FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 44g 



also in the young. In 1840, Ayres saw several specimens which had their entire 

 surface banded with alternating vertical lines of black and light brown. The Ber- 

 gall is found in Gravesend Bay throughout the year. It is very common in all the 

 salt waters of Long Island. It was rather scarce in Great South Bay in the summer 

 01 190 1, however. Young individuals, li/i inches long, were seen at Fire Island 

 inlet August 15. The young of about the same size have been collected on the 

 ocean beach at Water Island, June 6. The young are usually captured most easily 

 in eel pots. All of the specimens collected in Great South Bay in 1901 were rather 

 small. 



At Woods Hole, Mass., where the fish remains in eel grass in winter, thousands 

 perish from cold every year. Spawning occurs there in June. By August i, the 

 young an inch long are seen. In the bays and harbors the maximum weight is 

 about a pound, but outside of Gayhead and Cuttyhunk they reach a Aveight of 2j4 

 pounds. 



178. Black Fish; Tautog {Tautoga onitis Linnaeus). 



Mitchill gives the name Tautog as of Mohegan origin. He mentions for the 

 species the names Toad, Black Fish, and Runner. The Mohegan name, Tautog, 

 according to DeKay, is said to mean black. On the southern coast it is styled 

 Chub, or Salt Water Chub, Moll, and Will George, and Oyster Fish. 



The fish is found from Nova Scotia to Virginia. The largest individual recorded 

 was 3 feet long, and weighed more than 20 pounds. 



The Tautog is not migratory but hibernates in cold weather, going into the 

 mud in November or December. It is sometimes destroyed by freezing. Spawn- 

 ing takes place late in April. The eggs are deposited in depths of 6 to 8 feet 

 or more among rocks and float near the surface. The young vary greatly in color ; 

 some are bright green, others brown or red, and some are mottled with brown, red, 

 and green, intermingled with pale areas. 



The food consists of mollusks and crustaceans; crabs, and especially fiddlers, 

 barnacles, clams and lobsters are favorite articles of food. Sand worms are also 

 very attractive to it. 



Mitchill gives a most interesting account of the habits and mode of capture of 

 this well-known fish. In 18 14, he states, the price varied from 8 to 12 cents a 

 pound. 



In Old Man's Harbor, Ayres found this fish less common than in most parts of 



the sound, owing probably to the absence of rock bottoms and shoals. Their size 



was also small, the largest weighing a little over 2 pounds. He says that they were 

 29 



