., 1895, 351). Specimens taken in traps in Narra- 

 gansett Bay have Fundulus and small shore fishes in their stomachs. 



Rate of Growth: Young specimens ranging from ^ inch (4.2 mm.) up 

 to H inches (37 mm.) are taken each summer during July and August 

 in the lobster rearing cars at the Wickford Experiment Station. 

 Eleven specimens taken averaged f-inch (18.9 mm.). On New Jersey 

 coast specimens 1^ inches taken in August (Bean, 1903). Eigenmann 

 took specimens from various places in 1900: Seekonk River, India 

 Point, Fields Point, Buzzards Bay, Wareham River, Hadley Harbor, 

 and Vineyard Sound; five specimens taken in July ranged from IJ 

 inches (32 mm.) to 2 4-5 inches (70 mm.), average 1 3-5 inches (40.5 

 mm.); in August, four specimens ranging from 3 3-5 inches (89.5 mm.) 

 to 4 4-5 inches, averaged 4 1-5 inches (105.3 mm.); August 5, 1901, 

 young squeteague abundant at Red Bridge, Providence River, 1.25 to 

 2.25 inches in length; in September, five specimens ranging from 3 1-5 

 inches (80 mm.) to 8 inches (200 mm.) averaged 4 3-5 inches (114 mm.) ; 

 October fifth, a specimen 7 1-5 inches (180 mm.) taken; also on the 

 same date, Edwards found specimens six to eight inches long abundant 

 in New Bedford River. 



At the beginning of the second season (June) young squeteague 8 to 10 

 inches begin to appear, though in Narragansett Bay they do not come 

 in large numbers until after the first run of large fish. About the 

 middle of August a large number of fish about 12 to 14 inches long are 

 ■ present. Definite measurements of the later stages are not yet made. 

 At the end of the second season the squeteague are probably from 

 14 to 20 inches in length; the large breeding fish which appear in June 

 about 18 to 25 inches in length are probably in the beginning of their 

 third season (two years old). Larger specimens, 30 to 40 inches are 

 fairly common ; these are probably four or five years old. (For data 

 regarding the rate of growth of the squeteague see Eigenmann, In- 

 vestigations into the History of the Yoimg Squeteague, Bull., U. S. 

 Fish Com., XXI, 1901, 45; Tracy, loc. cit.). 



