[45] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 



ft- 



Hake. — Phycis tenuis (Mitch.) DeKay. 



Ovaries. Off Newport, 11. I., 1880. U. S. Fish Commission. This 

 species spawns in September and October off the New England 

 coast. 



Halibut. — Hippoglossus vulgaris Fleming. 



Fragment of ovary. (Weight of specimen, one-half pound, Troy. 

 Taken from a 175-pound fish, the entire ovaries of which weighed 

 17 pounds 2 ounces avoirdupois.) Grand Banks, September 17, 

 1878. Capt. Joseph W. Collins. Little is known of the spawn- 

 ing habits of this species, but from the observations of the- 

 fishermen it is supposed to spawn on the rocky bottom of the 

 more important fishing banks north of latitude 44° N., in from 

 75 to 100 fathoms of water, in the fall and early winter. The 

 eggs are thought to be adhesive, though there is still some 

 . doubt on the subject. The number of eggs in a fish varies with 

 the size of the latter. The one from which this specimen was 

 taken was estimated to contain about 2,250,000 eggs. 



LAMPREY. — Petromyzon marinus Linn. 



Ovaries. May 15, 1872. This species is said to spawn off the New 

 England coast in spring; but little is known regarding its 

 spawning habits. 



Moon-fish. — Chwtodipterus faber (Cuv.) Jor. & Gilb. 



Ovary. Crisfield, Md., July 1, 1880. R. Edward Earll. Important 

 spawniug grounds for this species are located in Chesapeake 

 Bay, where ripe fish are taken in great numbers during the 

 summer months. It probably spawns in various other locali- 

 ties between Cape Cod and Florida, as well as in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. The eggs are one twenty-eighth of an inch in diameter, 

 and in water of 80° Fahr. hatch in less than twenty -four hours. 



Shad. — Glupea sapidissima Wilson. 



Ovaries. (This specimen taken from a fish 20 inches long, weigh- 

 ing 4| pounds.) Winyah Bay, Georgetown, S. C, March 29, 

 1880. R. Edward Earll. The shad is one of the most import- 

 ant food-fishes of the United States. It spawns in all of the 

 larger rivers of the Atlantic coast, the principal spawning 

 grounds being located near their headwaters. The fish make 

 their appearance in Florida about the 1st of January. They 

 enter the North Carolina rivers in March, and reach southern 

 New England about the middle of May. The spawning season 

 depends largely on the temperature of the water. In Florida 

 the height of the season is in the month of February. In North 

 Carolina the ripe fish are seen in greatest numbers in April. 

 In New England the season begins about the last of May and 

 continues till the middle of July. 



