Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 465 



Along outer Cape Cod, however, they are present in varying abundance all summer, at 

 least in some years. And this is the case generally thence eastward and northward as far as 

 the species occurs. Ordinarily they appear all along the outer coast of Nova Scotia about as 

 early as in the eastern side of the Gulf of Maine, and a little later (third week in June) 

 along the southeastern coast of Newfoundland, but it is well into July before they are 

 encountered in any numbers in the inner parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1942 (the 

 one year of record) they had advanced to the Straits of Belle Isle along both the St. Law- 

 rence and Atlantic coasts of Newfoundland by the second week in July. But they were not 

 reported in southeastern Labrador until the beginning of September. 



In general the autumnal withdrawal takes place as early from the western side of the 

 Gulf of Maine as from Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotian waters, Cape Breton or the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, the majority ordinarily departing during October, with few caught 

 in November, and as a rule they depart even earlier from the smaller bodies of water {e.g., 

 Passamaquoddy and Massachusetts Bays) than off the outer coast. In some years, however, 

 they may be present in abundance well into November, as in 1903 and again in 1942, or 

 even into December, as in 1913, when large catches were made between Cape Ann and 

 Cape Elizabeth from the fifth to the twelfth,**'' and again in 1 942 when they were reported 

 along the eastern, southeastern and western shores of Newfoundland. Of especial interest 

 is the definite record of a number of Dogfish washed ashore on January 1 1, 1939, in St. 

 Marys Bay, Newfoundland, after a severe galej"" the implication of this report is dis- 

 cussed on page 466 in relation to their winter home. 



Corresponding to this withdrawal from the north they reappear in autumn all along 

 the coast from southern New England to North Carolina, their appearance being succes- 

 sively later from northeast to southwest. And the fact that catches on Georges Bank do not 

 show any marked peak at that time indicates that the autumnal migration route is mostly 

 along shore at first. In the Woods Hole region, near Nantucket and on Nantucket Shoals, 

 they reappear in October, ordinarily disappearing again in November. At the mouth 

 of Long Island Sound the recorded dates of their autumnal arrival in numbers have varied 

 between October 5 and November 7, their subsequent disappearance between Novem- 

 ber 24 and December 12. Near New York, where they remain into December, they seldom 

 appear in any numbers until November, and similarly along the New Jersey coast, where 

 they may arrive late in October and remain plentiful into the winter.*' At Cape Charles, 

 at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, the earliest autumnal record is for November 1 5. How- 

 ever, they have been reported as early as November 7*° from North Carolina, and we have 

 ourselves seen them in great numbers, dead on the beach (discarded by seiners) here and 

 there on the coasts of southern Virginia and northern North Carolina late in that month 



44a. For this record, for recorded dates of arrival on the Newfoundland coast, and for months when Dogfish were 

 present, see Templeman (Res. Bull. Dep. Nat. Resources Newfoundland, 15, 1944: 56-66, fig. 13-16). 



44b. Schools were reported as seen at the surface off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on February 10, 1882 (Collins, 

 1883), but there is no proof of identity. 



45. Precise information is scanty. 46. Carolina Tips, Elon Coll., N. C, 3 (7), 1940: 26. 



