Browsed by
Category: Fish

River herring

River herring

Saturday morning I stopped at the Mashpee River fish ladder by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum on Route 130 to see if the herring were running yet. To my delight, they were. The Mashpee River is approximately four miles long and flows from Mashpee-Wakeby Pond to Popponesset Bay, and then out into the Atlantic Ocean. Each spring, two species of river herring, alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), make their way from the sea back to Mashpee Pond…

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Little Skate (Leucoraja erinacea)

Little Skate (Leucoraja erinacea)

On a recent walk along Scusset Beach along Cape Cod Bay, the wrack line was dotted with four-pronged, dark-brown, leathery pouches. These pouches, sometimes called “mermaid’s purses”, “devil’s purses” or “sailor’s purses” are actually skate egg cases. Although many species of skate and shark lay similar egg cases, based on the size, shape and location where they were found, these dried black leathery cases are likely from the Little Skate (Leucoraja erinacea). Little Skates can be found from Nova Scotia…

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