FISHES OF NEW YORK 599 



Dr Mitchill gives a most entertaining account of the habits 

 and mode of capture of this well known species. At the time of 

 his writing, in 1814, the price varied from eight to 12 cents a 

 pound. 



It has been known to reach a length of 3 feet and a weight of 

 21^ pounds. Individuals of 12 to 14 pounds have occasionally 

 I)een taken off Cape Ann. The fishing season begins in April 

 and may last till winter. Examples are sometimes speared in 

 the winter months in New England rivers. The tautog is not 

 migratory, but hibernates in cold weather, going into the mud 

 in November or December. It is sometimes destroyed by freez- 

 ing; such accidents have occurred in ponds on Martha's Vine- 

 yard and elsewhere. 



The spawning season begins late in April. The eggs are 

 deposited in depths of 6 to 8 feet or more among the rocks. In 

 the fish cultural operations at Woods Hole Mass. it was found 

 that the egg is buoyant and only ^^ inch in diameter; in the 

 automatic tidal box they hatched in about five days with the 

 water temperature at 69 F., and in two or three days with the 

 temperature at 71. 



There is great diversity in the colors of the young, just as in 

 the case of the young cunners. Some are bright green, others 

 brown or red and some are mottled with brown, red and green, 

 intermingled with pale areas. The food of the tautog consists 

 of mollusks and crustaceans; crabs, and specially fiddlers, bar- 

 nacles, clams and lobsters are among the favorite articles of 

 food. The annelids, known as sandworms, are also very attrac- 

 tive to it. 



The tautog is an exfcellent food fish and one of the commonest 

 of our market species. It is a permanent resident in the bays 

 and is hardy in captivity. Individuals have been kept longer 

 than three years and some of them have grown remarkably. 

 Their food includes chopped hard clam, live killifish, shrimps, 

 and fiddler crabs, of which latter they are extremely fond. 

 Spawning takes place regularly in the tanks in spring, but, as 

 the eggs are very small and buoyant, they must invariably be 

 lost at the overflow. As the newly hatched embryos are only 

 -iV inch long they too would flow out unseen if any were left 

 for development. 



