catches, the average lengths and length ranges 

 are summarized by 15-day intervals in a table. 

 In addition, the seasonal occurrence of com- 

 mon species in 1962 is shown graphically in 

 figure .".. 



Carcharhinidae— requiem sharks 



Miisteln.'i cauis (Mitchill), smooth dogfish. 

 Two smooth dogfish, 384 and 396 mm. 

 long, were caught in August 1962. 



Rajidae— skates 



Raja erinacea Mitchill, little skate. 



Eleven little skates were caught in May 

 and June 1962. The mean length was 

 456 mm.; the length range, 425 to 492 mm. 



Raja ocellata Mitchill, winter skate. 



Six winter skates were caught in October 

 and November 1962. The mean length 

 was 579 mm.; the length range, 440 to 

 664 mm. 



Clupeidae— herrings 



Alosa pseudohareugns (Wilson), alewife. 

 One 0-group alewife, 78 mm. long, was 

 caught in October 1961 and another, 68 

 mm. long, in November 1961. 



Brerooiiia tyrannus (Latrobe), Atlantic 

 menhaden. 



One 0-group menhaden, 33 mm. long, was 



caught in August 1962. 



Osmeridae — smelts 



Osmenis mordax (Mitchill) , American smelt. 

 Smelt were caught in November 1961 

 and August to November 1962 (table 2, 

 fig. 3). All were young of the year, 

 judging from growth data given by Big- 

 elow and Schroeder (1953). Since they 

 were not caught before August, the young 

 of this anadromous species may first enter 

 saltwater at about that time. 



Synodontidae— lizardfishes 



Trachinocephahis my ops (Forster), snake- 

 fish. 



One snakefish, 44 mm. long, was caught in 



August 1962 and another, 65 mm. long, in 

 October 1962 (U.S. National Museum cat- 

 alog numbers US204317 and US204321). 



Anguillidae — freshwater eels 



Anguilla rostmta (LeSueur), American eel. 

 Eight American eels were caught: five 

 juveniles and three adults. The juveniles 

 were caught in October and November 

 1962 (mean length, 117 mm.; range, 91 

 to 129 mm.). The adults were caught in 

 August 1962 (mean length, 665 mm.; 

 range, 580 to 735 mm.). 



Cyprinodontidae — killifishes 



Fiindulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus), mummi- 



chog. 



Three mummichogs were caught in 1962, 

 two in January (34 and 61 mm. long) and 

 one in September (110 mm. long). This 

 species is common in summer in shallow 

 pools of the adjacent salt marsh, but it 

 was scarce in all seasons in the area 

 trawled. 



Fundulns majalis (Walbaum), striped killi- 



fish. 



Five striped killifish were caught in No- 

 vember 1961 and March, April, and No- 

 vember 1962. The mean length was 60 



Table 2. — Numbers and lengths of American smelt 

 caught with an otter trawl near Woods Hole, Mass., 

 September 1961 to December 1962. (Smelt were 

 caught only in the semimonthly periods shown.) 



