REPORT OF C0MMISSI0NP:RS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 91 



Season in R. I.: Present the year round. More abundant in late winter 

 and spring while spawning, and in October. A few are taken in traps in 

 the summer, but it is not so common at that time as the summer flounder 

 (Paralichthys dentatus). A specimen 5 inches long was seined at Willow 

 Beach near Wickford, July 17, 1905. A dark bellied variety appeared 

 in Greenwich Bay in 1897; apparently these have since disappeared. 

 (Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, 19, 1899, 305.) 



Habitat: Grassy and muddy bottoms. 



Repkodtjction: Spawns from February to April. The eggs are 1-30 of 

 an inch in diameter and very glutinous. The average number of eggs in a 

 single individual is 500,000. The eggs hatch in 17 or 18 days in water 

 37° or 38°F. (Smith.) 



Food: Small fishes, shrimp and other small Crustacea, molluscs, annelids. 



173. Lophosettal niaculata (Mitchill). Window-pane; Sand-dab. 



Geog. Dist.: Atlantic coa.st of United States, Casco Bay to South Carolina. 



Season in m. I. : Very common from April to October. 



Reproduction: Spawns about June 1. The eggs are buoyant, non-ad- 

 hesive, 1-24 of an inch in diameter; they hatch in 8 days in water 51° to 

 56° F. 



Food: Fishes and Crustacea. 



Size: Ten to 12 inches in length. Specimen 3 inches long, taken at Willow 

 Beach, Wickford, July 17, 1905. 



SOLEID.^. The Soles. 



174. Achirus fasciatus (Lacepede). Sole; Hog-choker; Black Flatfish. 

 Geog. Dist.: Coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico north to Cape 



Ann. Common south of Susquehanna River. 



Season in R. I.: Xot very common in Narragansett Bay. Specimens from 

 Providence and from Newport are in the U. S. National Museum. Speci- 

 men taken August 14, 1905, in a trap in the West Passage. 



Food: Eight specimens examined by Dr. Linton in 1899 had only vegetable 

 debris {Fuciis and eel-grass) in the alimentary canal. 



LOPHIID.^. The Fishing-Frogs. 



175. Lophius piscatorius (Linnaeus). Goosefish; Bellows-fish; Atigler. 

 Geog. Dist.: North Atlantic, common on both coasts. Ranges southward 



