I04 AMERICAN FISHES. 



schools working in as fast as they arrive. By the ist of June the ' run ' 

 is over, and the fish are believed to have all come in. When once inside, 

 the schools break up into small squads, which proceed to the weedy bot- 

 toms of the bayous and to the heads of the bays. About the river mouths, 

 where the water is brackish, and even in fresh water, they are found 

 through the summer. While at sea their color is light, and they are so 

 thin in flesh that they are far from desirable as food. In the bays they 

 become very fat and their colors are much darker. In September spawn 

 is found in them in a half developed state. In October and November 

 they again form in schools and are observed moving out of the inlets to 

 the sea. They do not leave the coast immediately, but follow the beach 

 for some days. At this time they contain spawn which I should think to 

 be three-fourths developed. Many reliable fishermen here have observed 

 that the Red Fish go to sea with spawn in them." 



S. C. Clarke has observed their habits in the Indian River region, and 

 says: "They enter the rivers and creeks from the sea. The young fish 

 are here all the time. The adults leave the shore in a body when done 

 spawning. They are first seen off the coast in January and February, 

 and remain in the rivers until late in the spring. The males and females 

 swim together, frequenting localities on shoals and sand-banks, where the 

 water is from one to four feet deep and warm. After spawning they scat- 

 ter. They begin to breed in August and September in the shallow bays 

 and inlets, at which time both sexes are poor and unfit for food. The 

 spawn is small, brown, about as large as No. 5 shot, and floats. Tlie 

 young are found abundantly in the creeks and bays. 



I have been told by fishermen on the St. John's that in November, 

 when schooling begins, the fish are fuU-roed, but that in December the 

 eggs have all been spent. 



I have never found the young in the north less than ten inches long, 

 but, in Pensacola Bay, Jordan and Stearns secured numerous young in the 

 seine in April, the smallest measuring two and a half inches. Jordan 

 supposes that they spawn in water of no great depth. They swim in 

 scattered schools at times, probably in the spawning season, and they may 

 occasionally spring above the surface while feeding. At this time the fish 

 are taken in large gill-nets, which are set around them by the fishermen. 

 The food consists chiefly of tlie crustaceans and small fish with which 

 Southern waters are filled. It undoubtedly gathers much food from the 



