sclenid.® of the eastern united states coast. 
163 
Table 6. — Food of 382 squeteague, Cynoscion regalis, at Beaufort, N. C. 
. [Roman figures outside parentheses indicate the number of Cynoscion regalis. Figures within parentheses indicate the number 
of animals eaten. Figures in italics indicate percentages. For explanation see text.] 
Squeteague examined. 
Food in stomach contents. 
Length in centimeters. 
Number 
empty. 
Uniden- 
tifiable 
fish. 
Miscellaneous. 
25-30. 
30-35. 
35-40. 
40-45. 
45-50. 
50-55. 
55-60. 
60-65. 
8 ( 11 ) 
18.2 
2(3) 
6.9 
18(26) 
64.6 
37(62) 
78.7 
29(55) 
76.4 
16(34) 
76.2 
11(33) 
64.7 
4(17) 
80.0 
9(16) 
66.2 
19(53) 
43.2 
20(43) 
68.8 
7(9) 
21.2 
3(4) 
6.4 
1(3) 
12 ( 12 ) 
36. S 
8 ( 20 ) 
24.2 
8(14) 
17.0 
3(3) 
9. 4 
1 ( 2 ) 
5.6 
0 
1(1) squid. 
1(1) isopod. 
1(2) amphipods. 
1(1) isopod. 
1(1) hairy-back. 
1(1) squid. 
Of the 382 stomachs 240, or 62.8 per cent, contained food. By far the greatest 
number (52.2 per cent) of those containing food had in them menhaden ( Brevoortia 
tyrannus ) ; 20.8 per cent, Stolephorus brownii; 17.9 per cent, shrimp (Pinseus brasi- 
liensis or P. setiferus, in proportions depending on the relative abundance of these 
two species) ; and 8.2 per cent, fish in such a state of decomposition that they could 
not be identified; the remainder contained the miscellaneous food indicated in 
the table. 
The relation of the squeteague to his food is not quite as simple as these figures 
might indicate. Besides the food data, a record was made of the length of each 
squeteague, and in Table 6 the specimens have been arranged according to size, 
grouped into classes of 5 cm. range, and the food of each of these classes has been 
entered separately. The significance of the numbers in the columns headed “ Men- 
haden,” “Anchovy,” “Shrimp” may best be illustrated by an example. In the 
first item under “Anchovy” the figures indicate that nine squeteague between 20 
and 25 cm. in length were found to contain 16 anchovies, and that these nine fish 
represent 56.2 per cent of the total number of squeteague of this length class in 
whose stomachs food was found. 
Considering the “Menhaden” column, it is clear that but a small percentage 
of squeteague between 20 and 35 cm. in length eats manhaden, but that the per- 
centage of squeteague over 35 cm. in length that eats them rises very quickly 
until in the case of those 60 cm. long 80 per cent eat menhaden. This is brought 
out in a more striking manner when we consider the “Anchovy” column. More 
than half of the squeteague between 20 and 35 cm. in length eat anchovies; but in 
the group between 35 and 40 cm. in length, correlated with the rise in the percentage 
of fish that eat menhaden, there is a drop to 21 per cent, then in the 40 to 45 
cm. group to 6 per cent, and finally no squeteagues over 50 cm. long eat anchovies. 
Inspection of the figures in the “Shrimp” column shows that the number of sque- 
38122°— 23 4 
