THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 423 



In August, 1887, the Sheepshead was known to have bred in Great Egg Harbor 

 Bay, N. J., where about 20 young individuals, measuring from I inch to i^ inches, 

 were seined between August 10 and September 9. Adults at that time were present 

 in the bay, but they were scarce. The bottom was covered with algae and conven- 

 ient hiding places were found under the sod banks. 



The fish is very unusual in Gravesend Bay, Long Island. A large individual, 

 weighing 13 pounds, was caught September 16, 1897, at Coney Island. That exam- 

 ple proved hardy in captivity, and the Sheepshead generally can be easily kept if 

 the water temperature be properly maintained. 



The Sheepshead was at one time common in Great South Bay. For this state- 

 ment we have the authority of Mr. Erastus Gordon, of Patchogue, and the following 

 account from Dr. Mitchill's Fishes of Neiv York will substantiate the fact : " The 

 Sheepshead swims in shoals and is sometimes surrounded in great numbers by the 

 seine. Several hundreds have often been taken at a single haul with the long 

 sweeping nets in use at Raynortown, Babylon and Fire Island. They even tell of a 

 thousand brought to land at a draught. . . . This fish is sometimes speared by 

 torchlight in the wide and shallow bays of Queens County and Suffolk. His term 

 of continuance is only during the warmest season ; that is, from the beginning of 

 June to the middle of September. ... I have, however, known him to stay 

 later ; for one of the most numerous collections of Sheepshead I ever saw in the 

 New York market was on October 4, 1814; I have seen them as late as the I7th." 



Scott, in 1875, referred to Fire Island as a good locality for Sheepshead fishing, 

 and also mentions superior feeding places in the South Bay and about the wreck of 

 the Black Warrior., near the Narrows. 



We did not obtain the Sheepshead in Great South Bay, and believe it occurs 

 there very rarely at the present time, although fishermen still seek them in a few 

 localities, and, I am informed, occasionally catch one. Dr. Smith says not one has 

 been seen or heard of in Vineyard Sound or Buzzards Bay since 1894; but formerly 

 it was quite common and was often caught while line fishing for Tautog and Scup. 



