1913.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 61 



NOTES ON THE FISHES OF THE CHINCOTEAGUE EEGION OF VIRGINIA. 

 BY HENRY W. FOWLER. 



Early in May of 1912 I visited the town of Chincoteague, where 

 nearly a week was spent studying and collecting fishes for the 

 Academy. Though many of the species met with were abundant, 

 we secured some of interest, and are thus able to offer in this con- 

 tribution the first fairly representative account of the fish-fauna 

 of the region. 



Chincoteague Island is situated at the lower end of the bay of that 

 name, forming in fact the lower inner face of the great, narrow, sandy 

 barrier-beach of Assateague Island, which is now, however, entirely 

 continuous with Ocean City in Maryland and northward. This barrier- 

 beach, at least north of Assateague Inlet, contains no permanent fresh 

 water its entire extent, or for a distance of about thirty miles. Thus 

 Chincoteague Island, its area extending a little over eight miles north 

 and south, with its greatest width a little over a mile, contains the 

 greatest amount of fresh water to be found in this off-shore region. 

 This is in the form of narrow sloughs or ponds, extending north and 

 south, and usually shallow. They are locally known as glades, and are 

 often broken up in places into smaller bodies of water. The larger 

 glades frequently contain purely fresh water throughout the year, 

 though in places they sometimes dry out through drought or other 

 causes. In color the water is usually dark, still, and sluggish, the 

 first character likely due to the numerous bull pines which grow 

 in many places. Such waters naturally support an abundance 

 of life, as minute Crustacea, etc., especially in the pools destitute 

 of fishes. Sometimes a fresh-water glade will be separated from 

 a brackish one having direct egress to the sea, and at the time of 

 high tides the two waters are intermingled. In only one pool of 

 fresh water, though separated by but a few feet of dry land from 

 a brackish-water glade, did we secure fresh-water moUusca and 

 a phyllopod {Ino holmani). This pool was also quite interesting 

 as differing from many others examined, in the great diversity of 

 its animal life, such as water asels, fresh-water amphipods, larval 

 dragon-flies', water-striders, and water-boatmen. We did not find 

 Palcemonetes vulgaris in this locality, though it was common in other 



