328 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



Clarke states that in the Indian River they spawn in March, in the open sea near New Smyrna, 

 Florida. It is supposed that those visiting our northern coasts breed at a distance from the shore. 

 The eggs, like those of the mackerel, being lighter than the water, float at or near the surface. 

 The Pompanoes may, however, be truly migratory, seeking the waters near the equator in winter 

 and following along a coastwise migration, north and south, in summer. They are rapid, power- 

 ful swimmers; their food consists of mollusks, the softer kinds of crustaceans, and probably the 

 young of other fishes. S. C. Clarke remarks that they have been known to bite at a clam bait. 

 Genio Scott remarks: "It is mullet-mouthed; never takes a bait except by mistake." Their teeth 

 are very small and disappear with age. As seen in the New York market they rarely exceed five 

 or six pounds in weight. I quote in full the observations of Mr. Stearns : 



"The common Pompano is abundant on the Gulf coast from the Mississippi River to Key 

 West, and, as far as I can learn, is rare beyond this western limit until the Yucatan coast is reached, 

 where it is common. It is considered the choicest fish of the Gulf of Mexico, and has great com- 

 mercial demand, which is fully supplied but a few weeks in the year, namely, when it arrives in 

 spring. The Pompauo is a migratory fish in the Pensacola region, but I think its habits on the 

 South Florida coast are such that it cannot properly be so classed. 



"At Peusacola it comes in to the coast in spring and goes away from it in fall, while in South 

 Florida it is found throughout the year. In the former section it appears on the coast in March in 

 schools varying in numbers of individuals from fifty to three or four thousand, which continue to 

 'run' until the latter part of May, when it is supposed that they are all inside. Their movement 

 is from the eastward, and they swim as near to the shore as the state of the water will permit, very 

 seldom at the surface so as to ripple or break the water, although sometimes while playing in shoal 

 water they will jump into the air. 



"Before any schools enter the bays certain ones will remain for days, or even weeks, in a 

 neighborhood, coming to the beach during the flood-tide to feed on the shell-fish that abound there 

 and returning again to deeper water on the ebb-tide. The holes or gullies in the sand along the 

 beach are their favorite feeding-grounds on these occasions. Sharks and porpoises pursue the 

 Pompano incessantly, doubtless destroying many. The largest numbers come in April, and some- 

 times during that month the first schools are seen entering the inlets, others following almost 

 every day, until about June 1, when the spring run is said to be over. Every year they appear in 

 this way at Pensacola and adjoining bays, although there are many more some years than others. 

 As the abundance is judged by the quantity caught I think that the difference may lie more in 

 the number of fishing days (pleasant ones) than in the real numbers of fish present. The sizes of 

 Pompano that make up these schools are large or adult fish averaging twelve or fourteen inches 

 in length, and small fish (probably one year old) averaging eight inches in length. The largest 

 Pompano that I have seen measured nineteen and a half inches in length, and weighed six and a 

 quarter pounds, the extremely large fish called Pompano of two or three times that size probably 

 being another species. After entering the bays the schools of Pompano break up and the fish 

 scatter to all parts where the water is salt and there are good feeding grounds. Except single 

 individuals that are taken now and then, nothing is seen of Pompano until late in the fall, when 

 they are bound seaward. In regard to its spawning habits nothing very definite has been learned. 

 It has spawn half developed when it arrives and has none when it leaves the bays. Large quan- 

 tities of the fry are seen in the bays all summer, which is some proof of its spawning inside. In 

 June, 1878, I caught specimens of the fry varying in size from three-quarters of an inch to three 

 inches in length. Very many schools of these sizes were also observed in July and August of the 

 same and following years of 1879-'80. 



