188 U- S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



weed and among thick bottom-grass or widgeon-grass growths, where young 

 grass shrimp, together with silverside and killifish minnows, are abundant; par- 

 ticularly where grasses and seaweeds are so thick as to make dragging a seine 

 almost impossible. In addition to the food just named, the young fry and 

 fingerlings feed on lesser amounts of any other moving foods found on the feed- 

 ing grounds. They eat an enormous amount of food and grow very rapidly, 

 reaching a length of over an inch in less than a month, and for several months 

 thereafter practically doubling their length each month. A 2-inch fish, after a 

 month of good feeding, will measure 4^ inches, and still another month later 

 will measure 7 inches. Under best possible conditions of life, such as are found 

 in many places along the Texas coast, many individuals reach marketable size 

 in about seven months. 



The habits of the spotted trout in other parts of its range are 

 hardly better understood than in Texas, although similar habits of 

 this species are reported from other localities. Dr. Hugh M. Smith, 

 in "The Fishes of North Carolina," gives some notes written by 

 Yarrow for the years 1871 and 1872, on observations taken at Beau- 

 fort, N. C. Yarrow says: . 



Very abundant from February to June, April being considered the best month; 

 are taken at this time in nets only, as they will not take the hook until September, 

 upon their return from the northward. The roe in female specimens was found 

 to be quite large in April. 



Spotted trout, as well as gray trout, are reported to spawn in 

 North Carolina waters during the late spring and early summer, 

 according to Doctor Smith. He says also that the spawning grounds 

 of the spotted trout are the well-protected bays and sounds. 



Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) 



Although the Spanish mackerel is not a coast fish, but a pelagic 

 species, it is mentioned here because it is one of the most popular 

 fishes with the trade. The fishermen on the Texas coast have not 

 concerned themselves with its habits, nor have any conservationists 

 worried about its scarcity or abundance. When the mackerel runs 

 occur, the fishermen employ hand troll lines and gill nets near the 

 passes and reap the harvest while they can. The general habits of 

 the mackerel apparently are fairly well understood. Along the 

 Atlantic coast there is said to be a general movement of the schools 

 northward in the spring and back again in fall. Off the coast of 

 North Carolina it is hard to find any mackerel after November. 

 Again referring to "The Fishes of North Carolina," we find the 

 following : 



The fish doubtless spawns throughout its range on the United States coast, but, 

 as shown hereafter, apparently very few remain on the North Carolina coast 

 during the spawning season. The lower part of Chesapeake Bay was and still is 

 a favorite spawning ground. The eggs are about 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) in 

 diameter and float at the surface; they are laid mostly at night, and the hatching 

 period is about 25 hours in a water temperature of 77° or 78° F. All the eggs of 

 a given fish do not ripen at one time, and the spawning may thus extend over 

 several weeks, during which several hundred thousand eggs may be deposited. 



Doctor Smith says also that on the Atlantic coast the females of 

 the northward-bound schools had a roe that was yet immature, but 

 on the return run not a fish contained roe and all were in fine condi- 

 tion, being very fat and about a pound heavier on an average than on 

 the run north. The exact movements of such pelagic creatures as 

 mackerel are hard to determine, of course, but the Texas fishermen are 

 not alarmed about the mackerel supply, as the mackerel is not deemed 



