FOURTEEN TELEOSTEAN FISHES AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 
435 
about 3 feet of tide, with fairly deep water near shore, and without definite shore- 
ward currents except during flood tides, it seems reasonable to believe that such 
small fry must have been hatched at a comparatively short distance from the place 
of capture. 
The smallest fry taken (2.8 millimeters long), although probably only a few days 
old, already had absorbed all the yolk. We judge, from our knowledge of the size 
of young hatched from ova of various diameters, that the egg of the croaker is some- 
what less than a millimeter in diameter. Such small eggs, according to our observa- 
tions, invariably have a very short incubation period which quite certainly would 
not exceed a week, even during the coldest weather which prevails locally. It seems 
unlikely, therefore, that the eggs, if they be buoyant, would drift far during the 
short incubation period, and it seems reasonable to expect them to be cast at no 
great distance from the place where they are hatched. 
For the reasons advanced in the two preceding paragraphs, it seems rather 
certain that while the eggs are not deposited within the harbor nor immediately 
offshore at sea, they are cast at no great distance (probably 30 miles or less) from the 
outer shores of the banks, which accordingly would constitute the chief spawning 
ground of the croaker in the vicinity of Beaufort. 
Welsh and Breder (1923, p. 180) say, “Spawning takes place in the larger 
estuaries, such as Delaware and Chesapeake Bays,” and Pearson (1929, p. 196) 
states that on the coast of Texas croakers spawn “in the open Gulf of Mexico near 
the mouths of the various passes that lead into the shallow bays and lagoons.” It 
seems probable, therefore, that the croaker generally, at least, deposits its eggs in 
large open waters. 
The number of eggs produced appears to be large, for Hildebrand and Schroeder 
(1928, p. 284) found approximately 180,000 eggs of uniform size in a specimen 15.5 
inches long, taken in Chesapeake Bay. 
DESCRIPTIONS OF YOUNG 
Specimens 2.8 millimeters long . — The mouth is large and nearly vertical; the 
body is rather deep, the caudal portion being comparatively quite deep, becoming 
slender only near the tip where it terminates in a sharp point. The dorsal outline is 
quite regular and rather evenly convex. The visceral mass is rather small. The 
hind-gut is very evident and it projects rather prominently, but it does not appear 
to be wholly free distally. Fin folds are visible only along the ventral edge of the 
caudal portion of the body and around the extremely slender distal part of the tail, 
and are wholly without indication of rays. Pigmentation consists of a dark crescent- 
shaped area above the visceral mass where the dark peritoneum is visible through 
the body wall; also a row of dark points along the ventral edge of the caudal part of 
the body, and an indistinct dark spot at the point of articulation of the mandible. 
(Fig. 51.) 
Specimens 3.6 millimeters long .— The most conspicuous change, while the fish 
grows from a length of 2.8 millimeters to 3.6 millimeters, takes place in the develop- 
ment of the tail. The notochord has become bent upward slightly, and rudiments 
of fin rays are evident in the fin fold below the curved notochord. These rays, 
although directed obliquely downward, are destined to become horizontal in position 
and to form the caudal fin. Fin rays are not yet evident elsewhere. The viscera 
at this age (size) appears more firmly connected with the body and smaller in size 
than in younger individuals. The hind-gut, however, remains conspicuous and 
