302 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
was observed during the month. On the resumption of fishing in the bay on August 
30 the condition of the fish as to spawning appeared to iiave undergone little change 
since June, and during the remainder of the season no fish taken in the Chesapeake 
contained organs of noteworthy size, with the exception of one 13 £ inches long, taken 
October 13 off New Point, Virginia, which contained large ovaries; the others examined 
from the same school were small and the reproductive organs rudimentary. 
In the latter part of October menhaden taken on the New York, New Jersey, and 
Virginia coasts contained well-developed organs, three-fourths to seven-eighths of the 
females opened having large ovaries with distinct eggs. 
By the first week in November, the development of the reproductive organs had 
progressed so far that the approach of the spawning period appeared to be imminent 
in the fish caught close to land on the ocean shores of Maryland, Virginia, and Nortn 
Carolina. On November 6, large hauls of menhaden, off the Maryland coast, contained 
fish 9 to 12 inches long that were very nearly ripe, and on November 7, 9, and 13, 
small quantities of eggs or milt could be forced by gentle pressure from most of the fish 
examined taken on the same grounds. On November 13, a female menhaden 11 inches 
long, caught in a school off the Virginia coast, appeared to be spent; November 16 a 
similar specimen, with shriveled and empty ovaries, was found among some almost ripe 
fish on the North Carolina coast. In the latter part of November, eggs or milt could 
be forced by gentle pressure from nearly all menhaden caught south of Cape Henry. 
Complying with instructions from headquarters, Mr. E. E. Race, field agent, 
forwarded to Washington three lots of fresh menhaden taken off the mouth of 
Chesapeake Bay on October 30, November 1, and November 2. The first lot, consisting 
of 8 fish (1 male, 7 females) 11J to 13 inches long, and weighing three-fourths of a 
pound, were from a school of 3,000 fish caught by the steamer Virginia in water 6 
fathoms deep off tlie coast of Virginia, between Smith Island Light and Old Plantation 
Light; the water temperature was 62° or 63°. In the male a little milt appeared 
at the vent on pressure, the condition of the spermaries suggesting the partial 
completion of the spawning process. In 5 of the females a few eggs could be extruded 
by making gentle pressure on the abdomen; in the others, although the ovaries were 
large (4 inches long), no eggs could be expressed. 
The second lot contained 19 specimens, taken by the steamer I. V. Veasey in a 
haul of 3,000 fish 4 miles east of Cape Charles Light, in 3 fathoms of water, the 
temperature of the water being 61°. Fourteen of these fish were over 12 inches 
long (L2£ to 13.J); 3 were males with spermaries from three-fourths of an inch to 
1 inch wide, but unripe; all the females contained large ovaries (4 to 5 inches long) 
from which small quantities of eggs could be freely extruded on gently pressing the 
abdomen; the 5 remaining fish were smaller, averaging about 11 inches long, and 
had organs much less developed. The third lot of 10 fish came from a haul of 15,000 
by the steamer I. V. Veasey , three-fourths of a mile northeast of Cape Henry Light, in 
water 4£ fathoms deep; water temperature, 61°. These fish were about 11 inches 
long. Their organs were more immature than those in the other lots. The ovaries 
were only 2J inches long or less, and no free eggs or milt could be expressed. 
These fish were examined by Mr. Richard Rathbun, in charge of the scientific 
inquiries of the Commission, who has given much attention to the spawning of the 
menhaden. He regarded none of the specimens as quite ripe, as the eggs were not 
entirely transparent or wholly spherical; but he thought there was no question that 
all the larger fish would soon have spawned. 
