REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 43 



that of Captain John Washington, of Mystic, Connecticut, who states 

 that in 1850, Avhile seine fishing from the smack "Francis Parkes," he 

 surrounded with his seine a large school of fish which were quite 

 unmanageable. A few of them were saved, and proved to be large 

 Striped bass, weighing from fifteen to forty pounds. At long intervals 

 since, solitary individuals have been taken at various points on the 

 coast. At New Orleans it is found in the market quite often. An 

 eighteen-pound specimen was sold there in March, 1880." 



In Hallock's "Sportsmen's Gazetteer" the following statement occurs: 

 "It is constantly seen in rivers of fresh water at great distances from the 

 ocean, even as far up the Mississippi as St. Louis, and it is common in 

 White River, Arkansas, and in all the rivers of the Southern States." 



While there can be no question that straggling individuals of this 

 species have been taken in the Gulf of Mexico, it seems probable that 

 both Mr. Stearns and Mr. Hallock have been mistaken by the resem- 

 blance of this species to the Brassy bass (Roccus interruptus) , which 

 abounds throughout the lower Mississippi Valley. 



Canadian authorities inform us that, though the bass still occur along 

 the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia shores of the gulf, they are much 

 less abundant and of smaller size than formerly. They have been known 

 to ascend the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec, and Mr. Roosevelt has seen 

 a specimen, a female fish, which was taken in the Niagara River near 

 Lewiston. The bass is most abundant in the bays and inlets of Cape 

 Hatteras, in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay region; and in the pro- 

 tected waters of Long Island and southern New England. In winter 

 they occur in considerable numbers in the Altamaha River, and are 

 unusual in the markets of Charleston, South Carolina. 



Habits. — The Striped bass is not migratory, being found along our 

 coasts in winter as well as in summer, and in our markets in every 

 month in the year. Great quantities are taken in winter in the rivers 

 tributary to the Chesapeake, and in the rivers of New^ Brunswick quan- 

 tities of them are speared through holes in the ice. During the past 

 four years I have known of their capture in Long Island and Block 

 Island Sounds, and in the Merrimac River in December, and in Martha's 

 Vineyard Sound and in the lower part of the Hudson River in January. 

 Though they appear to avoid a temperature higher than 65 or 70 degrees, 

 they are not sensitive to cold, and there is good evidence that they fre- 

 quently, when detained th-roughout the winter in shallow places, enter 

 upon a state of torpidity. 



Food. — They are very voracious feeders. Entering the rivers, they 

 prey upon small fishes. They are particularly abundant at the time of 

 the spring runs of the shad and herring, and at this season are partic- 

 ularly plump and well fed, doubtless owing to the ease with which they 

 can obtain food. They also frequent the rocky shores of the bays and 

 sounds at high tides, in search of crabs, shrimps, and squids; and they 

 are said to feed upon clams and mussels, which they obtain by delving 

 with their snouts. 



Reproduction and Groivth. — They spawn in the late spring and early 

 summer, some of them in the rivers, others probably at sea, although 

 this has not been definitely ascertained. The European bass are said 

 to deposit their spawai near the mouth of the rivers in the summer 

 months. 



From North Carolina to New Jersey the spawning time appears to be 

 in May; in New Brunswick in June. Dr. Blanding many years ago 



