HABITS OF TUE SHEEPSHEAU. 385 



Mr. S. T. Walker writes : " In regard to the consumption of moss, etc., by the Sheepshead, I 

 must say that I can hardly answer intelligently. At high tide, when the flats are overflowed, I 

 have often observed tiie Sheepshead standing on end, tail up and often out of the water, grub- 

 bing at the roots of a coarse, rough grass that grows on the flats. When engaged in this way it 

 is easy to capture from two to six at a single throw of the casting-net. I have often observed a 

 yellowish-green vegetable matter among the broken shell in their intestines, but imagined it was 

 swallowed accidentally with the shell-nsh, or was possibly attacL, -1 to the shells themselves." 



In the Saint John's Kiver Sheepshead are abundant as far up as the lakes, and about 

 Jacksonville are always associated with the sailor's choice, Lagodon rhomboides. They are never 

 seen of large size; individuals of eight inches and less were taken around the piles and river at 

 Arlington and Mayport. "In the Indian Eiver region," says Mr. Williams, "the season for 

 Sheepshead begins the 1st of May. They range in weight from three to seven pounds. Half- 

 grown specimens, which can be taken along the rocks with cast-net or spear, are good pan-fish. 

 They do not take mullet bait readily, hence are seldom taken with the hook. Hundreds of a 

 larger size may be seen in shallow water on the east side of the river, or in calm water, on 

 barnacles attached to sunken logs, or rocks under water." 



Mr. S. C. Clarke, writing from New Smyrna, Florida, states that they occur throughout the 

 year and are most abundant from December to March, having decreased in numbers perhaps 

 one-fourth during the past ten years. They winter in the deep water of the inlets and rivers, are 

 regular in their appearance, take the hook at most times, come and go with the tide, swim low, 

 except in the spawning season, when they come inshore and prefer warm and muddy water with 

 shelly bottom. They feed about rocks and logs on clams, shrimps, barnacles, crabs, and oysters, 

 and are best taken in the latter part of the ebb and young flood, and during the season of plenty, 

 from November to March, twenty -five fish may be considered the average result of a day's fishing 

 with hook and line. They are taken with cast-nets and with hooks, using crabs, clanis, mussels, 

 and shrimps for bait. They are highly prized, fresh and salt, though they are mostly consumed 

 in the fresh state. 



Mr. Clarke also gives some important information regarding the spawning of this fish. He 

 says: "Before spawning they go in schools, but afterwards they scatter. They spawn at the 

 mouths of rivers and inlets in March and April, the sexes mixing together in schools. The eggs 

 are deposited in shallow water near the shore, and are about the size of mustard seed, and dark. 

 At the spawning season the fish play near the surface and become thin and unfit for food. The 

 young fish are abundant in shallow water among the rocks." 



Finally, I append in full the statement of Mr. Stearns, which is especially important since it 

 contains an account of their spawning. He writes: 



"The habits of the Sheepshead depend somewhat on the nature of the feeding-grounds in 

 those localities where the fish occurs. At such places as Saint Mark's River, Cedar Keys, 

 Homassassa Eiver, and the Mangrove Islands, farther south, it is present throughout the year, 

 in about the same abundance, whether it will take the hook or not; while at Apalachicola, Saint 

 Andrew's, Pensacola and Mobile Bays, and the Louisiana marshes, its habits are those of a 

 migratory fish, which, in a body, at a certain season, approaches, and, later on, leaves the coast. 

 At the latter-mentioned places it is found to a limited extent during the spring and summer. 

 At these same places large schools of Sheepshead appear on the coast during the months of 

 September, October, and November, finally entering the harbors. This is as important and 

 noticeable a movement as the 'runs' of pompano, Spanish mackerel, or hard-tails in the spring, 

 and it is the only time when large quantities are caught. The fish composing the ' run ' are very 

 25 F 



