5(i INLAND FISHEEIES. 



XI. FuBTHER Observations on the Eed- Water Plague, with 

 Notes on its Occurrence Elsewhere. 



This plieuomenon, Avliicli lias l^een noticed for years by fislier- 

 meu iu the upper part of the Bay, was so unpleasantly noticeable 

 in the late summer of 1898 that it caused a great deal of comment. 

 In the report of that year your commission, having investigated 

 the matter, published a brief statement of the cause of the red 

 color and the disagreeable odor of the water. 



The explanation of the red water is the exceeding abundance 

 of a minute organism, called at that time Peridinkira. Specimens 

 Avere sent to Sir George Murray, of England, who was engaged in 

 a work on the Peridinidw of the world, and were pronounced by 

 him to be a species of the related genus Gyrnnodinmm. The 

 species itself was unknown to him, and, in his oj^inion, probably 

 new. 



In 1899, and again in this year, the red water has recurred. On 

 May 6tli the Lewis Brothers saw large patches of it between Wick- 

 ford Light and Plum Beach. The organisms were abundant 

 in the skimmings for some time after this. In the early autumn, 

 particularly al)out the last of September and the first of October, 

 it again amounted to a plague iu the Providence Kiver. Crabs, 

 shrimp, menhaden, clams, and various other animals were found 

 piled in windrows on the shore, while squiteague of from 1 to 2 

 inches in length were to be seen stupefied and half dead in the 

 shoal water. 



On Octobter 18tli the shore north of the harbor near the R. I. 

 Yacht Club house, was covered with a broad 'windrow of clams 

 for nearly a quarter of a mile. At many places the clams were 

 l)iled a foot in height, and the total amount thus killed must have 

 amounted to many thousands of bushels. The clams were evi- 

 dently of this year's set for the most part, and measured about 1^ 

 inches in length. Many were not dead, and very few had been 

 dead many days. It can not be stated positively that the red 



