102 
BULLETIN or THE BUKEAU OF FISHERIES 
that such copepods as Pontella meadii and Anomalocera patersoni appeared in the 
tow only after this weather. Dr. H. M. Smith attributes the presence of prac- 
tically all of the small tropical fish that are taken each year in the Sound and at 
Katama Bay to southerly winds. The floating Sargassum offers shelter for these 
animals after they have been passively transported up from the south, and as 
the weeds are blown inland the fish accompany them. During the winter months 
such winds are fatal, but in summer the broad expanse of water extending from 
the coast reaches a temperature as high as that of the stream. Here any forms 
Variation in the constituent parts of the plankton at Woods Hole during the year 
PLANKTON 
Usual Ocean 
neritie forms 
adults bloTO 
and lar- in 
Larval Benthos, Benthos, 
nekton adults carried 
(fish and lar- by cur- 
and vae (ad- rents and 
squid) ults on- on float- 
ly in ing ob- 
breeding jects 
season) 
Benthos^ Few Larval Ocean 
carried larvae nekton forms 
by cur- of (fish) blown 
rents and Benthos in 
on float- and free- 
ing ob- swimming 
jects adults 
Usual 
neritio 
adults 
and lar* 
vae 
Fig. 7 
carried out of their courses can exist very well until the temperature drops in the 
fall, when aU perish. 
The shallow waters of the immediate region, sheltered as they are by the arm 
of Cape Cod, respond very quickly to changes of weather, heating rapidly and cool- 
ing suddenly. In summer Buzzards Bay is warmer than Vineyard Sound, the 
maximum temperature occurring at the head of the bay, the minimum around 
Cuttyhunk. Such conditions continue through August and into October. With 
the sudden drop in air temperature the bay water responds immediately and results 
in an exact reversal of the conditions found in August. At this time the water of 
