BIOLOGICAL NOTES. 
29 
Roccus lineatus, Striped Bass. 
Three specimens of striped bass were caught in the Fish Commission trap on July 21, 1900. The 
largest weighed 20 pounds. Several others were taken by the summer sportsmen with hook and line, 
and at Cuttyhunk they were reported as large and more plentiful than usual. 
Cynoscion regalis, Squeteague. 
The first squeteague of the season were taken at Cuttyhunk on May 5, 1900, and nine days later 
they reached Woods Hole. The water temperature at this time was 50° F. Compared with previous 
years, the arrival was a little later than usual; but since the temperature of the water during the spring 
was below the average, this was to be expected. As a rule, the first run of squeteague, like that of 
other migratory species, is composed of large adult fish, while the yearlings appear about two weeks 
later. During the spring of 1900, however, the reverse was true, small fish, weighing from 2 to 3 
pounds, coming first. Toward the last of May, during the run of large fish, one was caught at 
Cuttyhunk which weighed 14 pounds. The abundance of the squeteague was remarkable. In the 
Menemsha traps alone 10,000 were taken in a single day (July 31); and, in fact, they were so plenty 
throughout the season that they ruined their own market and did not bring enough to pay the 
shipping bills. Many of the Vineyard fishermen retained the fish in the pockets, waiting for better 
prices, but a heavy northeast storm tore up the nets in the fall, and most of the summer’s catch 
was lost. 
Observations on the first appearance of the fry, their growth, and their abundance have been 
continued. The results are given in the following table, although much more complete data have 
been collected by Professor Eigenmann. The rate of growth corresponded with that of the blue-fish: 
Date. 
Locality. 
Length. 
Julv 25 
Wareham River 
Inches. 
1. 25 to 2. 25 
Very scarce. 
Aug. 2 
do 
2 
3 
Do. 
Aug. 5 
Red Bridge, Providence River 
1.25 
2.25 
Abundant. 
Aug. 22 
Wareham River (farther up) 
3.75 
5 
Very scarce. 
Oct. 5 
Acushnet River 
6 
7.25 
Do. 
When, a few years ago, a bill to prohibit all net fishing in Buzzards Bay was presented to the 
Massachusetts legislature, one of the strongest arguments of its supporters was that the bay was the 
natural spawning-ground of the food-fishes, and therefore their decrease was attributed to excessive 
trap fishing. A careful study of the records of the movements of the squeteague for the last thirty 
years has revealed some striking facts which have an important bearing on this question. Notwith- 
standing protective legislation, it is very evident that breeding squeteague have ceased to enter 
Buzzards Bay in any considerable numbers; for while twenty years ago the young could be seined 
almost anywhere in the vicinity of Woods Hole (at Great Harbor, Hadley Harbor, Nobska Beach, and 
Quisset), there are now only two localities in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound where they are 
found — at Ware ham, near the head of the bay, and in Acushnet, River, on the New Bedford side. 
Even in these places their numbers are greatly reduced. 
The former abundance of the young was due in all probability to the fact that the adults spawned 
in the open bay or outside waters, and since the buoyant eggs were subject to the influence of winds 
and currents, they were carried hither and thither until finally lodged in the protected harbors and 
inlets. Such conditions would tend to distribute the eggs more or less uniformly along the shores of 
the bay, and the fry would not be restricted to the present areas. On the other hand, with the 
remarkable increase of the adults, if they still continued to spawn in the same places, there would 
have been a correspondingly large increase of the young. 
It may be argued that the spawn is deposited in the same places as formerly, but that the eggs 
merely drift into the estuaries — Wareham River and Acushnet River. But this does not seem at 
all probable, since the outward current in these rivers is stronger and longer continued than the 
inward. A more plausible explanation is that the few adults entering these rivers find conditions 
favorable, and therefore spawn, while the great majority of the fish seek other localities. The Rhode 
Island fishermen who control the sea traps off Seaconnet and Newport say that whereas years ago 
they used to catch plenty of squeteague at the mouth of the bay, very few are ever seen there now. 
They believe that the fish no longer run in offshore waters, but enter the bays and inlets. Substantiating 
