the ScUiples were spot, Lelostomus 

 xanthurus , and croaker, Micropogon 

 undulatils . L. xanthurus was recorded 

 from more sets and sanples than M. 

 imdulatuS ) but the count of the lat- 

 ter was highe r . 



The gizzard shad, Dorosoma 

 petenense, was fifth in order of 

 abundance, although it appeared in 

 fewer sets than the butterfish, 

 Poronotus triacanthus , the cutlass 

 fish, Trichiurus lepturus , the sand 

 trout , ~Cynosci6n arenanus , and the 

 catfish ~Galeichthys felis. The 

 gafftopsail, Bagre marina , was re- 

 corded from 56 stations and occurred 

 in 25 sarrples. The 85 gaff topsails 

 in the samples are only 3.9 percent 

 of the count of other fishes, but the 

 many specimens were removed from the 

 net for use as food and were not 

 counted. The Gulf sand trout, Cynos - 

 cion nothus , was ninth in numbers 

 counted. The 10 most numerous fishes 

 the sanple accounted for 92.2 percent 

 the species other than menhaden. 



Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus macu - 

 latus, was recorded from 29 stations. When 

 Spanish mackerel are in the net, they are 

 readily observed swimming near the surface. 

 Few escape the crew to be picked up by the 

 puiT^js. Only five samples contained mack- 

 erel, although they were observed in 26 

 sets. The anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus , the 

 leatherjacket, Oligoplites saurus , and the 

 skate. Raja texana , were represented by 

 single specimens. The yellowtail, Bairdi - 

 ella chrysurus , was found at 10 stations, 

 the threadfin, Opisthonema oglinum , and the 

 harvestifish, Peprilus paru , at eight sta- 

 tions, and the sole, Trinectes maculatus , 

 and the bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix , at 

 seven stations. The speckled trout, 

 Cynoscion nebulosus , and the flounder, 

 Citharichthys microstomus , were taken six 

 times. Twenty-three pinfish, Lagodon rhom- 

 boides , were taken from 2 sarples. The 

 tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis , althou^ 

 not observed in this study, was observed in 

 a purse seine on June 19, 1957, and has been 

 included in our list. 



Seasonal Variations 



The percentage of fishes, other than 

 menhaden, in the purse-seine catch in- 

 creased in summer. The abundance of other 



— I 1 1 1 1 1 I I " 



5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 5 



NUMBER OF HAULS 



Figure 4. — Percentage of samples from puxse seine hauls containing 

 over 90 percent menhaden, 1958-59. 



in fishes in June and July, with and without 

 of two hauls that may have biased results, is 

 shown in figure h. On June 23, 1958, a 

 haul of 50,000 "fish" showed 5U.1 percent 

 other fishes in the sample. Seventy-six 

 percent of the fishes other than menhaden 

 were croakers; white trout, spot, spade- 

 fish, and butterfish made up the remainder. 

 Another set was made on a school of mullet 

 in July. In either case the curve of 

 seasonal abundance in the sairples corres- 

 ponds to a previously observed influx of 

 fishes in low-salinity areas as tenpera- 

 tures increase and their exodus with fall- 

 ing tenperatures (Gunter 1936, 19U5). 



COMPARISON WITH OTHER STUDIES 



Thirty-six of the species recorded in 

 this study are not reported by Miles and 

 Simmons (1950). The Port Arthur studies 

 include 17 species not listed in our re- 

 cords. Usually, the species not found in 

 both studies represent a small part of the 

 catches, Mugil cephalus in the Mississippi 

 study is the outstanding exception. The 

 most abundant fish other thaa menhaden 

 differed in western Louisiana and in this 

 study. Miles and Simmons (1950) said the 

 "herring-like" fishes were most abundant, 

 somewhat similar to the report of Smith 

 (1896). We found mullet and two species of 

 croakers to be the most abundant. Miles 

 and Simmons gave no indication that their 

 "herring -like" fishes were taken by mistake. 



