298 



NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



The only previous record of the number of eggs yielded by Mackerel is that made by Thomas 

 Harmer, in 1764, and published in the "Philosophical Transactions" of Loudon, vol. 57, p. 285. 

 He found in one large Mackerel, weighing one and a quarter pounds, 454,961 eggs; in a second, 

 of much the same weight, 430,846 ; and in a third, weighing about one pound two ounces, 546,681.^ 



Rate op growth and size. — The rate of growth of the Mackerel during the first sum- 

 mer has been quite carefully studied by Captain Atwood; and the same authority has, perhaps 

 more satisfactorily than any other, interpreted the facts from which may be deduced the conclu- 

 sions as to their growth year by year. 



Referring to the small fish, six and a half or seven inches in length, which he believed to be 

 the young of the year, caught by him in October, 1856, he says: "Fish of this size are sometimes 

 called ' Spikes,' but I do not know their proper name. The next year I think they are the 'Blinks,' 

 being one year old; the following year they are the 'Tinkers,' two years old, and the year after 

 they return to us as the second-size, three years old. It is probable that the fish reaches its full 

 maturity in four years." He continues: "The first Mackerel Ihat come in are very large and 

 spawners, but these do not bite at the hook; and you don't catch them with the seine, because 

 they don't show themselves. Tou would not know, of their presence if you did not set nets for 

 them. When they are taken in nets set anywhere along the coast, at Provincetown, etc., a good 

 many people imagine that they are the remnant of the Mackerel which were there the year before, 

 and which have been imbedded in the mud; and when they taste these fish they fancy that 

 they taste mud. When the next school arrives there appear Mackerel of different sizes, which 

 take the hook. They are carried to Boston market and are sold fresh in their season. They are 

 not sold by weight, but are culled, and are denominated as follows : Large ones, second-size, "Tink- 

 ers," and "Blinks." When the large ones are worth twelve cents, the others may sell, second-size, 

 eight cents ; Tinkers, four cents, and Blinks, one and a half cents. These prices may fluctuate 

 when there occurs a large proportion of one or more of the above-named kinds at the same time. 

 Any man who is well acquainted with them will make the same culling, as there seems to be aline 

 of demarkation between the different kinds which stands out prominently. 



"Admitting this to be the fact, those that come as Blinks are from the spawn of the year 

 before, while those which are called "Tinkers" are from the Blinks of the year previous, being the 

 two-year-old fish; and those that are called second-size are from the Tinkers of the year before; 

 when they grow up and mix with the bigger ones, I don't know how they live, or much about 

 them. This is my opinion about these matters. Tou will find that fishermen will tell you they 

 think that Mackerel are six or seven years in getting their growth." 



Mackerel, when full grown, are from seventeen to eighteen inches in length; sometimes they 

 attain a larger size. In August, 1880, a school of Mackerel was taken in the vicinity of Plymouth ; 

 they weighed from three to three and a half pounds each, and were from nineteen to nineteen and 

 a half inches long. They were regarded as extraordinarily large, and a barrel of them were sent 

 to the Fishery Exhibition at Berlin as an illustration of the perfection to which the Mackerel 

 attains in this country. Although the size just mentioned is unusual at present, in past years 

 many thousands of barrels have been taken nearly, if not quite, as large. The size varies from 

 year to year, sometimes very few barrels which can be rated as No. I's being found in our waters. 



iNo. 



Dato. 



Juno 20, 1764 

 Juno 20, 1704 

 June 18, 17«5 



Weight. 



Ounces. 

 20 

 20 

 18 



Weight of 

 spawn. 



Orains. 

 1,027 

 949 

 1, 2234 



Number of 

 eggs. 



454, 901 

 430, 840 

 54C, 081 



^Number to 

 a grain. 



443 



454 

 447 



