HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 101 



Bay, L'Etang, Lepreanx, or Musquash, in New Brunswick, or Saint 

 Mary's Bay and its tributaries, or Tusket Eiver, in Nova Scotia."* 



In his report for 1873, Mr. Peter Mitchell, minister of marine and 

 fisheries, announces that he intends to suggest the artificial production 

 of bait for the deep-sea fisheries on some part of the const of Nova 

 Scotia, and to devote attention esi)ecially to the growth of the menhaden 

 and other bait-fishes of that class.t 



In the "Case of Her Majesty's Government," before the Halifax Com- 

 mission (see below in paragraph 219), the claim is made that "the men- 

 haden bait itself can be bred and restored to places in the Bay of Fnudy 

 on the coast of Nova Scotia, where it existed up to the time of its exter- 

 mination." 



With regard to these claims it can only be said that they are untrue 

 and unsound. No one having the slightest acquaintance with the [)riu- 

 ciples of fish culture would entertain the idea of the feasibility of such 

 schemes. 



H.— ENEMIES AND FATALITIES. 



24. — Diseases. 

 Mortality in the Merrimac River. 



138. Capt. Moses Pettingell tells me that great mortality often pre- 

 vails among the menhaden at the month of the Merrimac River. In 

 187G i he dead fish were heaped upon the shore to a depth of two feet, 

 and the municipal authorities of Newburyport expended a large sum of 

 money in carting them away. The fish seem to die in great pain ; they 

 come first to the surface, then, after a severe flurry, die. They sink im- 

 mediately to the bottom, but float at the surface after a day or two. 



It is stated that the same mortality prevailed forty years ago as now 

 among the mendaden in the Merrimac. They covered the shores, 

 tainted the air, and were taken away by the farmers as dressing for land. 

 It was noticed that the fish would come to the surtiice, spin around and 

 around, and then tarn over on the back and die.| These strange deaths 

 are very probably caused by the presence of some internal parasite. 



25. — Parasites of the menhaden. 



The crustacean^ Cymothoa prmjustator. 



139. Some of the parasites which infest the menhaden are i)articu- 

 larly curious and interesting. 



The name "bug-fish," commonly a})plied to the menhaden in the 

 Southern States, has reference to a large parasitic crustacean frequently 



* Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Marine and tisheries, 1874, a^jpeudicea 

 of the lisheries branch, p. 196. 

 t Fifth Annual Report, &.C., p. 6C. 

 X Springlicld Republican, August 21, 1871. 



