456 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



other fish, and is preyed upon by nearly all other common fishes larger than itself. It does not 

 readily take the hook, but can sometimes be caught with a bait of banana, or one manufactured 

 from cotton and flour. It is the most widely distributed fish of the Gulf of Mexico, being found 

 on the sea-beach everywhere, in all the bays and sounds, and even far up fresh-water rivers and 

 in fresh-water lakes that have outlets." 



Concerning the other species of Mullet, Mvgil brailiensis, as occurring in the Gulf, Mr. Stearns 

 writes: 



" It is common, and is found in company with the Mugil albula and usually considered with it, 

 and the old fishermen of Pensacola distinguished it and have given it the above name. I have 

 found spawn in them in May and June. On the southern coast they are very abundant, and 

 appear in Key West almost daily in the fall and winter." 



MULLET IN CALIFORNIA. "On the California coast occurs Mugil albula," writes Professor 

 Jordan, " which is commonly known as the 'Mullet.' It reaches a length of about fifteen inches. 

 It is very abundant about San Diego, and thence south to Mazatlan, and it ranges occasion- 

 ally northward as far as Monterey. It enters creeks and lagoons, ascending as far as the 

 brackish water extends, in the winter, and thus is often land-locked in great numbers, which arc 

 then destroyed by the sea-birds, especially by the pelicans, and a few are taken in seines. It swims 

 in schools in the bays, and its presence is made known by its frequent leaps from the water. It is 

 said that the Mullet has long been known at San Diego, but that it first made its appearance at 

 San Pedro in 1877. It is not well known either at Santa Barbara or Soquel, although now occa- 

 sionally taken at both places. Those fishermen who have given the matter any attention assert 

 that the Mullet is gradually extending its range northward. It feeds on mud and minute organ- 

 isms contained in it. It is considered a good food-fish when taken from the ocean. In the muddy 

 lagoons it acquires in summer a rank flavor." 



154. THE SAND SMELTS OB SILVER SIDES ATHERINIDJE. 



The " Sand Smelts" or " Silver Sides" are small carnivorous fishes which occur everywhere 

 along the coasts of temperate and tropical regions. They are lound in almost countless numbers 

 in brackish water and at the mouths of rivers, living, for the most part, within a few yards of the 

 shore, where they prey upon other small fish, upon crustaceans, and upon refuse organic matter, 

 and are in their turn the prey of other fish, particularly the young of the larger fishes of prey 

 which create so much havoc farther out at sea; for instance, young bluefish, squeteague, and 

 mackerel. In general appearance they resemble the smelt, and at various places are called " Sand 

 Smelts" and "Green Smelts." They may be readily distinguished from the true smelt by the 

 absence of the adipose second dorsal fin, which occurs in all members of the salmon tribe, and by 

 the presence of the small spinous dorsal. The most important species on the Atlantic side is the 

 Green Smelt of the Connecticut coast, Menidia notata, also called in some parts of New England 

 the "Friar," by the boys about Boston the "Capelin," about New York the "Sand Smelt" and 

 "Anchovy," and about Watch Hill the " Merit-fish." In Beaufort Harbor, according to Jordan, two 

 other species of the genus are very abundant in company with a species of Ungraulis, and are 

 known as " Sardines." 



The range of this species extends from Maine at least to North Carolina. They spawn all along 

 our sandy shores, where at any time in summer tens of thousands of them may be gathered in an 

 hour with a small seine. In the shallow sandy bays the young fish, about an inch in length, were 

 found in schools, while in more exposed localities, such as the Napeague Harbor, Watch Hill 

 Beach, and the north part of Montank Point, the largest schools of adult fishes were found, 

 though large individuals were also frequently found in the more protected coves. They swim in 



