MOVEMENTS OP THE SEA BASS. 409 



make their appearance in the Vineyard Sound from the 1st to the 20th of May up to tlie ICth of 

 June. Captain Spindle states that no stragglers are ever seen in April. Captain Edwaids 

 declares, on the other hand, that they are found in that region in the winter. A careful study of 

 their habits would form an important contiibution to zoology. 



Bass are somewhat sluggish in their habits The temperature of the body is low, being very 

 nearly that of the surrounding water and the digestion is slow. Although very voracious at times, 

 they seem very much less fat than bluefish of the same size, and their growth is less rapid. 

 They seldom leave the bottom, and there is as yet no evidence that cold weather drives them fnr 

 from their summer haunts. They retrear, in all probability, into water of greater depth, where 

 they ])ass the wiuter in a somewhat torpid state. Like the tautog, they appear to have a habit 

 of lying under loose stones and in cavities among the rocks. I have observed this habit in the 

 tanks of the New York Aquarium. The food ot this species, as of its associates upon the same 

 grounds, consists of crabs, shrimps, squids, and small fish. It is stated that the intestines of 

 mackerel and the stomach of menhaden are considered the best bait about Wood's Holl, Massa- 

 chusetts, while farther south shrimits and pieces of the flesh of fishes, such as small sharks, are 

 frequently used. They are voracious feeders and easily taken on the hook, and their mouths are 

 tough and leathery, so that when once taken they are not easily lost. 



Scott states that their feeding time is daring the lull of the waters between the turn of the 

 tides, when they are easily taken by the angler. In the North the Sea Bass occupies its feeding- 

 grounds in company with the scuppaug or porgy, the flounder, and the tautog, while in the South 

 its associates are the red snapper and the various species of grunt, and on the inshore grounds, 

 among the rocks, it occurs in company with the sheepshead and the king-fish. 



The breeding-time is believed to occur in July and August. Mr. Dyer, of Naushon, states 

 that the Sea Bass, when they come into the pounds in the spring, are full of spawn, ready to 

 shoot. Young fish, one or two inches long, are abundant among the eel-grass along the shores of 

 Southern New England. "In the Gulf of Mexico," according to Stearns, "they spawn in early 

 summer, and the young are caught in July and August." 



The average size of the fish in New England is about one and one-half pounds. A Sea Bass 

 nine inches long weighs about five ounces; ten inches long, seven to ten ounces; eleven inches 

 long, nine to twelve ounces; twelve inches long, ten to sixteen ounces; while the length of a 

 three-pound fish varies from eighteen to twenty inches. They occasionally attain the weight of 

 four or five pounds, but this is unusual. In the South they are, as a rule, much smaller than 

 in the North. This is especially the case in the Gulf of Mexico. In these waters, and along the 

 southern part of the South Atlantic coast, they rarely exceed a ponnd in weight. Large male fish 

 are remarkable on account of the presence of a large hump upon the top of the head. This is 

 particularly prominent during the breeding season, and at this time the colors of the whole body 

 are much brighter. The colored plate of this species, drawn by Mr. Kilburn for Scribner's "Game 

 Fishes of the United States," represents a large male at the breeding season, the only picture of 

 this kind that has ever yet been made. 



The Sea Bass is of interest to flsh-culturists as being the first marine fish upon which the 

 experiment of artificial propagation was tried in this country. This was in June, 1874, when 

 Mr. Mather fertilized a number of eggs at the station of the United States Fish Commission, at 

 Noank, Connecticut. These eggs were placed in shad boxes and were watched for several days 

 as they passed through the early stages of segmentation. A storm interfered with the completion 

 of the experiment. 



The Sea Bass is considered one of our most available food-fishes, being especially excellent 



