164 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
teague that eat shrimp increases with length until a maximum is reached at about 
35 cm. In the groups containing squeteague over 35 cm. in length the percentage 
of shrimps eaten gradually decreases until after the 55 cm. group none is eaten. 
Among the factors that determine the food of fish of a given size within a 
geographical region may be considered the “preference” of the fish, its energy 
requirements, and the size and abundance of its prey. Since we find the food of the 
squeteague to be limited to a few species, we may draw the preliminary conclusion 
that variations in the food of the squeteague are due, in part at least, to mechanical 
circumstances, such as the size of the fish and its prey. It is impossible for a 
20-cm. squeteague to swallow a 10 or 15 cm. menhaden, which is the smallest size 
found at this time of the year. The squeteague up to 25 cm. eats no menhaden. 
All of the menhaden eaten by the 25-30 cm. group ranged from 10 to 12 cm. in 
length. As the squeteague increases in size he can readily swallow a 15-cm. men- 
haden, and in the 35 to 40 cm. group menhaden are found abundantly in the 
stomach contents. There is no doubt, from the number of weakfish that eat men- 
haden and from the total number consumed, that menhaden is their staple food. 
The smaller squeteague eat anchovies and shrimp. Stolepborus brownii is small, 
rarely exceeding 7 or 8 cm., and is found in large schools in Beaufort Harbor; but 
as soon as the squeteague becomes large enough to eat menhaden the consumption 
of anchovies falls very quickly. All of the shrimp eaten by the younger squeteague 
are small, but the larger fish frequently swallow as many as five or six of the large 
shrimp. 8 With increasing length fewer shrimp are found, until in the largest 
specimens the stomachs contain no shrimp. 
In summarizing the results of this investigation as to the food of Cynoscion 
regalis at Beaufort, N. C., it may be stated that — 
1. The food of the adult Cynoscion regalis varies with locality. 
2. At Beaufort the food consists mainly of menhaden, anchovies, and shrimp — 
menhaden constituting the staple article of diet. 
3. The relative proportions of menhaden, ancnovies, and shrimp consumed 
depend on the size of the squeteague. 
The foregoing data obtained by students at Beaufort agree well with those 
found by the junior writer in examining fish from widely scattered points. The 
larger amount of small invertebrates found by the latter, however, appears to be 
correlated with the fact that most of the fish he examined were immature and of 
small size, which mechanically, if in no other way, precluded the possibility of their 
negotiating the larger forms. A notable exception is that of the breeding fish taken 
at Cape May, N. J., which had eaten mostly of small schizopodous forms. 
Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier and Valenciennes). Spotted Squeteague, 
Southern Squeteague, Spotted Weakfish, Trout, Sea Trout, Spotted 
Trout, Black Trout, Speckled Trout, Salmon Trout, Salmon. 
Cynoscion nebulosus (fig. 20) ranges from New York to Texas but is rare north 
of Delaware Bay. Little is known of the habits of the species, the consensus of 
opinion being that schools migrate to the northward in the spring or late winter 
s It is interesting to note that the shrimp are swallowed in a doubled-up condition, with the head and tail close together, so 
that, since the animal is swallowed with the bend first, it is impossible for the sharp rostral spine to injure the wall ol the gut. 
