SCIiENIDiE OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES COAST. 
179 
that the increment in length in New Jersey waters between the first and second 
summers is about 6 cm. (2J inches). 
As might be expected, growth in southern waters is more rapid, the modal 
length attained by the second winter being 14 cm. (5f inches) at Fernandina, Fla. 
Smith (1907) surmises that spawning size may be reached within a year after hatch- 
ing, but examination of large numbers of 1-year-old fish at Fernandina indicates 
that these fish are quite immature and that spawning does not occur until the second 
year at the earliest. 
Growth during the winter months, even in southern waters, appears to be 
retarded or altogether lacking. Post-larval examples taken in Florida showed no 
increase in length between January and April, and large series of 1-year-old fish 
taken at Fernandina in December and March showed no increase in length during 
the period between observations. 
Determination of age by scale examination is difficult owing to the faintness of 
the winter rings, but examination of the scales of a few New Jersey examples in- 
dicates that growth in northern waters for the first three years is approximately 
as shown in the following estimated lengths: 
Estimated length. 
1- year-old 8 to 10 cm. (3 to 4f inches). 
2- year-old 17 to 22 cm. (6f to 8f inches). 
3- year-old 24 to 29 cm. (9£ to 11£ inches). 
The largest example examined at Atlantic City in the summer of 1920 was 
30 cm. (Ilf inches) in length, and the scales indicated an age of years. Speci- 
mens from 26 to 28 cm. (10 to 11 inches) long were taken in abundance. The maxi- 
mum length recorded of this species is 33 cm. (13 inches), but such examples are 
unusual. 
The post-larval stages of Leiostomus xanthurus somewhat resemble the young 
of Micropogon undulatus but can easily be recognized by the squarely truncate 
caudal fin, as compared with the produced and pointed caudal of the latter species. 
Examination of the stomach contents of 107 examples ranging in standard 
lengths from 2.1 to 13 cm. showed them to have been feeding on a variety of inver- 
tebrates. The following lists give the kinds of food present, together with the pro- 
portions of the various organisms expressed in volumetric percentage. 
St. Vincent Sound, Apalachicola, Fla., April 7, 1915. — Of 50 examples (a sample 
from a large collection), 2.1 to 3.5 cm. long, all individuals had been feeding rather 
heavily, and in all but 15 specimens a considerable amount of fine sand was present. 
This suggested that they had been feeding near the bottom and accidentally ingested 
the grains, as none of the organisms on which they had fed were necessarily pelagic. 
Ostracods 
Copepods 
Amphipods 
Unidentified crustaceans. 
Total crustaceans 
Polychset worms 
Foraminifera 
Dipterous larva 
Unidentified debris 
V olumetric 
percentage. 
... 72.0 
. . . 8. 0 
... 2.0 
... 1.0 
1.0 
.5 
1.5 
14.0 
