338 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
the mouth of the Rappahannock River. It was somewhat surprising to find speci- 
mens of S. enflata at area Q, but the sausage-shaped ovaries with large eggs and short 
tail convinced me of the identity of the specimens. Furthermore, they were com- 
pared with some of Conant’s preparations and were in perfect agreement. During 
the December cruise five specimens were found in the mouth of the bay at areas G, F, 
and E; while on the January (1921) cruise only one specimen, badly distorted, was 
caught. It was taken in the mouth of the bay at area C. No specimens were ob- 
tained during the March (1921) cruise. The scarcity of this sagitta in the bay and its 
practical absence after the December cruise indicate that it is an oceanic tropical form. 
The only other sagitta which has been captured by our nets in Chesapeake Bay 
is Sagitta serratodentata, another tropical form which is characteristic of the Gulf 
Stream (Bigelow 1926, p. 58) but which may spread shoreward during warm summers. 
Bigelow (1915, pp. 299 and 300) found it well in toward the mouth of Chesapeake 
Bay in July, 1913, and Huntsman (1919, p. 442) speaks of it as being a cosmopolitan 
and epiplanktonic, warm-water form whose distribution in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
region extends farther inshore than any other sagitta, being able to withstand the 
lower temperature and salinity better. While S. serratodentata was found outside of 
Chesapeake Bay in considerable numbers during our August cruise, only five specimens 
were discovered inside the bay. One was taken at area G in August, 1920, another 
at area F in January, 1921, and three specimens at area E during the same cruise. 
All of these areas are in the mouth of the bay. During the July, October, December, 
and March-April cruises no specimens were found. The specimens captured were 
all small, varying from 9 millimeters to 15 millimeters in length. 
During the August cruise, surface towings were made outside of the bay at three 
stations (8832, 8833, 8835) where the depths were 118 fathoms (214.5 meters), 67 
fathoms (121.8 meters), and 20 fathoms (36.4 meters), respectively. A few specimens 
of Sagitta elegans (35, 1, and 32 after 30 minutes towing), all not more than 10 milli- 
meters in length, were taken in each haul. These three towings were made during 
the following periods of time: 5.13 p. m. to 6.16 p. m., 7 p. m. to 7.55 p. m., and 
11.05 p. m. to 11.45 p. m., respectively, and throughout the work the sky was partly 
cloudy and the atmosphere hazy. Four specimens of S. enflata , three of them over 
25 millimeters long, were taken in these surface towings, all four at station 8832, 
but no specimens of S. serratodentata. Towings with a nonclosing bottom net for 
30 minutes at each of the three stations — 8832, 8834 (43 fathoms or 78.2 meters depth), 
and 8835 — yielded 43 specimens of S. elegans of various sizes up to 14.5 millimeters 
in length at station 8834; 15 specimens, some as large as 12 millimeters in length, at 
station 8835 ; and no specimens at station 8832. On the other hand, the same bottom 
towing sample at station 8832, which it will be remembered was the farthest out in 
the Atlantic Ocean (depth 118 fathoms or 214.5 meters), and which I have just said 
yielded no S. elegans, brought up 133 specimens of S. serratodentata. The bottom 
towing sample at station 8834 nearer the mouth of the bay (43 fathoms or 78.2 meters 
depth) which brought up 43 specimens of S. elegans, captured 40 specimens of S. 
serratodentata. The individuals of the latter species were all small, varying from 
about 7 to 17 millimeters in length. Finally, the bottom towing sample at station 
8836, close to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (depth 20 fathoms or 36.4 meters) with 
its 15 specimens of S. elegans brought to light only 2 specimens, both about 12 milli- 
meters long, of S. serratodentata. Specimens of S', enflata were extremely rare in all 
of the bottom towings just mentioned. Two, one of which was 21 millimeters long, 
