FOURTEEN TELEOSTEAN FISHES AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 
453 
specimens, exclusive of one. Since no collecting was done for bottom specimens 
in the areas where the young were common at the surface, it can not be definitely 
stated that they are present only at the surface. However, it seems very probable 
that this species is wholly pelagic throughout life. 
It is pointed out in the preceding paragraph that the fish were taken only at 
quite a distance from the shores. On account of the failure to secure more than a 
single young fish during the systematic collecting carried on along the shores and 
out to sea for 12 to 15 miles from 1927 to 1929, and the rather numerous specimens 
taken farther out at sea by the Fish Hawk , it may be concluded that the young are 
fairly common, at least during the summer, from 20 to 30 miles or more offshore, and 
that they rarely enter the shore waters in the vicinity of Beaufort. 
The rate of growth of this fish, its age at maturity, its range of flight, its food 
and feeding habits, and many other things concerning its life history remain unknown. 
DECAPTERUS PUNCTATUS (Agassiz). Scad; cigarfish; round robin 
The scad is known from Cape Cod to Brazil. Although common in a part of 
its range, as in Florida, it is not numerous enough to be of much commercial impor- 
tance. The adults are rarely seen at Beaufort and the species was first recorded from 
that vicinity by Gudger (1913, p. 105), the record presumably being based on a 
specimen taken at Cape Lookout by the late Dr. Russell J. Coles. The same col- 
lector presented 3 fine specimens, all close to 8% inches in length, to the Beaufort 
laboratory on August 9, 1913. These fish, also, were caught at Cape Lookout. In 
addition to the three adult fish, the laboratory collection contains hundreds of young, 
ranging from about 2 to 50 millimeters in length. Some of these specimens were 
taken off the coast of North Carolina by the Albatross in 1885, and others by the 
Fish Hawk from 1913 to 1915. However, the majority of them, including particu- 
larly the very small fry, were caught during the present investigation (1927 to 1929) 
when systematic collecting was carried on off Beaufort Inlet. Because of the 
abundance of the young in the local offshore waters (for the species has been taken 
only once within the harbor), it is believed that the adults must be fairly common, 
too, although rarely taken. 
The adults of the scad are most readily recognized by the elongate, fusiform 
body, the long dorsal and anal fins (the dorsal with VII or VIII-29 to 30 and the 
anal with II— I, 25 to 27 rays), each followed by a single detached finlet, and by deep 
bony scutes in the posterior half, or straight part, of the lateral line. The scad 
probably is chiefly pelagic and the maximum size attained is about 12 inches. 
SPAWNING 
The eggs of the scad were not taken, or at least not recognized. Nor were adult 
fish with roe observed. The presence of the fry in the local waters, however, affords 
a fairly satisfactory means of determining the time, the duration, and the place of 
spawning. Very small fry, only about 2 to 4 millimeters in length, which obviously 
are very young, were taken from May to November. They were most numerous, 
however, in July, August, and September. It is evident, therefore, that spawning- 
may take place throughout the summer, or from about May to November, but 
that it is at its height during July, August, and September. 
The young were taken anywhere from the outer shores of the banks at Cape 
Lookout, and offshore to the Gulf Stream. The fry were secured within the harbor 
only once when they were caught immediately opposite the inlet. It is quite evident, 
