FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



135 



as Dr. Jeff era writes us. The larvae, described 

 as 5 to 7 mm. long at hatching, are very slender 

 and resemble those of smelt, herring, and launce 

 so closely that identification is a matter for the 

 expert. In any case, capelin are encountered so 

 seldom in our Gulf that their larvae are not apt 

 to be seen there. 8 



Along the coasts of Newfoundland, capelin 

 spawn chiefly in June and July, and we have found 

 them doing so in multitudes along the outer 

 Labrador coast in July. Probably any spawning 

 that may take place within the limits of our Gulf 

 would fall in May at latest, to judge from water 

 temperatures. 



The capelin so seldom appears in the Gulf of 

 Maine that we need only add that it is a fish of the 

 high seas frequently encountered far out from land, 

 coming inshore only to spawn and then as a rule 

 moving out again; that it travels in vast schools 

 at spawning time (when it often strands on the 

 beach in countless multitudes). It is the chief bait 

 fish of Arctic seas, preyed upon by whales and by 

 every predaceous fish, particularly by cod, 

 which are often seen pursuing the capelin at the 

 surface in northern waters. Capelin themselves 

 feed chiefly on small crustaceans, particularly 

 on copepods, on euphausiid shrimps, and on am- 

 phipods. It is also known to devour its own 

 eggs. We can bear witness that the capelin is 

 a delicious little fish on the table. 



General range. — Boreal-Arctic seas, south to the 

 coast of Maine 8 on the Atlantic coast of America. 



Occurence in the Gulf of Maine. — The capelin 

 is a sub-Arctic fieh that visits the Gulf of Maine 

 occasionally; chiefly the eastern side as might be 

 expected since it comes from the north. 



Dr. Hunstman writes: 7 



In the Gulf of St. Lawrence it occurs abundantly in 

 limited areas, which shift somewhat from year to year. 

 It occurs periodically in similar limited areas farther south. 

 The southeastern corner of Cape Breton is the center of 

 such an area, where large quantities were taken in 1917. 

 Halifax is the center of another area, where, however, it 

 is more rare. In 1916 it was abundant at Sambro, near 

 Halifax. The next area is in the Bay of Fundy, where 

 they have, exceptionally, been taken in large quantities 

 at long intervals. 



• Tompleman (Bull. Newfoundland Government Lab., 17, Res., 1948> 

 figs. 18-20) gives a series of eicellent illustrations of capelin larvae at different 

 stages of growth. 



8 According to Jordan and Evermarm the capelin finds its southern limit 

 at Cape Cod, but we find no actual records of its occurrence farther south than 

 Is mentioned. 



' Quoted from a letter. 



Apparently a period of this sort occurred about 

 the middle of the past century, for Perley, writing 

 in 1852, reported it from a number of points in the 

 neighborhood of St. John, New Brunswick. It 

 seems then to have disappeared from the Gulf of 

 Maine, not to reappear until 1903 when it was 

 common in the Bay of Fundy in May. A few 

 were again taken off Passamaquoddy Bay in that 

 same month of 1915. 8 And this was the prelude 

 to a period of local abundance, for capelin were 

 noticed among the herring in the weirs of the 

 Passamaquoddy Bay region in October 1916, 

 becoming so plentiful by the end of November that 

 one catch of 3,000 pounds of fish consisted of 2,000 

 pounds of capelin and only 1,000 of herring. 

 They were also reported at various localities along 

 the New Brunswick coast at that time. Probably 

 they persisted locally in the Bay of Fundy through- 

 out the winter of 1916-1917, for large numbers of 

 capelin appeared in Minas Basin in the following 

 May and June. We find do record of capelin 

 within the limits of the bay in 1918, but they were 

 taken again in 1919 in 50 fathoms of water off 

 Passamaquoddy Bay in January, February, and 

 March, and they appeared with smelts a month 

 later as far west as the Penobscot River, pene- 

 trating far inland. None, however, have been seen 

 in the Gulf of Maine since then, so far as we have 

 been able to learn. 



Smelt Osmerus mordax (Mitchill) 1815 

 Salt-water smelt 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 523. 



Description. — The smelt is distinguishable from 

 all other fish common in our waters by its slender 

 form, combined with a long pointed head, large 

 mouth, a small but evident adipose fin standing 

 above the rear part of the anal, and a deeply 

 forked tail. The location of its dorsal fin above 

 the ventrals instead of in front of them, and its 

 much larger mouth and small eye separate it from 

 the argentine. The large, fang-like teeth on the 

 smelt's tongue, its larger scales (of which there 

 are about 75 along each row on the sides, all alike 

 in the two sexes), its shorter adipose fin, its nar- 

 rower pectoral fins, that its lower jaw projects 

 only slightly beyond the upper and its scales slip 

 off very easily, obviate any danger of confusing 



• Huntsman (Contrib. Canadian Biol., (1921) 1922, p. 50) and Kendall 

 (Copula, No. 42, 1917, pp. 28-30; and Copela, No. 73, 1919, pp. 70-71) give 

 details. 



