614 U. §8. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
great quantities of floating gulfweed, Sargassum bacciferum, wider which — 
numbers of little tropical forms feed and live. For some hundreds of miles 
they travel away from their normal home but surrounded by the same neighbors, 
the same conditions of temperature, and possibilities of food which they 
experienced in the region of the West Indies. ‘ 
A first glance at a list of fishes, with their distribution areas, would astonish 
the observer. Dozens of species, known from Florida to Brazil, are recorded 
from just one northern region—the vicinity of Woods Hole, Mass. Why should 
this spot be favored with fishes alien to the rest of the coast between Cape 
Cod and the southernmost States? The explanation lies in the contour of our 
Atlantic seaboard. Below Cape Cod the coast line runs approximately north 
and south, except between New York City and Chatham, where it turns sharply 
and runs in an easterly direction. The Gulf Stream follows this curve, so that 
- it lies due south of Marthas Vineyard. Thus the prevailing southerly winds 
of summer tend to speed the rate of northern movement of the stream south 
of New York, while north of this turning point their effect is to blow from 
its course the Sargassum weed, with its attendant fauna, into the shallow 
waters along the shore. In summer the broad belt of water between the Gulf 
Stream and the shore is sufficiently warmed so that any tropical forms that 
follow weed blown out of the Gulf Stream can survive. Records since 1893 
seem to indicate that 125° C. is the minimum temperature for these species. 
When the temperature drops below this limit in the fall, all perish. I have 
recorded 92 subtropical species at Woods Hole (by “subtropical” I mean those 
species which our temperate waters have in common with the Tropics) and 
70 species of truly tropical fishes. This group comprises those species having 
a definite range, which extends northward no farther than Florida or, in rare 
cases, to South Carolina. As nearly all of these visitors are either young or 
of small size, it is probable that they enter local waters only in company with 
the Sargassum weed. 
The Arcturus oceanographical expedition was directly responsible for the 
discovery of the first American eel eggs known to science. We were at station 
100, about 15 miles southwest of Bermuda, when a Petersen trawl brought up 
four specimens. After incubation for about seven days there emerged a tiny 
leptocephalus, 9 millimeters long, provided with great fanglike teeth. The 
method of identification was by counting the myomeres, which correspond in 
number to the vertebree, and the specimen was found to have the correct number 
for the American eel. No other species had exactly this number, and others 
within 20 of the count had other specific differences that allow their elimination. 
The specimen had come, moreover, from the very place in the Atlantic desig- 
nated by Johannus Schmidt to be the breeding ground of the American and 
European eels. Although Schm‘dt had never found an egg of either species 
in his 18 years of searching, he concluded that they must be in this region, 
since it was here that he found his smallest leptocephali. My paper on the 
American eel is in press now as a volume of Zoologica. The preliminary notice 
of the find appeared in Science two months ago. 
NEW ENGLAND SALMONIDZ 
By Dr. WILLIAM C, KENDALL 
As the chairman has indicated, my subject has been listed as “ Salmonidz 
of New England.” My letter of advice concerning this conference was some- 
thing to the effect that I should speak in reference to my work within the past 
year or so. While, in conformity with that advice, my major subject pertains 
to smelts, I should like to say a word about the salmon of New England, which 
from the sea ascend fresh-water rivers to spawn, and the so-called “ land- 
locked” salmon, a permanent resident of inland lakes, both of which are 
propagated by the bureau. ' 
The landlocked salmon has been var ‘ously regarded as a subspecies (Salmo 
salar sebago), a distinct species ( Salmo sebago), and by some as structurally 
indistinguishable from the sea salmon (Salmo salar). Basing my conviction 
upon my own studies of the fish, I regard it as a distinct species. Further 
than that, there is some evidence that there may be different races in d fferent 
waters, as for instance, in Grand Lake in Cumberland County, but I shall not 
try to prove it now, although the facts are important to fish culture. 
The Bureau has been conducting tagging experiments with some of the 
Atlantic fishes. I should like to see such operations extended to the Atlantic 
