REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 89 



Specimen 95mm. long, taken at Wareham, August 9, 1900. 

 Specimen 120mm. long, taken at Wareham, August 22, 1900. 

 Specimen 200mm. long, taken at Vineyard Sovmd, September 7, 1900. 



Several young squeteague from SO to 100 ram. long were taken by 

 the United States Fish Commission in Hadley harbor, near Woods 

 Hole, on September 9, 1893. In all these cases, the spawning season 

 was probably from two to five weeks earlier than in 1907. 



Drawings of the two specimens taken on July 28 are shown in 

 Plates X and XI. These are in outline and aim to show only such 

 external characters as the form of the fins, mouth parts, gill covers, 

 pigmentation, etc., which will make possible the future identification 

 of young squeteague of these sizes. 



In form and proportions these two specimens differ considerably 

 from the adult and from the stages described by Eigenmann. The 

 head and the eye are very large relatively, as is usually the case with 

 the very young of fishes. The contour of the tail also differs, but the 

 details of its development must be left until fresh specimens are 

 available. 



The specimen 6.5 mm. long is shown in Plate X, where it is mag- 

 nified to twenty times the natural size. The greatest body depth 

 is along a line drawn vertically a little behind the posterior margin 

 of the eye. The embryonic fin-fold has not disappeared, though the 

 spines of the unpaired fins are all well differentiated. The head is 

 rounded in ])rofile and the conical snout of the later stages is not yet 

 developed. Teeth are present on the lower jaw. The bones of the 

 gill-cover are only partially developed, so that at least five branch- 

 iostegals are visible from the side of the fish. 



The pigmentation of the young squeteague is characteristic. This 

 has been adequately described for the later stages by Eigenmann, 

 but there are noticeable differences in these early stages. Reference 

 to the plate shows the most important features of the arrangement 

 of the color spots. Along the lateral line is a row of about eight 

 rather large chromatophores aggregated into two groups, one of 

 which is in that area of the skin between the anal fin and the posterior 



