134 AmeHcan Fisheries Society 



regard as simply a number of interesting observations 

 that throw little if any light on the question of turning. 



The young fry are strongly phototropic, and we should 

 expect to find, and do find, the greatest number near the 

 top and sides of the dish. Occasionally, when the source 

 of light is such that a ray will run from the top to the 

 bottom of the dish, the young fry cluster around this 

 ray in the form of an inverted cone. 



Escape from the egg capsule. For a day or more be- 

 fore hatching the young fish has the power of movement 

 within the capsule. The movement is brought about by 

 a series of contractions comparable to a peristalsis. The 

 contractions are most marked in the posterior part and 

 tend to push the fish forward. Through this movement 

 the rupture of the capsule is brought about. The plane 

 of rupture as observed in a number of cases is at right 

 angles to the long axis of the body. The posterior half 

 of the capsule then comes to lie on the back of the fish, 

 dorsal to the head and body proper. The added weight 

 dorsally turns the fish on its side, and in this position 

 it struggles until freed from the capsule. This is usually 

 accomplished in a period extending not over ten minutes. 



Food of the young fry. Until the yolk is absorbed the 

 young do not seek other nutriment. Indeed, for several 

 days after the absorption of the yolk was completed no 

 food was found in the gut of the fishes examined. The 

 absorption of the yolk after hatching is entirely through 

 the vascular system. At what time the direct connection 

 between the gut and the yolk is lost I am not able to say. 

 There is no trace of a connection at hatching. That the 

 young do not depend on outside food until after the yolk 

 is completely used up is further substantiated by the fact 

 that they may be kept in the MacDonald jars used at the 

 Woods Hole Hatchery for a period of two weeks, or the 

 period during which the fry are nourished by the yolk. 

 Beyond that time it is not possible to keep them. As is 

 well known, the mechanism of the apparatus and the size 

 of the jars are such as to prevent the admission of food 

 material in sufficient quantities to maintain life. The diffi- 



