156 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL. MUSEUM 



VOL. 88 



The late Dr. Irving T. Field, who, in 1903, was studying the food 

 of dinners, reported that large numbers of them had cysts in the 

 skin. Vinal N. Edwards in 1905 reports that he examined over 200 

 cunners taken in the seine at Quisset Harbor and found all to be 

 infected. He states that he looked them over carefully to see if he 

 could find one that was free from skin parasites, but did not find 

 any that was clear of cysts. He also reports that he examined 100 

 cunners at Menemsha Bight, taken in fish trap and by seine, but saw 

 no skin parasites. The cunners of Menemsha, however, are not 

 always free from these cysts. Thus, on July 29, 1908, 21 cunners, 

 seined at Menemsha, were examined. The larger fish had numerous 

 cysts on the fins and sides; the smaller fish were, most of them, 

 lightly infested, although one of the smallest, 8 cm. in length, had 

 numerous cysts. Cunners from the fish trap at Menemsha, however, 

 were found to be practically free from skin parasites, while those 

 from traps in Buzzards Bay, near Woods Hole, were frequently 

 heavily parasitized. In more or less enclosed bodies of water the 

 infection is often high. Thus, at Sheep-pen Cove, August 12, 1908, 

 three cunners were taken, each of which was densely peppered with 

 black pigment spots; 24 scales were taken at random from the side 

 of the larger one, 18 cm. in length. The average number of cysts 

 per scale was 7.25 ; largest number on one scale 19. Also, at Hadley 

 Harbor on August 24, 60 cunners, chosen at random from a large 

 number taken in the seine, were examined; 29 of them were densely 

 covered with cysts. The body and fins were almost black, with some 



Table 38. — Cysts of Cryptocotyle lingua on skin and fins of Woods Hole fishes 



Host 



Acanthocottut aeneus 



Gadus morrhua 



Lophoptetta maculata 



Mentldrrhus saxatilis. 



Menidia notata.. 



Microgadus tomcod 



Mullus auratus 



Osmerus mordax 



Pholis gunnellus 



Pollacliius tirms 



Pomatomus saltatrix 



Poronotus triacanthus 



PseudopUuronectes americanus 



Scomber scombrua 



Tautoga onitis 



Tautogolabrus adspersua 



Trachinotus Jalcatus 



Month 



July, Aug 



Dec. 



May, July, Aug. 

 Sept. 



Aug., Sept 



July, Aug., Sept. 

 Apr., Aug., Dec. 



Sept. 



Aug 



Aug 



Apr., Aug 



July, Aug., Sept. 



July, Aug 



July, Aug., Sept. 



July, Aug 



July, Aug., Sept. 

 July, Aug., Sept. 

 Sept 



Num- 

 ber of 

 days 



Num- 

 ber of 

 fishes 

 exam- 

 ined 



1 

 23 



16 



121 



27 



3 



21 



1 



3 



70 



3 



67 

 78 

 112 

 815 



Cysts 



None 



67 



±34 



54 



±7 



±173 



1 



Few 



±30 



20 



±65 



±445 



5 



Many 



4 

 ±30 



±48 



Nu- 

 mer- 

 ous 



±10 



±148 



