﻿3.-N0TES 
  ON 
  THE 
  FOOD 
  OF 
  FOUR 
  SPECIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  COD 
  FAMILY. 
  

  

  By 
  W. 
  C. 
  Kendall, 
  A. 
  M., 
  M. 
  D., 
  

   Jxxistaiit, 
  I 
  'lilted 
  Stales 
  Fish 
  Commission. 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  The 
  relation 
  of 
  animals 
  to 
  their 
  food 
  supply 
  offers 
  a 
  problem 
  to 
  the 
  

   student 
  of 
  natural 
  history 
  the 
  solution 
  of 
  which 
  would 
  contribute 
  much 
  

   to 
  the 
  knowledge 
  of 
  animal 
  distribution. 
  It 
  is 
  this 
  relation 
  that 
  briugs 
  

   animals 
  most 
  intimately 
  into 
  touch 
  with 
  each 
  other, 
  and 
  the 
  influence 
  

   of 
  even 
  one 
  species 
  is 
  so 
  far-reaching 
  that 
  an 
  ever- 
  widening 
  field 
  is 
  

   opened 
  to 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  investigator. 
  

  

  The 
  food 
  supply 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  factors 
  affecting 
  the 
  

   abundance 
  of 
  fishes 
  in 
  any 
  locality, 
  whether 
  they 
  be 
  the 
  so-called 
  migra- 
  

   tory 
  and 
  anadromous 
  fishes 
  or 
  the 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  permanent 
  residents. 
  

   The 
  iDhenomena 
  of 
  the 
  withdrawal 
  of 
  certain 
  fishes 
  from 
  a 
  region 
  where 
  

   they 
  have 
  been 
  abundant, 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  large 
  numbers 
  one 
  year 
  and 
  

   their 
  scarcity 
  the 
  next, 
  their 
  disappearance 
  for 
  long 
  periods 
  and 
  their 
  

   sudden 
  reappearance, 
  might 
  be 
  exi^lained 
  by 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  aud 
  

   feeding 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  species. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  investigations 
  which 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Fish 
  Commission 
  has 
  

   been 
  conducting 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  food 
  aud 
  feeding 
  

   habits 
  of 
  the 
  mackerel, 
  menhaden, 
  and 
  other 
  marine 
  fishes, 
  consider- 
  

   able 
  knowledge 
  has 
  been 
  acquired; 
  yet 
  the 
  conditions 
  and 
  influences 
  

   are 
  so 
  manifold 
  and 
  complicated 
  that 
  much 
  remains 
  to 
  be 
  learned. 
  To 
  

   the 
  writer, 
  however, 
  there 
  seems 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  effect 
  upon 
  the 
  food 
  

   of 
  mackerel 
  of 
  prevailing 
  winds, 
  varying 
  currents, 
  and 
  temperature 
  

   determines 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  whether 
  their 
  movements 
  be 
  in 
  or 
  off 
  

   shore, 
  at 
  the 
  surface, 
  or 
  some 
  distance 
  beneath. 
  

  

  The 
  occasional 
  absence 
  of 
  menhaden 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  from 
  a 
  given 
  

   section 
  and 
  their 
  sudden 
  return, 
  though 
  at 
  present 
  attended 
  with 
  some 
  

   mystery 
  and 
  ascribed 
  to 
  various 
  causes, 
  is 
  a 
  problem 
  which 
  can 
  best 
  be 
  

   solved 
  by 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  their 
  food 
  and 
  the 
  conditions 
  which 
  influence 
  it. 
  

  

  In 
  short, 
  it 
  seems 
  reasonable 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  food 
  supply 
  is 
  a 
  con- 
  

   trolling 
  power, 
  modified 
  niore 
  or 
  less 
  by 
  other 
  forces, 
  affecting 
  directly 
  

   or 
  indirectly 
  the 
  movements 
  and 
  abundance 
  of 
  all 
  fishes. 
  

  

  This 
  paper 
  treats 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  important 
  mem- 
  

   bers 
  of 
  the 
  cod 
  family 
  — 
  commercially 
  the 
  most 
  valuable 
  group 
  of 
  fishes 
  

   F. 
  K. 
  96 
  12 
  177 
  

  

  