by their size at the^time of formation 

 of the first annulus, entered the Vir- 

 ginia fishery in 1954 and 1955 suggest- 

 ing that growth rates differ according 

 to circumstances. Mean lengths at the 

 end of each calendar year of life were 

 found to be approximately 125, 200 and 

 230 mm. Mean weights were about 30, 

 130 and 200 g. Menhaden reached 

 maturity at about 1^ years. 



Hildebrand and Schroeder (1928) 

 said that fish varied in fatness during 

 the year and were much fatter in the 

 fall than in spring. They also noted 

 that fatness, and presumably growth 

 rate varied from year to year. Fish, 

 taken in October 1921, 13.0 cm. long 

 averaged 0.78 oz. in weight, and two 

 specimens of the same length, taken a 

 year later, averaged 1.07 oz. In 1921, 

 October fish 23.1 cm. long averaged 

 4.22 oz. and a similar sample for 1922 

 averaged 5.17 oz. The October 1922 

 fish weighed an average 15.5 percent 

 more than fish of the same length taken 

 in October 1921. Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder also gave some tables on 

 weight-length relationships. Fish 10.2 

 cm. long weighed 0.35 oz., those 20.3 

 cm. long weighed 3.59 oz. and 35.6cm. 

 long weighed 17.1 oz. 



Goode (1879) measured 30 fish 

 from the same school taken at Noank, 

 Connecticut, in 1875. They ranged from 

 12 to 13 inches in length and 10 to 16 

 ounces in weight. The average length 

 was 12.38 inches. 



Concerning seasonal changes in 

 fatness, Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) 

 said that menhaden were always thin 

 when they arrived in the Gulf of Maine 

 from the south, but put on fat rapidly. 

 In 1894 the yield of oil rose from 12 

 gallons, and less, per thousand fish in 

 the early part of the season to 14^ in 

 August to 16 and 18 gallons in Septem- 

 ber. They stated that New England fish 

 were larger and fatter than those tothe 

 south. These authors also said that the 

 longest menhaden of their knowledge 

 was a specimen 18 inches long taken 

 at Woods Hole in 1876, but that 29-inch 

 fish had been reported. The heaviest 

 fish reported was one from Orient, 



New York, weighing 1 pound 13 ounces. 

 Goode (1879) said the largest specimen 

 in the National Museum was a 20-inch 

 cast. These remarks donot correspond 

 to those of Ellison (1951) concerning 

 the abundance of 16- to 20 -inch fish in 

 North Carolina waters in late Novem- 

 ber. 



June and Reintjes (1959 and I960) 

 presented extensive tables of length and 

 weight frequency distributions of sam- 

 ples of Brevoortia tyrannus from the 

 purse -seine and pound-net fisheries 

 along the Atlantic coast from 1952 

 through 1956. Comparison of the aver- 

 age length and weight of individual year 

 classes from the middle Atlantic area 

 at different ages showed rather marked 

 variation in fish of comparable age in 

 the different years. The average fork 

 length of age 1 fish ranged from 209 

 mm. in 1952 to 229 mm. in 1955; of 

 age 2, from 233 mm. in 1952 to 259 rnm. 

 in 1955; of age 3, from 279 mm. in 

 1955 to 286 mm. in 1956; and of age 4, 

 from 291 mm. in 1955 to 304 mm. in 

 1954. Five-year-old fish averaged 311 

 mm. fork length in 1956. The most 

 striking feature was that in every year 

 through 1955 fish of the dominant 1951 

 year class averaged lighter than ad- 

 jacent year classes. In general, there 

 was an increase in the size and weight 

 of fish of the same age group from 

 south to north. (It should be noted, how- 

 ever, that the fishery starts earlier 

 in the south than it does farther north.) 

 The data show that fish of the domi- 

 nant year class which contributed to 

 the catch in each area in 1956 were 

 shorter and lighter than fish of the 

 same age in 1955. Females were larger 

 than males at older ages. 



Distribution and Migrations 



Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) re- 

 ported that spawning probably took 

 place every year from the Long Island 

 Sound area to Florida during the period 

 of their observations, and that in some 

 years it extended into the Gulf of 

 Maine. The eggs were buoyant, accord- 

 ing to Welsh (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925) 

 and were found at the surface in waters 

 of high salinity (Perlmutter, 1939). 



