Fishes of the JVestern North Atlantic Z79 



nized this species as distinct from patronus. He found gunteri to be much more common 

 in Aransas and Copano bays than patronus, and he expressed the opinion that it prob- 

 ably is "completely euryhaline," though he did add that his data strongly suggest a 

 midwinter exodus from Copano Bay but not from Aransas Bay. The fact that all speci- 

 mens of gunteri in the U. S. National Museum collection were collected in inshore 

 waters and that most of the patronus samples were taken offshore support Gunter's con- 

 tention. However, there are some small to half-grown specimens of patronus in the 

 collections that were taken inshore, where the water must have been decidedly 

 brackish. 



The habitats of gunteri and patronus in the Gulf therefore seem to parallel those 

 of their close relatives in the Atlantic. However, gunteri has been reported as schooling 

 by Gunter, and if correct, then gunteri apparently differs in that respect from 

 smit/ii, which does not school while inhabiting the estuaries of Beaufort, North 

 Carolina (p. 374). 



Food. B. gunteri also is a plankton feeder, and "it may be seen in schools twisting 

 and turning through the water, with mouth agape . . ." (5^)- 



Relations/lip. This species differs from patronus, its relative in the Gulf, in having 

 much smaller and more crowded scales, which are placed in less regular series and which 

 in adults have notably shorter serrations (pectinations). It differs further in having 

 much more feebly developed radiating striae, or none, on the upper part of the opercle 

 and in the absence of dark spots behind the black shoulder spot. Gunter also said that 

 it is not slimy when fresh, like patronus. 



Its nearest relative is smithi of the Atlantic. Both of these species have deep, 

 well-compressed bodies that are almost void of slime, small crowded scales, no dark 

 spots on the anterior part of the body behind the black shoulder spot, and several other 

 similar characters. But they differ in that the head is rather longer and deeper in gunteri, 

 the body is more strongly compressed, the maxillary and mandible are somewhat longer, 

 as is the pectoral fin, the ventral scutes are nearly always fewer, the scales are propor- 

 tionately deeper, and the vertebrae, so far as known, are definitely fewer. But the pres- 

 ence on the coast of western Florida of Finescale Menhaden somewhat intermediate 

 between gunteri and smithi emphasizes the desirability of a more detailed comparison 

 of them than has been made as yet. 



Variation. The specimens at hand vary considerably in depth, as shown in the 

 Description; the smaller specimens in general are deeper than the larger ones. The 

 variation in the number of anal rays is also rather great. The wide range shown for the 

 number of oblique series of scales along the middle of the side may be ascribed in large 

 part to the difficulty of counting them accurately. The great difference noted in the 

 number of gill rakers on the lower limb of the first arch results largely from their in- 

 crease in number with age. The color is quite uniform among the larger examples, but 

 the smaller ones are lighter in color, and those less than about 1 1 5 mm TL lack the 

 black shoulder spot. 



Commercial Importance. No Menhaden plants are operated at present on the coast 



