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14 FISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
in appearance, the anchovy being marked by a bright silver 
band running from the opercle to the caudal fin, the entire body 
of the fish. with the exception of this band, being semi-transpar- 
ent, of a milky color, whicn turns to a red soon after they are 
taken fromthe water. Still another species, the “ Silversides,” 
or “Friar” (Chirostoma notatam), is often sold as spearing. The 
true Whitebait, the young of the Pomolobus family, present a uni- 
formly silver appearance over the entire body, and are covered 
with minute deciduous scales ; the color on the back is greenish 
ash, the abdominal line serrated from the pectorals to the caudal 
fin. They are caught in our harbor at Bay Ridge and along the 
shore of Coney Island, but the most plentiful supply is found 
in Gravesend Bay. They are usually seen swimming about a 
foot below the surface, are most numerous about the first of 
June, and disappeared entirely last year about the first of July. 
Mr. Albert Voorhees, fisherman at Gravesend, informs me that 
when he lifts his pound-nets. in which he takes weakfish, he 
could see thousands of the Whitebait going out through the 
meshes of the net, and that the stomachs of the weakfish are 
often full of them. In his opinion they are the principal food 
of the weakfish during May and June. If he lifts his nets at 
another time than in slack water, no Whitebait are to be seen. 
Some apprehension has been felt by fish culturists, that in tak- 
ing the Whitebait, the young fry of the shad might be destroyed, 
thus neutralizing the efforts of our New York State Fish Com- 
mission in stocking the Hudson; but when Whitebait are most 
abundant, the shad has only just commenced to spawn, so I 
think we may sit down to a Whitebait dinner without any feel- 
ing that we are inconsistent with our professions as fish cultur- 
ists. 
Mr. BLackrorp here exhibited a jar of Whitebait in alcohol, 
to show that it contained no young shad. 
Mr. RoosktveLt: Have you ever found young shad among 
them ? 
Mr. Biackrorp: No. The only other fishes which I have found 
have been one mackerel and two young bluefish (Pomatomus). 
After the month of July the only fish mixed with Whitebait is 
