The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-04
SOMETHING ABOUT FISH
Interesting Studies at Woods Hole.
lBoston Herald.

Boston HERALD.
Woods Hole, Jan. 15.-Since the es-
tablishment of the United States fish
commission in 1871 systematic fish collect
ing has been carried on at the Wood
Hole station. Former Commissioner Pro-
fessor Spencer f. Baird studied very care
| fully tie fish fauna of this region about
the year above named, and published a
list of the species then observed, which
has since served as a very valuable guide
in subsequent investigation. For more
than a quarter of century almost daily
observations have been made and re-
corded, and it may be safely asserted that
nowhere else in the United States has
such long continued and comprehensive
work of this character been done.
The fish commission has just made an
exceedingly interesting report OF the col
lection Of species of fish at Woods Hole,
based on the yearly records Kept by Vinal
N Edwards of this place, and on person
al observations made in 1897 by Hugh M.
Smith of Washington, chief of the d.
vision of scientific inquiry.
Partly on account of the systematic
collecting, and partly because OF the very
favorable geographical position of Woods
Hole. an unexpectedly large number of
inhabit this region as permanent resi-
dents, regular seasonal migrants, casual
yisitants or stragglers. There Is probably
no other locality in the United States,
with the exception Of southern Florida in
which SO many species have been detect
ed. Excluding the fresh water fish, more
than 200 species have been obtained at
Woods Hole. The section is interesting
as marking the northern limit of distri-
button of many common varieties of fish,
and on the other hand the southern limit
of number of northern species.
The most striking feature of the fauna
is the extent to which species character
istic of the West Indies or Florida are rep
resented. This enrichment of the faun
is directly traceable to the Gulf Stream,
which Is within about 100 miles of Woods
Hole. Most of the Southern fish are very
young, the adults Of many species being
either entirely absent or quite rare; and
it is apparent that their presence in the
waters of southern New England is in
voluntary, Falling within the influence
of the Gulf Stream, the fishes are pas
sively carried northward. A common
medium of transfer is the gulf weed or
sargosso weed, under which the fish con-
gregate for protection. The patches of
fioating weed are large enough to afford
ample shelter, and at the same time fur
nishing food to the fish beneath and
among them. Winds from the south,
southeast, east or northeast dislodge the
weed from the Gulf Stream and distri
butte it along the shore of the United
States. The oonfiguration of the shore
of southern New England forms kind
of huge pocket in which the drift Is con-
centrated. in Buzzard'a Bay and Vine
yard Sound, from a wide expanse OF sea-
The weed appears in this section every
year, and Is distributed by winds and
tides in Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard
Sound, and is most abundant after south
erly Winds The fish which 1t shelters
gradually become dispersed in the inshore
waters as the weed is driven ashore or
dies and sinks.
There is every reason to believe that
practically all the young fish which do
not get out of the Gulf Stream before it
has assembled very far along the east coast
of the United States must inevitably per-
ish, since their small size makes their re-
turn to Southern waters almost impOs-
sible. The Gulf Stream Is, i'll fact, a
great highway along which a continuous
body of fish and other ANIMALS in infinite
variety is being carried from their natu-
raj habitat in the South to almost GER
tain destruction in the North.
Last July there was an unusual preva-
lence of southerly, southeasterly and
southwesterly winds. Toward the end Of
the month the weed drifted into Vineyard
SOuQQ ana 0uZZdTu Day III LtfG0 udH-
titles, and was distributed by the tide in
long. struggling lines. To this circum-
stance may be attributed the capture dur
ing the subsequent summer and tall
months of a number of fish that were
either very rare or wholly unknown in
this section heretofore. Among these
were the marble angler, Bermuda club,
log perch, rudder fish, dolphin, trigger
fish, sabaco and file fish. A single piece
of weed was sometimes found to harbor a
number of species of fish.
The annual visits of many biological
students to Woods Hole, and the oontin-
uation Of systematic collecting by the
commission warrant the expectation OF n
number of additions TO the fish fauna in
the next few years. The use OF small
purse seine off shore in Vineyard Sound
and Buzzards Bay, and the employment
on small beam trawl on suitable bottom
in the same waters will undoubtedly re-
suit in bringing to light fish new TO the
region. That there is still something to
be learned regarding the fish life OF this
section may be readily inferred from the
outcome of the colleetions in 1897, when
26 years after systematic work was be-
gun, five species, including one new to
science, were added to the list.
The report just published, previously
referred to, shows that there are W species
never before reforted so far north.