DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE HISTORY OF SOME TELEOSTS 
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closed while they were hauled in, it is possible that some of the fry caught may 
have been taken somewhere between the bottom and the surface. The larger fry 
(5.0 to 10 mm) were taken no more frequently in bottom drags than the smaller 
ones. Therefore, the evidence is that the larvae of this species, until a length of 
about 10 mm is reached, live in the open waters and are chiefly surface dwelling. 
Fish of all sorts, after reaching a length of about 10 to 15 mm, are taken 
sparingly in 1-meter tow nets. Many species at this size may be taken in an otter 
trawl, having the cod end covered with bobbinet. That mode of collecting failed, 
however, for the present species, very probably because the fish no longer occurred in 
the open waters. The usual habitat of the adults, as stated elsewhere, is among 
marine growths attached to wharf and bridge piling, rocks, shells, etc., and specimens 
as small at 16 mm in length have been taken in such an environment. However, 
no special effort to collect small fish in the favorite haunts of the adults has been made. 
It seems probable that the young fish, after abandoning the open waters, take up their 
abode with the adults and that they will be found there when collections are made 
with suitable apparatus. 
GROWTH 
The data on the rate of growth are meager, owing to the scarcity in the collections 
of specimens ranging from about 10 to 15 mm in length. A change in habitat 
apparently takes place at about this time in the life of the fish, as already shown. 
The new habitat is not well known and requires further exploration. Examples 
around 8.0 mm long occurred in the tow as early as June 2 (1928), and are rather 
common thereafter throughout the summer. Also, several specimens about 10 mm 
long were caught in the tow during the summer, the first one of this size having been 
taken on July 3 (1928). However, a larger one (12 mm) was caught as early as 
June 28 (1927). These data indicate, therefore, that the larval stages are passed 
rather quickly and that a length of 8.0 to 10 or even 12 mm may be attained within 1 
to 2 months after hatching. 
Specimens 16 to 22 mm long were dredged on shelly bottom and caught on 
wharf piling in July and August. Such fish are “young adults” and may or may not 
belong to an older year class. They, at least, look much older and more mature than 
the single 14-mm specimen secured in the tow. The indications are, therefore, that 
no great increase in length takes place at the time (between about 14.0 and 16.0 
mm) when the fish acquires nearly all the characters of the adult. It is during this 
time and probably somewhat earlier, as already pointed out, that the fish leaves the 
surface waters and begins to live with the adults among marine growths attached to 
rocks, shells, submerged timbers, wharf piling, and other objects. 
CHASMODES BOSQUIANUS (LACEPEDE). BANDED BLENNY 
This blenny is not very common at Beaufort, and the least numerous of the three 
local species. It is reported from New York to Florida, apparently being more 
numerous in Chesapeake Bay than elsewhere. It may be distinguished from the 
other blennies occurring locally by the more pointed snout, by the larger mouth 
(the maxillary reaching to or past posterior margin of the eye), the absence of canine 
teeth (present in Hypleurochilus geminatus only), by the rather longer dorsal and anal 
fins (the dorsal formula being XII, 18, and that of the anal II, 17 or 18), and the 
fewer rays in the pectoral fin (12, rarely only 11). 
Insufficient specimens are at hand to determine the relative sizes attained by 
the sexes. No males or females exceeding a length of 70 mm were seen at Beaufort. 
