REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 141 



August, 1897 (Bean, 1903). Specimens an inch to a foot long are 

 taken at the Bermudas. (Goode, 1879.) 



TETRAODONTID^. The Trunkflshes. 



150. Lagocephalus laevigatus (Linnaeus). Smooth Puffer; Puffer. 



Geog. Dist.: Cope Cod to Brazil. Taken at Nantucket (Storer, 1842); 

 Woods Hole (Baird, 1873) ; Buzzards Bay (Smith, 1898) ; in Long Island 

 Sound (Linsley, 1844). Occasional on Long Island shore. (Bean, 1903). 



Season in R. I.: Somewhat rare. One specimen taken in Narragansett 

 Bay, July 22, 1887. Three were taken in 1900, the largest weighing 

 ten pounds, caught October 4 at Tiverton; one at Newport, collected 

 by J. M. K. Southwick, and a third taken in a purse-net near Point 

 Judith, September 28. A specimen, presented to the Commission by 

 C. Abbott Davis, was caught by A. A. Wilbur, East Greenwich, August 

 25, 1906. This specimen had very large ovaries with ripe or nearly 

 ripe eggs, but nearly spent. 



Reproduction: Said to breed near Pensacola in June and July. 



Rate of Growth: Specimen 4^ inches long taken in West Passage trap 

 in early August, 1905. This is an interesting specimen in view of the 

 fact that Smith says that those specimens taken at Woods Hole are all 

 about eleven or twelve inches long, small ones never being observed. 

 Adults reaches a length of two feet. 



151. Spheroides maculatus (Bloch and Sneider). Swellfish; Puffer. 



Geog. Dist.: Atlantic coast of LTnited States, from Casco Bay to Florida. 

 Very common along the southern New England shore. Appear at 

 Woods Hole in latter part of May (Bumpus, 1898). 



Season in R. I.: Very common from May to October. May 29, 1905, 

 Brenton's Reef trap, a specimen was taken. Common in seine on 

 Quonset shore and Willow Beach, and occasionally on Cornelius 

 Island; mostly young specimens taken on similar sandy shores. 

 Adults often taken in the fish-traps in the West Passage, especially at 

 Dutch Island Harbor. 



Reproduction: Spawns from June first to tenth (Smith). 



Food : Bottom invertebrates ; small crabs, hermit crabs, shrimp, mollusca; 

 crepidulse, annelids. 



Rate op Growth: Young specimens are often taken in August in rearing 

 cars of the lobster plant at Wickford Experiment Station: Specimen 

 i inch (3 mm.) long taken July 9, 1908; specimen ^ inch (4 mm.) long 

 taken about July 15, 1908; specimen 2-5-inch (10 mm.) long taken 



