Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-09
WINTER HABITS OF FISHES.
Where the shad and Other species spesd
the Cold Months of the Year

the Cold Months Of tn. YEAR
HOW DO FISHES SPEND THE WINTER
u l. Fishermen. who ought TO know something
about the matter, have all sorts Of strange
theories on this point. They will tell you that
the finny dwellers Of the waters mostly bury
themselves in mud to escape the cold ofa
few species like the catfish this is true but the
experts with nets and lines entertain the same
notion about the behring's Of the Chesapeake.
chiefly because they are often fetched up with
dredge from the deep water oyster beds.
In reality the circumstance is merely due to
the fact that the behring's have sought the
equable temperature Of the depths in winter.
and now and then they are accidentally caught
by the dredges. like absurd belief 10 enter
tanned with regard to the mackerel. concerning
the alleged mud-burying habit OF which there
has recently been some discussion in the news
papers.
FALSE THEoRrEs
A good many old notions about the WAYS In
which fishes spend the winter have been e.
ploded
For example. il used 70 be supposed that all
the shad which frequent the Atlantic coast
sought the depths of southern seas during the
cold season every year returning in the spring
and swimming in shoals northward some en-
on TO the Delaware. 10 the Connections and
to the rivers of Maine. As matter Of
fact the shad make no such migrations
Ii Is positively known that they do not ordi-
narily swim faster than at about the rnte
OF ten miles a day. 80 that il would take
them four or five yonrs TO get from Florida
TO the ST. Lawrence. Very often. too, shad
make their appearance in the Connecticut be-
fore they arrive in the Potomac.
WHERE THE sHap 90.
The truth is that the shad never go very far
from the mouths of the rivers in which they
spawned. For instance, Mrs II. o. T.
Shad was born in the Potomac not far from
Washington. She is properly a fish Of the
ocean, but, IN order to reproduce her species.
she is obliged 20 go up the river each spring
and lay her eggs in a spot where they can DO
conveniently fortified and hatchcd.
When she has performed this maternal func-
tion she returns 70 the sea, unless she is 80 I'M
fortunate as TO be caught and eaten. IL is
probable that she never enters any stream ex-
cept the Potomac. and in winter she does not
so farther from its mouth than is necessary 10
reach the deeper waters of shore near and
tempered by the warm current of the Gulf
stream, which flows from the tropics north
ward. 1t is the same way with aIf the chad.
They cruise around during the greater part Of
the year not far from the rivers where they
were Matched. returning 10 those streams an
nually at spawning time.
ABOUT HERRISGs AND SALMON.
What is true of the shad in this regard 10
likewise true of the alewives. which is the cor
rect name Of the so-called ''herrings' that fire.
quent the Potomac. The true herrinss are
ocean fishes, which never come into the rivers.
The winter habits of the salmon, which were
long regarded as a mystery, are doubtless SINH
lar. They never go FAR from the mouths Of
the rivers where they were spawned returning
to them at each breeding season.
II this were not the they would not al
wayscome back, as they do TO the same stream.
Thus IL happens that when all OF the salmon
that ascends particular river are caught that
stream ceases 10 have any salmon thereafter,
though other rivers not far away may TEEN
with them every summer. Ii is not very
curately known where how the blue fsh
spend the winters. but they always found in
great numbers along the North Carolina coast
during the cold time of year.
Fishermen say that owing 20 their alleged
habit of wintering IN the mud msckerel are
commonly found in the early spring TO be more
or less blinded by cstaracts over their eyss.
This. however. 10 probably due TO the fact that
they have been poorly fed while in the deep
waters TO which they retreated TO escape the
cold. IL il the shadows OF the ocean that teern
most plenteously with forms OF life which serve
as food FOR fishes, the waters along shore being
a sort Of soup full Of organic mstter, both
animal and vegetable. on which innumerabls
creatures browse and grow fat.
REVERSING THE CUSTOM
Striped bass reverse the usual habit of So
fishes which spawn in the rivers They run up
the streams in winter TO breed. Eels, on the
other hand, leave the streams and 20 10 the So
to spawn. For that their manner Of
reproduction has been regarded until recently
as n mystery, all sorts of extraordinary theories
being entertained on the subject, Of which nos
the least absurd was a notion TO the effect that
they were developed from horsehairs.
Eels which are confined to a lake or pond will
not reproduce their species at all, though indi-
viduals put into such lsndlocked waters thrive
and healthy. On this account many at
tempts to stock ponds with eels have proved
fruitless.
An odd fish is the siscoette Of the great lakss,
which remains at all seasons in the very deep
waters, where the temperature is about the saus
ali the year round.
Although belonging to the same speciss -
the salmon trout. % delicious for table pur-
poses, they are Of value - food, beoauD
they are 90 extremely fat Their nseh d mosaly
adipose tissue. Possibly they might be tried
out proftably for oil were Il not for the TACT
that they very dificult TO catch, the troubis
Of setting gill nets in water 100 fsshons cd
more deep being great
JAMES HowAaD, The colorsd man Who ~
arrested yesterday on Q Baltimore and Ohio
train Just be was about TO 70 nome 70 vots.
forfeited e6 collaserui in the Police Court toda4
on q charge Of djeorderlv couduct