REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 83 



must still elapse before they became actually ripe. Those examined 

 toward the end of the runs were apparently no further developed than 

 those obtained in the beginning, but it might well hai^pen that in pass- 

 ing down the coast the fish of each successive school or body attained 

 practically the same stage of development upon reaching corresiDon ding- 

 latitudes. On this point, however, nothing positive can be said. 



Dr. Wolhaupter's observations, therefore, although confined to a 

 single season as regards the fall run of fish, would aj^pear to indicate 

 that the large schools of menhaden which pass down the coast during 

 the latter half of the fall, and in which the mature sizes contain nearly 

 ripe eggs and milt, do not enter Chesapeake Bay except as they may 

 be driven in momentarily to a slight extent by outside influences. The 

 fish composing this fall run differ from those taken in the bay in that 

 they are apparently shorter and thicker in build and have a brighter and 

 more silvery look. Of the specimens examined by Dr. Wolhaupter not 

 one contained the peculiar isopod i^arasite lodged in the mouth, which 

 is so characteristic of the bay schools. This run, moreover, does not 

 resort to the inlets of Xorth Carolina in the neighborhood of Beaufort, 

 and apparently not elsewhere. Does it find its spawning-grounds in 

 the open sea or in more southern rivers and bays'? 



During the following winter and sjiring the menhaden inquiries, with 

 special reference to the spawning habits of the species, were continued 

 in the lower Chesapeake Bay by the steamer Fish Hatvlc under the 

 direction of her commanding officer, Lieut. Eobert Piatt, U. S. JST. 

 These investigations were begun on January 19 and terminated on 

 May 1. The west shore of the bay, just below the mouth of the 

 Potomac Eiver, was selected as the principal seat of operations, as the 

 creeks in this vicinity were known to teem with young menhaden 

 during the spring and summer months. During most of the time 

 headquarters were maintained in Cockrell Creek, from which place 

 trips were made to neighboring localities, and occasionally to more dis- 

 tant ones. Fishing was carried on by means of fyke-nets, seines, and 

 gill nets in the inclosed waters, as circumstances permitted, and after 

 the opening of the spring season the trap-net catches of the regular 

 fishermen were inspected daily. The work was greatly interfered with 

 by ice until about March 1, previous to which date but little fishing 

 could be done. The first menhaden secured in the vicinity of Cockrell 

 Creek was a single individual taken in the Fish Hawlc's seine on March 

 11. Traps were first set in this region about March 5, but they were 

 not extensively fished until some time later. Two small menhaden 

 were caught by this means on March 23, and about 50 on the 25th. 

 On the 26th the Fish Hawk made its first catch in the upper part of any 

 of the creeks, namely, 30 individuals, measuring from 2^ to 5 inches 

 long each. Around Hampton a few small menhaden had been taken 

 in the traps as early as March 8. 



About April 9 the menhaden struck in more abundantly between 

 Wicomico and Smith Point, and from this time the trap nets made 



