REPORT OF COMMLSSIOXKK OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 193 



the Iiailx)!-. Tlioy hatehed out iu eighteen Jiours, with the water at a temperature 

 of Kl' F. Other h)ts were also takeu iiud suceessfnlly batched, the lime varying); 

 with the temperature; witlithe water at 78'^ F. it required tweuty-four hours. 



The eggs are one twenty-sixth of an inch iu diameter, and have a specific gravity 

 almost exactly the same as that of salt water; when there is no motion most of them 

 remain at or near the surface, but with the least current they become generally 

 distributed through the mass. Each egg has a very prominout oil glol)ule, Avhich 

 keeps it in a proper position in the water. 



The porgy is a very prolific species, a good-sized individual probably containing 

 about a million of eggs. These ripen irregularly, some being (|uite green and imma- 

 ture after the first have been de})osit6d. As the eggs ripen they burst the membrane 

 that holds them and pass down the channel that leads to the vent; they are thus 

 thrown out gradually, or at intervals of a few days at most, the time required by the 

 individual for spawniug being not less thTiu six weeks, while the spawning season 

 f(U' the siiecies uuist extend into September. The species evidently matures when 

 young or are of slow growth, for an individual weighing only half a pound was seen 

 with the spermaries fully developed and the milt running freely. 



Archosargus probatocephalus. Sheepshead. 



Arrives in small schools early iu May and remains until November. 

 Most common in the i)onnd nets in June. Weighs about 4 pounds aud 

 sells for 35 cents each. Much less numerous than it was a fe\y years 

 ago, when a single net took more than the aggregate yield in 1890. 

 When i)ound nets were first introduced it is said that large catches 

 were often made, and it is reported that during one day in September, 

 1877, a single net on this shore took 1,700 sheepshead, which were sold 

 in Norfolk for $600. 



Clupea sapidissinia. Shad. 



Arrive in IMarch and are taken until June. The entire catch in all 

 the pouiul ]iets is usually less than that iu a single net on the opposite 

 side of the bay, l»eing Ili,700 pounds in 1880. In 1890, however, there 

 was a larger run, and 44,87^* pounds were obtained. 



Brevoortia tyrannus. Altnhaden ; ^'Alewife "; " Oldwife." 



A small i»ound net set near Cape Charles City iu December, 1890, 

 caught small numbers of menhaden. The fish were of medium size, 

 and, while not abundant, were quite constant in their occurrence at- 

 that time. Simihir eyidence has recently been adduced going- to show 

 that the fish is a regular, but perhaps not abundant, winter inhabitant 

 of the Chesapeake. 



Other economic fish taken in the pound nets are alewives {Clupea 

 (c.st bv alts and C. psetidoharengus), called ''herring"; sturgeon {Acipen- 

 sf)- o.vi/rJiyrichn.H stxrio); redfish (/S'c/rt'»a occUata), called ''drum" and 

 "red drum;" sea bass {Centroprisfis striatiis), locally known as "black 

 will" aud "black bass"; harvest fish {Stromateus paru), the " butter- 

 fish" of the fishermen; s])ot {Lei osfom us xdnflmrus) ■ flounders {Para- 

 lichthys <lrnta1 us ;\nd other species); kingfisli {Mcnticirrhus saxatUis); 

 albacore {Alhumra thijnniis)^ called "horse-mackerel," and numerous 

 other salt-water fishes taken irregularly or in snuill luimbers. 

 11. Mis. 113 13 



