14 



parent in appearance, and with tails resembling fine silk 

 threads. The tiny creatures, about one-fifth of an inch in 

 length (5 millimeters), wiggled through the water with sur- 

 prising activity. The eyes in both the egg and the hatched 

 fish were but faintly visible. At the end of ninety-six hours 

 their size had increased considerably, the outline of the yolk 

 sac and body was plainly marked, and the eyes showed prom- 

 inently. By this time all the eggs had hatched. In cold water 

 the period of development is retarded proportionately to the 

 lowering of the temperature. As the eggs require such a short 

 time for hatching, the young fry are soon present in abundance 

 on the spawning grounds. 



According to Prince (5) the young alewife reaches three-fifths 

 of an inch (15 millimeters) at the end of the first month, when 

 it becomes a slim, translucent creature with a broad tail and 

 relatively large pre-anal fin, more closely resembling a sand eel 

 than an alewife. Some ten days later, when measuring 16.5 

 millimeters, the young fish is more slender, the tail has become 

 more spatulated, the dorsal fin is more prominent, and the 

 head is short and blunt, with a relatively large eye. At the 

 size of li inches (30 millimeters), the young alewife assumes 

 more nearly the appearance of the adult, with a large rounded 

 head, relatively large eye, and shortened body. When If 

 inches (35 millimeters) long, the appearance is practically the 

 same, with the exception of the lengthened translucent body 

 and the appearance of the serrations of the middle abdominal 

 scales, — a characteristic of the adult. 



The young alewives attain the approximate length of 2 to 4 

 inches by fall, when they descend from the breeding grounds 

 to the ocean, unless their journey is prevented by artificial 

 obstructions. Young alewives have been seen as early as June 

 18 passing down stream to the ocean, but the majority do not 

 start on the journey until the first of September, or later. At 

 Cornelius Island, Rhode Island, Tracey (6) records specimens 

 measuring 1| inches which were taken in a seine on Aug. 8, 

 1908. Bean (1) states that specimens taken in Great South 

 Bay, Long Island, on this date, ranged from 2 to 3| inches, 

 and in September, from 2 to 4| inches. 



In late summer young alewives of various lengths school on 



