metamorphosis in high salinities de- 

 veloped abnormalities while those de- 

 veloping at low salinities were normal. 



Hildebrand (1948) has noted that 

 all species of young menhaden (aureo 

 and smithi not verified) up to 70 mm. 

 long have minute teeth on the margin 

 of the maxillary which are subsequently 

 lost. 



Welsh (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925) 

 studied large numbers of menhaden fry 

 and their scales in the Gulf of Maine. 

 Summer hatched fish were found to be 

 6-8 cm . long the first winter and 16cm. 

 long the second winter. Bigelow and 

 Schroeder (1953) reported young men- 

 haden 9.1-9.9 cnn. long at Woods Hole 

 in late September 1942. Fish taken at 

 Falmouth, Massachusetts, 2 months 

 later were 11.7-12.7 cm. long. Welsh 

 (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925) found as 

 many as nine to ten "winter rings" on 

 the scales of a few of the older fish 

 examined and apparently thought that 

 each ring represented 1 year's growth. 



Rush (1952) found that fish with one 

 annulus at Beaufort, North Carolina, 

 were approximately 18.9 cm. long (fork 

 length). Three-year fish were 28.7cm. 

 long. The oldest fish, 6 years, was 

 35.8 cm. long. The growth curve was 

 worked out on 34 specimens. Westman 

 and Nigrelli (1955), who worked on 

 Long Island Sound fish, stated that 

 growth rates determined "upon the 

 basis of many times that number of 

 specimens" were very similar. Fish 

 showing a single annulus averaged 

 18.4 cm. fork length. Fifty-two males 

 of age class III ranged from 29-5 to 

 34.0 cm. fork length and 52 females 

 of the same age class ranged from 28.5 

 to 34.5 cm. long. In age class IV 17 

 males ranged from 31.5 to 35.0 cm. 

 long and 55 females had a fork length 

 range of 31.5 to 36.0 cm. They stated 

 that the conversion factor from fork to 

 total length was 1.1163. Scattergood, 

 Trefethen and Coffin (1951) reported 

 the conversion factor from standard to 

 fork length to be 1.0459. 



June and Roithmayr (I960) re- 

 ported results of readings of 13,510 

 scale samples of Atlantic menhaden 



taken along the east coast of the United 

 States between Portland, Maine, and 

 Fernandina, Florida, from 1952 through 

 1956. Scale formation commenced at 

 body lengths between 24 and 30 mm., 

 appearing first in the region of the 

 caudal peduncle and later near the 

 base of the pectoral fins and along the 

 posterior margin of the opercles. 

 Scales were fully formed at body lengths 

 between 30 and 43 mm. Growth of 

 scales of young -of -the -year was traced 

 from May until mid-September. The 

 first age ring was formed sometime 

 after the first summer of life. 



Ring formation occurred only once 

 each year, between March and May. 

 Marginal scale growth occurred during 

 the warm months of the year. The dis- 

 tance between the last submarginal ring 

 and the margin of the scale reached a 

 maximum in the fall. The distance 

 between the last two adjacent ring 

 modes decreased with age. In general, 

 ring formation was found to occur 

 earliest in southern waters and prog- 

 ressively later farther northward. New 

 scale growth varied considerably 

 among individuals, especially in the 

 younger age groups, and this variability 

 is greatest in those fish occurring in 

 southern coastal waters. 



Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928) 

 said that sexes could not be differ- 

 entiated externally and that the growth 

 rates were apparently much the same. 

 However, Westman and Nigrelli (1955) 

 analyzed the matter statistically and 

 found that there was a significant dif- 

 ference, the females outgrowing the 

 males . 



Westman and Nigrelli gave fork- 

 length frequency curves for 1/2-month 

 periods from April to June for fish 

 from Long Island Sound and New Jersey 

 waters. In general, the curves showed a 

 decreasing mode from about 30 cm. in 

 April to 25 cm. in June during 1948 

 and 1949. 



Ages of menhaden up to the third 

 year of life may be determined by the 

 length-frequency method or by reading 

 scales (McHugh, Oglesby and Pacheco, 

 1959). Two groups offish, characterized 



