Massman, Ladd and McCutcheon 

 (1954) caught young menhaden in the 

 brackish and fresh waters of four 

 Virginia Rivers, up to 27 miles above 

 brackish waters, in April and May. 

 These fish were collected in plankton 

 tows and ranged from 24 to 30 mm. 

 standard length. Ninty-eight percent of 

 the 8,000 specimens were found at 

 salinities of 2-3 %o. The ratio of num- 

 bers caught in surface and bottom tows 

 was 200 to 1. In June, menhaden of 

 40.6 mm. in mean standard length were 

 the most abundant species in the shore 

 zone just above brackish water. Young 

 fish were present in July in the same 

 area. Surface trawls showed essen- 

 tially the same pattern in September 

 when fish averaged 94 mm. standard 

 length. 



Ellison (1951) quoted Hardcastle 

 (MS) who concluded that, in North 

 Carolina, menhaden probably spawn in 

 late winter near the Gulf stream. 

 Ellison (1951) said the young fish have 

 wide salinity tolerance and live in 

 slightly brackish waters or waters with 

 the salinity of sea water, and quoted 

 Westman and Bidwell (1948) who re- 

 ported young 45 miles up the Hudson 

 River and in Long Island Sound at the 

 same time. 



Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) said 

 that W. W, Welsh concluded that sexual 

 maturity in menhaden is attained by 

 the third year of life. Westnnan and 

 Nigrelli (1955) wrote that all menhaden 

 3 years of age or more appeared to be 

 adult fish. 



Goode (1884) reported that 150,000 

 eggs were found in one menhaden. 



Ellison (1951) quoted Hardcastle 

 (MS) who found that 41 percent of 

 mature and immature males were in- 

 fested with a gonadal parasite, Eimevia 

 brevoortia, a sporozoan. The effect of 

 this infestation on sperm production 

 was not determined. 



Perlmutter (1939) is the only au- 

 thor who has reported salinities at 

 which menhaden spawn. He gave the 

 figure as 84-100 percent (30.5 - 35%o) 

 sea water, at 55°-80°F. All other re- 



ports of menhaden eggs correspond 

 with high salinity situations. 



Growth 



Kuntz and Radcliffe (1918) re- 

 ported that menhaden eggs were 1.4- 

 1.6 mm. in diameter. Bigelow and 

 Schroeder (1953) gave the measure- 

 ments as 1.5-1.8 mm. and said men- 

 haden produced the largest fish eggs 

 to be found in the Gulf of Maine. 



McHugh, Oglesby and Pacheco 

 (1959), after studying the Chesapeake 

 Bay pound-net and purse-seine fish- 

 eries, assumed that, in the Chesapeake 

 Bay area, menhaden left the Bay as 

 they approached maturity in late Sep- 

 tember, October and November. Spawn- 

 ing apparently occurred outside the 

 Bay in the fall and continued through 

 the winter. Bimodal distribution of 

 length and weight frequencies in age- 

 group suggested that two spawning 

 peaks may occur in the Chesapeake 

 region. 



Welsh (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925) 

 found experimentally that hatching took 

 place in less than 48 hours and that 

 the larvae are 4.5 mm. long at that 

 time. Four days after hatching they 

 were 5.7 mm. long. There are no other 

 data on the time elennent and growth 

 of the larvae. The dorsal and caudal 

 fins were visible in the 9 mm. stage 

 and all fins were differentiated at the 

 23 mm. stage. At this stage the larva 

 was long and slim; when the young 

 menhaden had reached 33 mm. in 

 length it had taken on a more fish-like 

 appearance and acquired scales. 



June and Chamberlin (1959) dem- 

 onstrated that low salinities are essen- 

 tial to the normal development of 

 Atlantic menhaden larvae. Larvae and 

 metamorphosing individuals from low- 

 salinity areas invariably perished when 

 transplanted to high-salinity rearing 

 ponds, although individuals trans- 

 planted a few weeks after metamorpho- 

 sis survived. Similar phenomena were 

 observed in natural conditions on sev- 

 eral occasions. Larvae reared through 



