FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



69 



strand. And tho bulk of the population hold 

 to depths of less than 40 to 50 fathoms, as 

 appears from average catches, per haul, of 100 

 at 26 to 35 fathoms, and 95 at 36 to 49 fathoms, 

 but only 12 at 50 to 75 fathoms, in 42 hauls by 

 the Eugene H, fishing from Nantucket Lightship 

 to the southcentral part of Georges Bank, in late 

 June 1951. Fifty fathoms (off the Bay of Fundy) 

 is, in fact, the deepest that positively identified 

 specimens are known, in the inner parts of our 

 Gulf; 80 fathoms off southern New England. 69 



The little skate tolerates a wide range of 

 temperature, being found in water as warm as 

 68-70° in summer, while they are exposed to 

 temperatures close to 32° in the Bay of Fundy 

 in some winters, unless they move out, and 

 deeper there than seems likely. In the southern 

 side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, writes Hunts- 

 man, 70 they are found in the intermediate zone 

 between the icy cold waters of the banks and the 

 surface stratum, which last warms to 61° (16° 

 C.) or higher in summer. 



They have never been reported, to our knowl- 

 edge, where the water is appreciably brackish. 



Hermit and other crabs, shrimps, worms, 

 amphipods, ascidians ("sea squirts"), bivalve 

 mollusks, squid, small fishes, and even such tiny 

 objects as copepods have been found in their 

 stomachs. Probably crabs loom largest in their 

 diet, for more than 29 percent of the skates 

 opened by Field at Woods Hole, contained them; 

 15 percent had bottom-dwelling shrimps (Crago); 

 and 6 percent had eaten squid. In Long Island 

 Sound, however, amphipods (Leptocheirus) are 

 the dominant item in their diet, forming from 

 one- third to one-half of the stomach contents at 

 all seasons of the year. 71 Launce, alewives, her- 

 ring, cunners, silversides, tomcod, silver hake, 

 have all been found in their stomachs, and they 

 bite a baited hook readily, affording amusement 

 to vacationists. 



The spawning habits of the little skate have not 

 been followed in the Gulf of Maine. Studies, at 

 the Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory, however, 

 suggest that they ordinarily deposit their eggs in 

 water not deeper than 15 fathoms and on a sandy 

 bottom. It appears from anatomical examination 

 of the sexual organs of the mature females that 



n Seventeen that we saw trawled on the Albatross III, May 1950. 

 " Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, Ser. 3, vol. 12, sec., 4, 1918, p. 63. 

 71 Information from Dr. Daniel Merriman, Dr. Y. H. Olsen, and the 

 Misses S. B. Wheatland and L. H. Calhoun. 



copulation may take place at any time throughout 

 the year, and frequently. Observations, too, on 

 skates kept in aquaria have shown that the eggs 

 are laid in pairs at intervals of from five days to 

 several weeks; also that they are usually buried in 

 sand, at least partially. 72 The eggs have been 

 taken off Southern New England, in fish traps 

 and dredges in a few fathoms of water in abun- 

 dance from July through September. 



Examination of large numbers of females has 

 shown that eggs are laid there throughout the 

 year. And there is no reason to doubt that this 

 is the case to the north and east of Cape Cod as 

 well. Aquarium experiments have also shown 

 that eggs laid in the period, May-July, hatched 

 between the end of November and the beginning 

 of January, i. e., after 5 to 6 months. But the 

 incubation period is likely to be somewhat longer 

 for spring-summer laid eggs in nature because of 

 somewhat lower temperatures; and considerably 

 longer for eggs laid in autumn and early winter. 



The eggs measure about \){ to 1% inches by 

 about 2% to 2% inches, not counting the horns, 

 and the great majority of the empty skate eggs 

 that are washed up on the beaches of our Gulf 

 belong to this species. The young skate, which 

 emerges through a transverse opening at the edge 

 of the egg case at the end that has the longer pair 

 of horns, is about 3% to 4 inches long at hatching; 

 its abdomen is still swollen with yolk, and its 

 tail terminates in a whiplash-like extension that 

 disappears within a few days. Huntsman's ob- 

 servations suggest that young hatched near the 

 head of the Bay of Fundy descend to deeper 

 water the first winter, and this probably applies 

 to the Gulf of Maine as a whole. 



It appears from information of various sorts 

 that a little skate 8 inches (20 cm.) long may be 1 

 to 1% years old; one of 11% to 12 inches (30 cm.) 

 2 to 3 years; one of 15% to 16 inches (40 cm.) 3 

 to 4 years; one of 19% to 20 inches 6 to 8 years old. 

 And the mortality rate appears to be very high 

 after five years, for very few of those taken are 

 longer than about 18 to 19 inches. 73 



General range. — Atlantic coast of America; 

 southern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 



,3 This summary of the breeding habits is based on extensive information 

 supplied by Dr. Daniel Merriman, Dr. Y. H. Olsen, and the Misses S. B. 

 Wheatland and L. H. Calhound. 



'3 Information from Dr. Daniel Merriamn, Dr. Y. H. Olsen, and the 

 Misses S. B. Wheatland and L. H. Calhoun. 



