REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 125 

 BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA. 



The opening of a laboratory at Beaufort, N. C, on June 1, 1899, 

 was noticed in the last report, which contained an outline of the 

 operations during the last month of the fiscal year. The laboratory 

 remained open until September 15, and was occupied by Prof. W. K. 

 Brooks, Dr. Caswell Grave, and Mr. A. M. Reese, all of Johns Hop- 

 kins University; Prof. E. W. Berger, of Baldwin University; Prof. 

 J. I. Hamaker, of Trinity College (N. C); Prof. T. G. Pearson, of 

 Guilford College; Prof. J. Y. Graham, of the University of Alabama; 

 and Mr. C. A. Shore, of the University of North Carolina, in addition 

 to Prof. H. y. Wilson, of the same institution, who was in charge. 

 The laboratory reopened under the same direction on June 1, 1900, 

 during which month tables were taken by Prof. E. B. Wilson, Dr. 

 H. E. Crampton, Mr. H. B. Torrey, and Mr. J. C. Torrey, of Columbia 

 University; Dr. Grave; Professor Hamaker; Prof. R. E. Coker, of 

 the Goldsboro {N. C.) i^ublic schools; and Mr. J. W. Turrentine, of 

 the University of North Carolina. 



Among the numerous special inquiries conducted by the laboratory 

 corps, the following may be mentioned: Prof. H. V. Wilson, assisted 

 by Mr. Shore, gave attention to the breeding conditions of certain 

 fishes, sponges, and crustacean parasites, among the last being a 

 small barnacle {Dichelaspis) on the gills of the common edible crab 

 (Callinectes). Professor Coker and Mr. Turrentine, under Professor 

 Wilson's supervision, investigated the spawning habits of various 

 fishes, including the following edible forms, from all of which eggs 

 were artificially taken and fertilized: Weak-fish (Cynoscion regale)^ 

 spotted squeteague {Cynoscion maculatuni), hog-fish {Orthoprisfis), 

 porgy (Ch(vtodipterus), and king-fish (Menticirrus). The eggs of the 

 silverside {Menidia notafa), important as an article of food for the 

 other fish, were also obtained, and some interesting and valuable 

 observations on another small species, a blenny {Hijpleurochilus) ^ were 

 made. The character of the food of the hog-fish and croaker (Micro- 

 pogon) was studied. The former species is regarded by many persons 

 as having a distinctly unpleasant flavor and hence much less valuable 

 as food than the same fish taken in the vicinity of Norfolk; one cause 

 for the inferiority in flavor has been found to be a large species of the 

 peculiar worm-like animal (Balanoglossus), which is very abundant 

 on the flats in Beaufort Harbor and is freely eaten by the hog-fish. 

 Dr. Grave studied the life-history of the brittle-stars {Ophiurans), and 

 during the spring of 1900, while attached to the Fish Hawk, used the 

 facilities of the station in connection with his examination of the oyster- 

 grounds of the region. Dr. Crampton was occupied in investigating 

 the effects of abnormal conditions on the development of the eggs of 

 the oyster and other mollusks. Mr. Torrey considered the early 

 development of one of the most abundant annelid worms {Axiothea), 

 an important article of diet for some of the bottom-feeding fishes. 



In the course of an extended article on "Marine Biology at Beau- 



