THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 



431 



126. Croaker (Micropogon undulatus Linn.neus). 



Bodianus costatus MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., 1, 417, 1815, New York. 

 Micropogon costatus DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 83, pi. 72, fig. 230, 1842. 

 Micropogon undulatus DEK.AY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 84, 1842, extra-limital. 

 Micropogon undulatus JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus., 575, 1883. 

 Micropogon undulatus BEAN, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., IX, 368, 1897. 

 Micropogon undulatus JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1461, 1898, pi. 

 CCXXIV, fig. 570, 1900. 



Color grayish silvery, with bright reflections ; sides and back with narrow, irregu- 

 lar, undulating lines of dots ; dorsal fins with three lines of dots along base. 



The Croaker inhabits the east coast of the United States, ranging from Cape 

 Cod to Texas ; it is not very common north of the Chesapeake. It grows to the 



CROAKER. 



length of 15 inches and is an important food fish. The fish was described by 

 Mitchill but was unknown to DeKay from personal observation. Although known 

 in Gravesend Bay, the species is a very uncommon one there. Mr. W. I. DeNyse 

 informs me that several individuals were taken there in September, 1902. The only 

 specimen recorded at Woods Hole, Mass., is 15 inches long; it was taken in a trap 

 at the breakwater in Buzzards Bay on September 9, 1893. 



