was 0.336 percent. Most of the clupeids 

 other than menhaden were taken in a 

 few sets when mistaken for schools of 

 nnenhaden. 



Smith also noted that "the men- 

 haden is a fish which, as a rule, is 

 found in comparatively close proximity 

 to the land. . ." Most of the fish were 

 taken less than 5 miles from shore. 



The chief predators were found to 

 be bluefish, sharks and weakfish. 

 Migratory movements were oftenmodi- 

 fied by the presence of "such pre- 

 daceous species as bluefish, sque- 

 teague, and sharks" (Smith, 1896). The 

 autumnal migratory movement began 

 with the fish on the shores of Maine 

 and Massachusetts and continued south- 

 ward. 



Larger and fatter fish were taken 

 on the New England coast than from 

 areas to the south. New England fish 

 produced more oil in the fall than those 

 from the same area produced in the 

 spring. Examination of ovaries tended 

 to verify the existence of different 

 spawning periods on different parts of 

 the coast. 



GULF OF MEXICO MENHADEN 

 Spawning 



Kuntz and Radcliffe (1918) noted 

 that the first menhaden larva identified 

 was a specimen 24 mm. long taken on 



January 15, 1913 by W. W. Welsh in 

 St. George Sound, Carabelle, Florida. 

 St. George Sound is on the northwest 

 Florida coast and the specimen was 

 doubtless B. patronus . 



Gunter (1945) reported eight 

 Brevoortia patronus 28-59 mm. total 

 length taken on the Gulf beach of 

 Mustang Island, Texas in March and 

 April. Several larvae, tentatively iden- 

 tified as Brevoortia , taken at the same 

 time, were presumed tobe B.patrotlUS- 



Baldauf (1954) listed menhaden as 

 being one of the fishes which are to be 

 found in the lower Neches River only 

 "during growth stages". Menhaden 

 were taken in the Neches River at a 

 station approximately 30 nautical miles 

 upstream from Texas Point, at the 

 Sabine Pass entrance to the Gulf. 

 Salinities at stations where menhaden 

 were taken ranged from 0.16 to20.4%o. 

 Surface temperature varied from 14.4° 

 to 31° C. Over 10,000 specimens were 

 taken in 1951, 1952 and 1953. The 

 largest menhaden measured was a 

 specimen, found dead on the river bank, 

 with a standard length of 150 mm. The 

 larger fish were B. patronus but spe- 

 cific identification of young individuals 

 was uncertain. Table 5 gives Baldauf's 

 measurements. 



Baldauf noted that two incoming 

 populations, November-December and 

 March-April, were not the same and 

 that there may have been two spawning 

 peaks. 



Table 5. — Numbers and sizes of small menhaden taken in the Neches River, 1952-53 



[Based on Baldauf, 1954-] 



Date 



Number 



Ranges 

 ( standard length) 



Mean 



July- Aug, . 

 Sept. -Oct. 



Nov 



Dec 



Jan 



Feb 



Mar 



Apr 



6 







69 



29 



322 

 307 



<iO. 5-93.0 mm. 



16.0-22.0 mm. 

 0-23.0 mm. 

 0-25.0 mm. 

 0-26.0 mm. 



mm. 



mm. 



19 



21 



22 



20.5-38.5 



18.0-40.0 



58.5 



19.5 



21.0 



22.3 



23.1 



21.98 



21.59 



15 



