FISHES OF THE ALBEMARLE REGION. 
189 
THE PASQUOTANK RIVER. 
Tliis is the largest of the short rivers flowing southeast into the northern side of 
Albemarle Sound. It has its origin in the Dismal Swamp, and in the upper part of 
its course is shallow, narrow, and tortuous. Below Elizabeth City, however, it sud- 
denly becomes a wide and deep stream of considerable commercial importance, and at 
its mouth, 18 miles below the city named, has a width of 8 miles. The water is strongly 
contaminated with juniper and cypress, which give it a characteristic dark color and 
peculiar taste. The other short rivers on the northern side of the sound are essen- 
tially similar in all physical respects, and it may safely be assumed that their fish 
faunas are also alike. Collections were made at the following places in the basin of 
this river : 
(a) Pasquotank River at Elizabeth City. — The river at this point is about half a mile 
wide, with low banks, wooded or bush-fringed shores, and occasional bayous or marshy 
tracts. Temperature of water April 8, 76° F. 
(b) Davis Bay. — This is a detour in the right bank of the Pasquotank, about 5 
miles below Elizabeth City. The shores are for the most part sandy. Seining was 
done off the mouth of a small creek, on a sand bar formed by the mutual action of creek 
and river. Temperature of water April 8, 78° F. 
(c) Newbegun Creek. — This is a short and shallow but broad tributary of the Pas- 
quotank, entering the right side of that river about 8 miles below Elizabeth City. 
The bottom is mostly of mud. The shores, which are low and marshy, are wooded 
with cypress, pine, and smaller shrubbery. The water is fresh, and normally of a 
brownish color, but at the time of visit was somewhat muddy, owing to a recent rain. 
The creek is fed by small, sluggish streams, which emerge from the cypress swamps, 
and lias little or no current. Temperature of water April 8, 78° E. There is some 
commercial fishing in this creek, of which advantage was taken in determining the 
character of the fish fauna; haul seines, gill nets, and eel pots are the apparatus 
used. 
(cl) Road Ditches and Drains. — Throughout this county the principal roadways 
are bordered on either side by ditches, which communicate with sloughs and drains 
running through the adjoining farm lands and ultimately finding their way into the 
Pasquotank on the east or the Perquimans on the west. The ditches are usually only 
1 or 2 feet wide and a few inches deep; but in places they are somewhat wider 
and deeper. The smaller ditches must dry up at times, but the larger ones prob- 
ably retain their water continually. In many places there is a growth of filamentous 
alg;e. A species of fresh- water shrimp ( Palcemonetes exilipes) is abundant in them. 
Collections were made at a dozen different points. A recent rain had made the water 
somewhat muddy. Temperature April 8, 77° F. 
In the following list of fishes the localities in which the various species were ob- 
served are indicated by the use of the letters (a, b, c, and d) which precede the names 
of the stations in the foregoing paragraphs. 
