FOURTEEN TELEOSTEAN FISHES AT BEAUFORT, N. C. 
463 
strongly compressed, much more so than in specimens 13 inches long and, of course, 
very much more compressed than in large fish. The caudal fin is somewhat more 
deeply forked than at a length of 40 millimeters, yet it is not deeply lunate as in the 
adult. The ventral fins at this size, as in smaller fish, reach the vent, whereas in 
large fish they reach onty about a third of the distance from their insertion to the 
vent. A slight keel is evident in the posterior part of the lateral line, which, although 
lower and less pronounced, corresponds with that of the adult. The upper parts of 
the body are brownish in preserved specimens and the sides are largely silvery, 
which in general corresponds with the color of the adult. However, the body is 
still crossed with several (about 6 to 8) dark brown or black bars, extending on the 
dorsal and anal fins, which are wanting in the next larger size at hand, namely, 
specimens 13 inches long. It may be noted, however, that the larger fish had dark 
bars in fife which quickly faded after death. 
Although specimens 110 millimeters (4.4 inches) long differ in many respects 
from larger fish, as shown in the foregoing paragraph, sufficient adult characters 
are developed to make identification comparatively easy. 
DISTRIBUTION OF YOUNG 
Fry ranging from a little less than 3 and up to 10 millimeters in length were 
taken in 1927 from June 28 to September 24. Other specimens, ranging from about 
6 to 10 millimeters in length, were taken by the Fish Hawk in 1914 on August 10, 
11, and 12. It is evident from the collections of fry, totaling about 75 in number, 
that spawning takes place during the summer — probably from June through Sep- 
tember — for the smallest fry in the collection (2.9 millimeters long) was taken on 
September 28, 1927. 
Specimens collected by the Fish Hawk , so far as the records give this information, 
were taken at the surface. In fact, no nets suitable for catching the fry on the bot- 
tom seem to have been used. In the collections made near Beaufort Inlet in 1927, 
in an equal number of bottom and surface hauls, made simultaneously with two 
1 -meter townets, the fry were taken 6 times, 2 times at the surface and 3 times on 
the bottom. This information was missing for the other collection. 
