THE SMELTS 
227 
The following notes were made by Prof. A. A. Doolittle, of the Central High 
School, Washington, D. C., in an unpublished report to the Bureau of Fisheries: 
Four lots of smelts from 2.6 to about 4.7 inches in length were taken from the salt water of 
Harraseeket River, Freeport, Me., in the years 1900, 1907, and 1908. The fish taken in August, 
1900, had no food in the alimentary tract. Those taken in October had two small shrimp, two 
fish, and large fish eggs. The collections of 1907 and 1908 were made in late October and early 
November, and the 12 specimens examined all had fed upon Entomostraca and 4 species of Copepoda, 
averaging 150 Entomostraca each. A few small shrimps (averaging two-thirds of a shrimp each) 
supplemented the diet. 
A collection of smelts made in the “eel pond” at Woods Hole, Mass., in mid-July showed 
that three out of five smelts of from 4.9 to a little over 8 inches in length had food in their 
stomachs. They had eaten in all 46 Entomostraca, amphipods, annelids, and gastropods. 
In salt water smelts feed upon Entomostraca to an extent sufficient to state that they are 
staple, but they are frequently supplemented by considerable miscellaneous food, such as small 
decapods, amphipods, gastropods, annelids, fish, and fish eggs. Only those taken after the 15th of 
October showed any considerable amount of food, which was then entomostracan. 
Stomach contents of smelts taken from the salt water of the Harraseeket River, Freeport, Me., and the 
eel pond at Woods Hole, Mass. 
Locality 
Date 
Lei 
Milli- 
meters 
igth 
Inches 
Number 
of fish 
examined 
Number 
of fish 
eating 
Entomos- 
traca 
Number 
of Ento- 
mostraca 
eaten 
Miscellaneous food eaten 
Harraseeket River, 
Aug. 11,1900 
120 
4.7 
1 
0 
0 
Freeport, Me. 
Oct. 6, 1900 
122-250 
4. 8 -9. 8 
5 
0 
0 
2 shrimp, 2 fish, fish eggs. 
Nov. 4, 1907 
68-90 
2. 7 -3. 5 
6 
6 
1,030 
Oct. 27,1908 
70-90 
2. 75-3. 5 
6 
6 
775 
8 shrimp. 
Woods Hole, Mass., 
July 19,1912 
133-160 
5. 2 -6. 3 
5 
3 
46 
Crab larvse, amphipods, gastropods. 
eel pond. 
annelids. 
Of 127 smelts caught in Harraseeket River, Freeport, Me., between October 2 
and November 20, 1925, 34 had no food in their stomachs, but there was more or 
less dark-colored unidentifiable material in some of the intestines. All but the 35 
specimens of November 12 were taken at night. This lot was seined in the after- 
noon at first of flood tide. The organisms eaten consisted of a species of isopod 
crustacean related to the common sow bug ( Idotea irrorata ) ; a species of mysis or a 
small shrimplike crustacean ( Mysis stenolepsis) ; the common shrimp ( Crangon vul- 
garis ); small amphipods locally called “sea fleas’’ and sand hoppers ( Orchestia agilis 
and Gammarus sp.); an annelid commonly called clam worm ( Nereis virens ); a 
mummichog commonly called minnow ( Fundulus heteroclitus) ; and a silverside, in 
this region incorrectly called capelin ( Menidia notata). One smelt about 7% inches 
long contained a somewhat folded piece of eelgrass (Zostera), which when extended 
measured about 3^- inches in length. Another smelt 8 Y% inches long contained 20 
isopods of various sizes, besides two shrimp. 
Of 127 smelts caught in the same place as shown in the preceding table, between 
October 6 and November 21, 1926, 21 had no food in their stomachs; but the intes- 
tines of most of them contained remains of crustaceans and unidentifiable refuse. 
The fish were seined at night. The species represented are the same as those of 1925, 
