REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCIAENIDAE 
105 
The numerous dots on the egg and embryo are in general agreement with the 
illustrations given by Welsh and Breder (1923, p. 152) of the eggs of C. regalis, and 
the illustrations of the recently hatched young presented on page 155 of the work 
already cited contain suggestions of two crossbars on the caudal portions of the body, 
though less distinct than in the specimens observed by us. 
Insufficient eggs of the larger type were secured, after the differences in pig- 
mentation were noticed, to obtain a sufficiently large series of measurements to show 
the exact relationship in size. A sample of 205 eggs was taken at random from a 
towing made on June 3, 1930. Among this lot 25 eggs of the type described were 
found. These eggs ranged in diameter from 0.8 to 0.92 millimeter and the average 
was 0.84 millimeter. The smaller eggs, namely, those of the white perch, Bairdiella 
chrysura, had a range in diameter of 0.66 to 0.76 millimeter and an average of 0.69 
millimeter. The last-mentioned proportions quite certainly are correct for Bair- 
diella, as the range of 97 eggs, spawned in the aquarium on 2 different dates, 
ranged in diameter from 0.66 to 0.72 millimeter and averaged 0.68 millimeter. 
Although the number of the larger eggs measured is quite limited, enough of the 
smaller ones were measured to show that two distinct groups were present. 14 
Kuntz (1914, pp. 4-10) states that the diameter of the eggs of Bairdiella ranges 
from 0.7 to 0.8 millimeter, thereby indicating that he may have measured eggs of 
two species. However, his description and illustrations of the development appear 
to be correct for Bairdiella. 
Welsh and Breder (1923, p. 151, table 3) give measurements of eggs taken from 
2 specimens of C. regalis, which show, as already stated, a comparatively large 
difference in the size of the eggs produced by the 2 examples. One of the fish had 
eggs ranging in diameter, according to 8 eggs measured, of 0.98 to 1.03 millimeters 
and, therefore, all larger than any measured at Beaufort. The other one had eggs 
ranging in diameter, according to 10 eggs measured, from 0.8 to 0.84 millimeter and, 
therefore, near the size of the eggs taken at Beaufort. 
Pearson (MS.) working with specimens collected at the entrance of Chesapeake 
Bay, found even a larger range among eggs which he believed to be those of C. regalis. 
He remarks, however, that the eggs fall into two groups as to size. One of the groups 
ranged in diameter from 0.7 to 0.9 millimeter, with a mode at 0.83 millimeter, and 
the other one had a range in diameter of 0.9 to 1.13 millimeters, with a mode at 1.0 
millimeter. Therefore, the range of the two groups of eggs combined is greater even 
than that given by Welsh and Breder (loc. cit.), as it extends from 0.7 to 1.13 
millimeters. 
The time during which Pearson took the eggs of both groups (the larger ones 
from April 24 to May 23 and the smaller ones from May 6 to July 24) quite probably 
covers nearly the entire spawning period of C. regalis. However, the pigfish, Ortho- 
pristis chrysopterus, and the perch, Bairdiella chrysura, too, spawn during this 
period, and their eggs faff into the range of the eggs measured, and are extremely 
similar in appearance. It has been stated already that the eggs of Bairdiella measured 
at Beaufort ranged in diameter from 0.66 to 0.76 millimeter and that they are similar 
in appearance during the cleavage stages to somewhat larger eggs believed to be the 
eggs of the gray trout. The eggs of the pigfish, according to Hildebrand and Cable 
(1930, p. 399), range in diameter from 0.7 to 0.8 millimeter, and therefore are more or 
14 The oil globule, too, was measured in each egg. There is definite overlapping and only an average difference appears to exist, 
the average in 100 perch eggs being 0.18 millimeter and in 25 trout eggs 0.2 millimeter. 
