64 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



meter; they are very numerous, and a six-pound fish "u-ill produce 

 1,500,000 eggs. The eggs are buoyant. The period of incubation 

 is about twenty-four hours. When hatched the young are very 

 small, transparent, and about one-tenth of an inch in length. 



It usually weighs from 6 to 10 pounds. One of the largest ever 

 taken was captured in October, 1901, off Chesapeake Bay; it was 

 41 inches long and weighed 25 pounds. Very little is definitely 

 known of the rate of growth, but it is believed that it grows very 

 little in the first two years of its life and does not exceed a half-pound 

 in weight at the end of that period. 



KINGFLSH, OR CEREEEN. 



{Scomheromorns regalis.) 



This fish is apparently confined to the western coast of the Atlantic, 

 though it is not common anywhere except about Florida and Cuba, 

 It ranges from Cape Cod to Brazil. It closely resembles the Spanish 

 Mackerel and is not usually distinguished from it by the fishermen. 

 At Woods Hole it is not uncommon; it appears in Vineyard Sound 

 about July 1, where it is said to be more numerous than the Spanish 

 Mackerel. It is rare in Narragansett Bay. This is one of the largest 

 of the mackerel, reaching a length of 5 or 6 feet and a weight of 20 

 pounds. It is an excellent food and game fish. It feeds on other 

 fishes. Little is recorded of its habits. 



